dream ranch

We’re back on the trail this morning after hearing from Cowboy’s vet that his cancer has not spread since surgery June 28 to remove a malignant tumor.

This is good news. It at least means there’s so far no evidence of the cancer spreading in my 6-year-old pal and it probably means the adenocarcinoma is not the most aggressive kind. I am relieved. Our vet called first thing after looking over the x-ray and CT scan taken on Monday. It’s been a long haul since Cowboy’s other vet first suspected a mass on June 25 and referred us on to the surgeon.

Cowboy just seems grateful that we saddled up this morning for a walk instead of another trip to the doctor, though he has been an excellent patient and healed faster than I expected. He’s all the way back to his happy, heeler-kind of normal. He’s a tough cowboy with good doctors.

We’ll go back initially for monthly checks. The vet who called this morning treated Cowboy as pup when he was surrendered to the hospital with erlichiosis (ur·luh·kee·ow·suhs), a tick-inflicted disease. Cowboy’s first home was Laguna Pueblo. I brought him to Placitas for foster care. It took only three days for his status to change. In 2016, the tiny, sick pup rested his head on my leg as we sat on the floor and watched the season’s first big rain through a patio door.

My report today might seem odd if you have no experience with cancer. I had a CT scan a few days before Cowboy.

Trying to explain the complexity of a chronic disease involving billions of rambling cells, our vet said Cowboy’s cancer experience might be akin to my own: Twenty years out from prostate cancer and seven since treatment for lung cancer.

At any rate, today we are in the clear.