(#5821) The fate of my doggie Billy going forward

      I had been waiting for the test results on Billy and got them a few days ago. Though inconclusive, they say that most likely he has a tumor. Yet more tests need to be done to be 100% accurate. When I took Billy into see the vet he was lethargic and was expelling diarrhea. He had little to no energy and was not eating unless it was a small piece of cooked meat. Since that vet visit however Billy has perked up, eating and drinking with his usual gusto and even running around in the yard albeit not like a young dog. Still though it is as if he hadn't even gotten a growth. Yet the growth is still there.
     It has been several days and his activity is still normal. He is on medication for infection and pain but the only medication he has not currently run to course is his Amoxicillin for infection. Again to reiterate Billy is over 14 and a half years old. So the suggestion from the vet that I could have more tests done by a specialist who would then likely do surgery to remove the growth is not an option. The cost is the big prohibitor. Much like everything in our uncaring brutish healthcare in America, it prices not only our human loved ones out of its possibilities but our pets who we love as much.
     All that being said Billy is still back to himself. I will be extra vigilant with him letting him enjoy his life as much as possible every day going forward. I already treat him special but now even more so. If Billy does take a turn for the worse then I will go back to the vet and instead of trying to keep him alive I will allow the vet to end his time in existence. I had to do that not too many years ago with my pug Niky when her diabetes became untreatable and she was physically suffering. Just know that death has not set well with me throughout the entirety of my life and although I have come to an acceptance with death, I do despise its reality. In the meantime Billy puts a smile on my face and a glow in my heart that for right now cannot be beat.