When I got up on Friday (the 13th of March), I slowly put together a list of activities I intended to knock out before the start of the weekend.
Rhiannon returns on Monday after spending 2 weeks in Portland to oversee a store opening. Things around the apartment the past two weeks have been... "different",
I'm incredibly happy however to have both Amos and Elliot around the apartment to keep me company while she's gone... I came home a little early on Friday to get repair crews over to address an issue with my door, some faulty lights and a leaky faucet.
I opened the door and for some strange reason - Elliot didn't come rushing down the steps. He slowly made his way down and he cowered for some strange reason. I attempted to walk him around my apartment complex, but for some strange reason he couldn't really find the energy to walk.
I took him back to the apartment and had to help him up the steps. When I got him up stairs I quickly looked around the place to see if he may have injured himself on something but everything around the apartment appeared normal. I tried to give him a snack but he wouldn't really engage with me.
I sat across from him and asked him if he wanted to go for a "Ride". If I ever say this word to him, he goes fucking batshit.
He wouldn't look up at me and I knew something was wrong. I made my way to the staircase and he couldn't walk down the steps. I picked him up, presuming he hurt a leg and made it over to a local park in hopes of seeing him move around off of a leash at his own speed.
It was as if his age advanced by another 8 years and he moved around like an 18 year old dog. I drove to the first vet to discover they had no openings and they couldn't see me till Monday.
Elliot at the Vet
I drove to a second vet and discovered they too were booked and they couldn't see me until Saturday at 8:00AM. I called a veterinarian that I used to visit in town when he was a Puppy and they had an opening at 4:00pm so we rushed over.
We get there and much to my surprise - he jumped out of the of car and he ran around like nothing was wrong. I was really confused and torn over going into the Veterinarian. I opted to go in to at least have him looked at... I went to a lot of trouble trying to get him seen and we were there so I walked in and explained to the staff that an hour ago - the dog was behaving completely differently.
Elliot walked in. Had his temperature taken... they vet administered a number of reflex tests and he appeared to be completely normal. Just before we took him off the examining table - they checked his ears and his gums and that's when the doctor noticed a mass in his mouth.
Something large that is visible to anyone who lifts the gums to take a closer look. I only saw it once and it will be something I can never get out of my mind... The veterinarian calmly said "he has a tumor and it needs to be seen a specialist". Time sorta stopped at that very moment...
It kinda felt like I got tunnel vision and a number of Elliot memories hit me at once and the only thing I can feel was my heart breaking into a number of pieces. I sorta snapped back to earth when she explained we needed to get the mass tested and get a true determination of what it is.
I left the pet hospital and as you could imagine... I had a very difficult time coming to grips with what I had discovered. I've spent the past 3 days at home with Elliot, going through an insane range of emotions. Friday night was the hardest... I got choked up walking him around the complex. We spent a number of hours sitting next to one another on the couch and I found myself feeling completely devastated.
The past 2 days have been therapeutic on a number of fronts. Elliot, is behaving like a normal/healthy dog. My niece came by at some point too and they played together for nearly an hour. I'm officially holding out hope for a positive consultation this week.
More soon...
Alamo City Rollie
