Trouble graduates chemotherapy

Trouble in his chemotherapy graduation bandana

"Congratulations!"  is  what our favorite nurse said to us when I picked up Trouble from his 16th and final chemotherapy treatment.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  Yes, Trouble completed the full 16-treatment, nearly 6 month cancer treatment course.  Yes, he went into remission right away.  But now, we monitor.  We wait for something to go wrong and hope to wait a really, really long time for that to happen. 

Trouble sailed through the treatment.  Did we have "quality of life" versus just owner selfishness?  You bet we did.  Trouble still went to work to bark at my coworkers and collect sticks from the bushes near the parking lot, he had hikes and trips to the beach,  he wanted to play with his favorite toy all the time, he trained in agility, and he started taking Rally-O classes one evening a week.

Cancer survivor!

Did this cost a lot?  You bet it did.  Worth every cent every time Trouble wags his little (now fairly bald) nubby of a tail or touches the cookie jar for service or brings the favorite toy.

It's all been so surreal.  Here we are - six months after diagnosis and a dog who was fading fast.  Tonight, Trouble will eat his dinner and bring his favorite toy and wag his Trubbie Nubbie tail and we'll go out to play like it's any other day and nothing is out of the ordinary.  Dogs are like that - and we love them for it.