I mentioned in my last post that we’ve been dealing with a health issue with Charleston. I was purposefully vague because we really did not know what was going on. It started as a mass in his mouth that was very infected. The idea that it might be cancer was tossed out early, but then dismissed because it appeared to be an abscess. Charleston lost two teeth in the process, but also had clean biopsy. After that we all thought the lump would dissipate and the infection would resolve itself. No such luck. The amazing people at Park Slope Vet referred us to NYC Veterinary Specialists.

The doctor there thought that he had probably chewed on something and a piece had gotten lodged in his gums. A CAT scan was ordered (yes, we made a couple of jokes about that) and surgery scheduled to remove whatever was found. Unfortunately, the CAT scan did not show any foreign bodies in Charleston’s gums, but a lesion that went into the bone. They had to do another, deep tissue, biopsy.

After a week of waiting for the results I finally got the call on Thursday. It is a tumor and it’s growing fast. And it’s inoperable. We could try radiation treatments, but it would only be to make him more comfortable in the months he has left. Needless to say, Vinny and I are devastated. Charleston is only 5 years old. That’s far too young to be taken from us. When my Golden Retriever, Magic, died I could at least comfort myself by saying she lived a long happy life.

This situation hardly seems fair. I know life is not fair, but it’s all the more painful that he’s otherwise healthy and his usual sweet self. Aside from the lump on his face, and the smell of the infection, Charleston is still perfect. He still follows me from room to room. He still begs for nothing but affection. He still leans his head in our laps.

We’ve opted not to put him through the stress of radiation treatment and will give him painkillers instead. Unless something changes, we are just going to make him as comfortable as we can for as long as we can. We’re also going to spoil him rotten. Vinny’s already taken to feeding him ricotta cheese from parfait glasses. Charleston gets a piece of whatever is going into the sandwich I’m making. We’re going to go to the dog run alot, go upstate to hike in the woods and spend some time at the beach. Charleston loves the snow so Vinny’s even researching how to get a ton of crushed ice for our patio.

That’s our sad story. Thanks to all of you that have already expressed your sympathy. If we didn’t love him so much this wouldn’t be so hard. But that’s why we have dogs, isn’t it? Because we just love them.