And in other news... insert sad face here :(

I wanted to mention this in my previous post, but it just became too long. I really wanted to share why we had been so busy lately.

This past weekend, while visiting family in Blacksburg, VA, our dog became very sick. She was very lethargic and weak, so we took her to a local animal hospital. They did blood work and decided she had auto immune disease. They sent us home with meds and said she should be better after a long stint on steroids. Well, after two days, she just seemed worse, so on Monday, we took her to her regular vet. They also did blood work, which showed elevated white blood cells, and low red blood cells and platelets. With this information, and because of some previous issues she had, they decided to do an abdominal x-ray, and found a tumor on her spleen. We were told to take her to a local surgery center for an ultrasound, which not only confirmed the diagnosis, but also shows the tumor was perforated and she was bleeding internally. As a result, she was rushed into surgery yesterday.

Both my husband and I are very stressed and sad over this situation. We were told they got the whole tumor, but had to remove her spleen. They will be biopsing the tumor to determine if it is malignant, and if so, she will likely have to start chemo treatments, since it could have spread on a microscopic level. There is no guarantee this will not come back.

My husband is especially upset by the news. He found Layla at 4 weeks old and had to bottle feed her. They have a bond that I have never before seen, and he is literally torn to pieces over it, especially being struck by the realization that she may not be with us much longer. We are praying and hoping for the best, but also expecting the worst. He is especially sad that our babies may never get to know her.

So please keep our baby girl in your thoughts. She truly is a big part of our family, and we really hope she improves soon.