the cancer strikes back

abby went back to the vet last night for a check-up, but we already knew it would be bad news. she's already got a handful of new tumors growing where the other one was removed which means it had already spread. plus, for the first time in the history of earth, abby turned her nose up at dinner. keep in mind that this is the hound who broke into the food closet and helped herself to like 10 pounds of dog food last summer. she's also been shivering and moaning a lot more than usual. the vet also said her liver and spleen were enlarged. so we had the chemo talk again. we're past the place where radiation is an option since they would have to zap her whole body. jeremy and i had said last time that we wouldn't spend a ton of money just delaying the inevitable, but somehow when faced with the actual decision we had to go with our hearts and give it a shot. abby started vinblastine chemo this morning. thankfully it is a lot less expensive than radiation, though still more than we probably should spend. we think we're doing it more for us, than her. we need to feel like we at least tried. but chances are, she won't be around long :( as hard as it will be, we'll put her down as soon as it's obvious that she's suffering. she's still at the vet now, so they could monitor her after her first dose. they are supposed to call me with an update by 2 or 3.