9/9/06

Hi Claudine,

We read your letter Sat. afternoon and couldn't believe you had written it that day because just that morning we had to put Bailey to sleep. She was fine on Tues. then on Wed. she seemed a little out of sorts so we thought she just had an upset stomach and gave her rice and pepto. Thurs. was the same but we didn't suspect anything as it sometimes takes them a couple of days to get over things. Then on Thurs. night I heard this bumping on the stairs and when I went to see there was Bailey thumping up the steps. Once she got up she went to her bed so we thought we'll wait til the morning. Friday she could hardly walk and her back legs were swollen. We went over to the vet at 10AM. The vet said she had edema in her legs which could be caused by many things. They wanted to do x-rays, blood, etc. The vet called us about 2PM and said the x-ray showed a large mass at the back of her stomach and another possible one by her liver (the liver was blocking the view). She wanted us to go to a specialist hospital in Langhorne, Pa. to get an ultra sound. We went right over and took her to Langhorne. The vet there agreed with what our vet said and thought the mass by the liver was most probably another tumor. She also felt it most likely was a mast cell because her eyes were bloodshot (a sign of excessive histamine which happens in mast cell tumors). The vet said the mass in the back would be very difficult surgery because it was right by main arteries. She felt the edema in the legs was because of the pressure on these arteries. At that point we were so stunned that we decided to leave her there to get the ultrasound and so she could get meds to make her comfortable for the night. Well, the next day we both got up and said "what are we doing"? Two grapefruit size mast cell tumors needing expert surgery to avoid killing her...this is not right. We wanted so much to have her stay with us that we didn't realize it was time to let her go. We went back to Langhorne to get her. By this time she couldn't even walk. We took her to our vet where we held her and let her go. A few of our friends at the vet stayed in the room with us. She was gone in seconds. We are having a private cremation and will bury her in the yard with the rest of our dogs and cats. We loved Bailey so much. It is breaking our hearts that she is gone. She loved the yard and was so playful and happy. She and Kylee (our neighbor's dog) were best friends and loved to dig holes together. She had a wonderful 10 months here and we are so lucky that we got to spend that time with her. Lourdes' nieces and their kids were here for about a month in July. They loved Bailey and always let her "go through their legs" like she liked to do. She was a wonderful dog. She never gave us any problems, only love. Well Claudine, I'm sorry you didn't get to see her again. Thank you for bringing her into our lives. When we get back on our feet again (Lourdes was in the hospital most of Aug. with pneumonia, but is getting better) we will see who you are fostering and try to help another senior.

Please stay in touch and stop in to see us anytime. Hi to Marie and hope both of you are well.
Love, The Girls