![\"\"](\"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/IMG_0236-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a> He turned 11 earlier this year.\u00a0 Unreal how times flies.\u00a0 In a blink, that’s how it moves.\u00a0 Seems unfair.<\/p>\nWhere am I going with this you ask? Al and I have been dealing with a whole bucket of mixed emotions these past few days and I wanted to ask you for your prayers,<\/p>\n
A few months ago we noticed Herc had started limping.\u00a0 We treated it as a sprain\/torn ligament up until this week.\u00a0 The swelling was not getting better, only bigger.\u00a0 Now, understand, Herc is part Belgian Malinois and part Dutch Shepherd.\u00a0 If you know anything about those breeds they are very high strung, very agile and extremely hard nosed.\u00a0 So, with that said, he never acted as if he was in any pain throughout these past few months.\u00a0 It’s so difficult to tell if they hurt as they still act like their hyper crazy self and carry on as normal. With the continued swelling, we decided to get him to the vet for his annual check up and to see what was going on with his ankle. We had no idea how our lives would be changed forever once leaving that vet appointment.\u00a0 After a full evaluation, x-rays and scans the Doc said my big guy has cancer.\u00a0 A very aggressive one at that.\u00a0 If localized he would have to lose his leg or we could let him live out his life as normal as possible with the injured leg.\u00a0 If it spread, well, we would do our best to make him as comfortable as possible until the bitter end.\u00a0 Al took him to Knoxville the very next morning for a full body scan and a ton of bloodwork.\u00a0 Fortunately, it is local. Praise.\u00a0 No spreading has occurred yet.\u00a0 We decided to opt for the surgery along with 4 doses of chemo.\u00a0 We were initially told this would prolong his life for approximately 10 months.\u00a0 Although that doesn’t seem like a long time to most that was enough for us to say do the surgery.\u00a0 We are not ready (are you ever?) to let him go.\u00a0 So, surgery is scheduled for this coming Wednesday at 7am.\u00a0 I pray he pulls through that and has an easy transition.\u00a0 After all, he has technically been a tripod since November.\u00a0 Only he’s been having to carry the weight of the injured leg.<\/p>\n
To say the least, the last few days have been a whirlwind of emotions.\u00a0 I have had to fight to get out of bed each day.\u00a0 Loss of appetite.\u00a0 Anxiety through the roof.\u00a0 I do feel some relief knowing he’s not leaving us any time soon.\u00a0 Matter of fact,\u00a0 we got the full bloodwork results back today and it now states he could live 12 to 18 months longer with surgery.\u00a0 Such good news!<\/p>\n
I’m now researching all the things to do to physically prepare for a tripod dog around the house.\u00a0 \u00a0We have some plans to reduce the times he has to go up and down the stairs among many other little things. Emotionally, we will be strong for him. My heart aches though.\u00a0 I have moments of pure sadness but, those are usually when I am alone.\u00a0 I tend to think too much.\u00a0 It’s been a curse for me my whole life.\u00a0 So, I try and stay busy to distract my thoughts.<\/p>\n
Most of us spend our days living as if nothing will ever change.\u00a0 A predictable, for the most part, routine.\u00a0 Day after day.\u00a0 You see your loved ones, your pets, never thinking how limited our time is on this earth.\u00a0 \u00a0You know changes are out there on the horizon but, it appears so far away.\u00a0 Then, snap your fingers and life is catching up with you.\u00a0 Al and I were talking about Herc this morning and we both said, “It’s not like he is six”.\u00a0 How did we not think something like this was around the corner?\u00a0 Where’s that time in a bottle?\u00a0 You can never be prepared for all the hard blows life throws at you.<\/p>\n
So, going forward, I plan to be more present in the moment.\u00a0 Appreciating my fur babies more.\u00a0 Appreciating others more.\u00a0 I can’t go passed Herc without laying some kisses on his forehead and saying I love you.\u00a0 Teenie, (Athena) his sister, gets all the love, too!\u00a0 She knows something is going on and has done a great job taking over the role of Protector.\u00a0 Honey, Bun and kittens get all the attention as well!\u00a0 Didn’t want to leave those babies out!\u00a0 If you thought these dogs were spoiled before, you ain’t seen nothing yet!\u00a0 I’ve never been so happy to see drool spots on the kitchen floor and nose art on the windows as I have this week!<\/p>\n
Can I ask that you please pray for my big guy on Wednesday or every day until Wednesday!?!\u00a0 And, if you could so kindly share my post to get the word out to all those that know me, Al and our puppies.\u00a0 I would really appreciate it.\u00a0 We, he, needs all the prayers right now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As always, thank you so much for reading.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elisa<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you know anything about me you know I love my dog, Hercules, tremendously.\u00a0 He is the first dog I have ever had from puppy stage to full grown. He turned 11 earlier this year.\u00a0 Unreal how times flies.\u00a0 In a blink, that’s how it moves.\u00a0 Seems unfair. Where am I going with this you … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1729"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1735,"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1729\/revisions\/1735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/13dogfarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Copy-of-P3120044.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n