Layla’s Life Journey and Surgery TODAY

Layla is a rescuing dog… she rescued me.  We adopted Layla in July of 2018. I told my family that our next dog will have a disability of some sort. She is a blonde Lab mix with prominent “angel wings” on her shoulders. And she has a great “Boxer punch “ so possibly where her underbite comes from. Layla is partially blind in her left eye, so she may see a shadow, but if you throw something up in the air near her, it will hit her rather than her catching it! Layla is the unconditional lover of the family. She sticks by your side, no matter the mood, tone or situation.
You have to understand….our family has an odd sense of humor about Layla.   She has a face only a mother could love! Or as my kids say a face only her mother loves. We discuss every morning if we’ve had enough beauty sleep overnight and she has been called  my “defective dog”.  But all of that is why I love her so much. To me, she is the essence of beauty!  We have attended all the dog training classes offered and she is community certified! She isn’t always the best behaved, but she just gets excited!
Within a 3 year time frame, my parents had 4 cancer diagnoses between them. As one finished surgery,chemo,radiation, another diagnoses came up. I lost my dad (who adored Layla) in October. My mom is now cancer free. What a relief it was to have a cancer free family…don’t get me wrong, I miss my dad so terribly, but his esophageal cancer was about as cruel of a diagnosis that he could have.
Layla incurred a broken claw injury in February. She limped for about 20 minutes, but that was it. The vet checked her out and noted slight swelling  (on the opposite side). Looking back at photos, the swelling on her foot began in late January. Until recently she always let me rub her feet. She suddenly was not up for that and that is when I thought we should investigate further. The first visit at the vet, he tried to aspirate from the swelling, truly hoping to get some fluid or puss. Nothing came out. He also did X-rays to rule out injury, which came out clear.  He treated with petprofren and antibiotics and we returned a week later. The swelling did not go down, but he was able to get a sample to view under the microscope and send to pathology. Unfortunately, the initial suspicion was a sarcoma. I of course was concerned having heard that term a few too many times in the last few years. A few days later, the pathology confirmed that she had a mast cell tumor. It is in a very inconvenient location on her front left paw, and now has started causing her pain. We were then referred to Oncology.  After meeting with Oncology, we were given 3 choices. 1. Amputation followed by chemo 2. Chemo to try to stop the growth, but would probably extend her life by a year 3. Palliative care. I know that this decision does not come lightly to anyone. I think back when my husband and I could barely afford the monthly bills and may have not been able to afford this choice that we now are able to make easily, no other choice even considered! I have found great support through the Tripawds community as well as word of mouth and neighbors in my community. I have researched and made accommodations for Layla to come home, one leg less than when she left.
We took Layla this morning for surgery. The vet called mid afternoon to say she was getting bandaged and moved to recovery. I called tonight to see how she’s doing. The tech said she was freaked out as to where her leg was when she first woke. They were able to get her to go outside and she was moving around very well, considering what she’s been through. I just want my baby girl home! I pray she’s ready to do so tomorrow! Thanks for the support and messages. I hope to pay it forward to others who will go through this as well.