Aldo, my 2 year old aussie lab mix jumped a 4-5 foot fence about a month ago. He had hurt his shoulder and after a few days of not getting better I took him to the Vet.
When she came back in from performing an x-ray on Aldo the vet’s face said everything. She told me that his right radius where it meets the wrist appeared to have a bone cyst or possibly cancer. My head was spinning, we just went from a hurt shoulder to bone cancer?! I really can’t recall much of what was said. I couldn’t take my eyes of my incredibly active, amazingly nice to every living being, center of my world. She laid out treatment and my heart sunk when she said amputation. Aldo is so active how could he recover from this. Now i realize that it was my recovery I was
Over the next few weeks waiting for biopsy results my mind was a mess. I’m 48 with no children. As many of us our dog is our life. Aldo and I averaged over 30k steps a day with 8 mile hikes and long swims in the river to fill our days. The initial fear I felt at the impact this diagnosis would have on his life was crippling.
When Aldo came into my life 2 years ago it forever changed me. His exuberance and love of life got me out of my depression and solitude. I became more healthy in mind and body. I was constantly interacting with other dog walkers because my dog was so social. In short, Aldo was the best thing to ever happen to me. Because of his playfulness we started talking to a woman and her dog. That woman is the love of my life and has been absolutely the pivotal to Aldo and I’s recovery.