I’m so glad that I saw Tell Me Thursday tweet a reminder. I had thought about participating before, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

I was working at the Shelter last night and had all my chores done and everyone was tucked in, so I started flipping through my flickr photostream looking for inspiration. I usually try to come up with a theme each Wordless Wednesday, with 3-6 pictures that go together nicely that can stand on their own, wordless. For whatever reason, I chose just one picture… this one.

This is Chelsea. She’s a classy old lady. Like most classy old ladies, she’s loudly insistent upon having it her way. She knows she’s earned it.

We got Chelsea a couple weeks before I graduated from high school in 19… *mumbles and trails off* Ok; I’ll admit it… 1991. (That’s me right before I graduated, and a piece of The Girl Beater. Let’s all throw things at him. Like tomatoes. And tranq darts. And pipe bombs.)

She’s moved from Coldwater MI to Cedar Rapids IA to St Louis MO.

Chelsea was on my mind.

Why?

I had gotten these emails recently.

————
From: Mom
To: all the family
Sent: Tue 3/17/09 6:07 PM
Subject: Chelsea News

Chelsea had a tumor appear suddenly on her right hind leg. She had surgery, this afternoon, and appears to have come thru it well. The pathology report will tell us if they got all the cancer.

Prayers are appreciated!!

Love,
Mom
————

then…

————
From: Mom
Sent: Wed 3/18/09 7:46 AM
To: all the family
Subject: Chelsea News – Update?

As of late last night, she was awake, eating and drinking. We hope to bring her home today. She’ll have to wear one of those cone collars and won’t be allowed to jump for a while.

Continued prayers are appreciated!

Love,
Mom
———-

then I posted my Wordless Wednesday post starring Miss Chelsea at 2:31 AM.

A few hours later, I got this email…

————
From: Dad
Sent: Wed 3/25/09 9:11 AM
To: all the family
Subject: Chelsea’s prognosis?

Good morning,

Our vet has called me with the results of the pathology tests on Chelsea’s tumor. The tumor was cancerous, and samples from the surgery area indicate that the surgery did not eliminate the cancer. He feels that the tumor may reoccur in the next 6 months.

We do have the choice of chemo and radiation treatments, but the radiation is done in Columbia. That would mean a lot of travel and time away from home for her; she’d have to be there at least twice a week for 9 to 10 weeks. Chemo can be done here in St. Louis. The side effects of chemo woud make her uncomfortable.

I feel that the best choice for her is to stop treatments and just let her live out the rest of her life at home in as much comfort as possible.

Love,

Dad
————

My heart hurts.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 8:30 am and is filed under memories, Tell Me Thursday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.