I got a call from Dr. Buys tonight. She gave me the results of the scan, then left me a message on the report itself. She said the MRI wasn't concerning for cancer spread, but that my hip/femur joint is compromised because of previous cancer in that spot and/or the radiation that was administered to treat the cancer.
DAGNABIT! I wasn't told about that possibility when I had the radiation. Bone death due to lack of blood circulation. I know these poor doctors do everything they can for us to make treatments and symptoms doable. I'm not mad about it. I got 2 years with no pain in my hip. Only recently my hip started to ache again (not excruciating like before, but certainly anxiety-provoking remembering two years ago.) Mat's dad was staying with us at the time (2 years ago). It was pretty funny having two physically unstable people trying to help each other get around. I don't regret at all taking him in.
She told me there were some options (not really great ones) but she highly recommended seeing an orthopedic surgeon who can determine the best course of action. I see a hip replacement and titanium rods in my future. I said I was content to put that off as long as possible, but she pushed for "sooner" rather than "later". If I fell and fractured my hip/femur, it would be a much bigger deal to repair.
With all of that said, we've had to make a hard decision to let one of our dogs go. I can't keep up with them both. Walks are a joke, they're like sled dogs, whoever pulls the hardest and crosses the sidewalk the most to smell the pee? It's impossible for me to handle them--forget teaching them skills!!! When they are together, they both try to be "alpha", Pyper (Havanese) is sincere about out-competing, out-barking, out-for-blood with all other dogs. Goldendoodle Marley, on the other hand is so sweet, she just wants to play constantly, but Pyper sticks her nose in the air at her. That girl (Pyper) won't let anyone else have the upper hand. We've had Pyper for about 3 years, there was always a second dog, she was always out-performed. We are/were guardians for Marley, meaning we allow the breeder to get 4 litters of puppies, then she's ours. She just had her second litter. I had to send an excruciating text to the breeder about finding a different guardian family for her. They'll be a lucky bunch!
As I suspected, Pyper is an angel being the only dog here. Little Stinker. What she's needed all along is to be the only dog. Me and McK were team Marley, Mat and Brooklyn were team Pyper. Maddie and Isaac were allowed to express opinions, but the 4 of us had to be the ones to decide.
Here's the darn cuties: How would you choose? Both pretty cute. My choice, Marley. Definitely Marley.
