Good practice

When I originally sat down to write this post, I had every intention of writing it as a recap of the last couple of days and the emotional roller coaster that Nick and I have been on because of Chino's surgery. I know that he's a dog, but he's also a member of the family and the fact that he needed surgery at all was so sudden that it threw us all for a loop. Things were finally settling down and then we get hit with dog surgery and the tax man, all in one week. Don't get me wrong, there was never a question as to IF we'd get him his surgery, although I waited until THE last minute to pay the tax man. We both agreed that we would do whatever it took to get him well and healthy. The issue was that our finances were finally rebounding from a couple of admittedly frivolous purchases and the amount of money in the checking account had actually reached triple digits.

Regardless, its amazing how much this little guy keeps teaching us about each other and about our priorities. As I said - it was never a matter of if, it was when he'd get surgery. We'd figure it out later, all the while grateful that the vet takes Visa. We also have divided the chores that have resulted in Chino being out of commission. I take the medicine, Nick takes the heavy lifting and we both fill in the in-betweens.

We both feel so lucky that he's rebounding nicely and is basically back to his normal self. The cone is still a necessary evil right now as his stitches heal and when we can't watch what he's doing. His natural reaction is to lick at his wound, which is counterproductive to the healing process that we're trying to expedite by sheer will.

**Update - We just received the good news from the vet that the lump was benign!!!! He was almost 100% certain that it was a mast cell tumor and was elated to tell us that he was wrong. Chino is cancer free and on the mend.**