Preparing to say Good-bye

I say this with tear filled eyes. Lucy, our gentle mixed boxer, has been with us (me) for 9 years now. I had adopted her from a local shelter (term used loosely) in April of 2001 and they said she was about a year old. So our old friend is about 10 years old. Last week, we noticed that her eyes were much more red than usual, and that one of them was turning outward. She has always been a SNORE-ER, but here lately it has gotten a lot worse--keeping us awake at night. So, today Steve took her to the vet, who told him that she has a type of lymphoma, one of the worst kinds, and it spreads fairly rapidly. He didn't sound too optimistic, but he said that today was not the day for good-byes. He said that we could give her the prednisone to help alleviate any discomfort, but that would only be temporary, and prednisone could actually accelerate the spread. She seems to be already suffering, she can't even bark or "speak" for a treat. She has a hard time eating and drinking, due to the swelling, and sounds like she's choking while she's eating. So the next few days, maybe a couple of weeks, will tell. We won't be "keeping her around" just for our benefit...if she shows signs of further suffering, we are preparing ourselves, the boys too, for a sooner, rather than later farewell.

~~~~~

Until then, here's a few pics of her to share....the first is from Nov. 2008. She was all too anxious to get to her hamburger-grease-covered-kibble, and couldn't help but drool....
This is a more recent picture, taken a week before Christmas (09). She always loved to romp in the snow...though she didn't generally like the cold...

Here is a couple from earlier today. As you can see, her eyes just aren't right, and she just looks sad....though she was wagging her tail as I talked to her as I took the pictures.

Even though we know with our minds what is inevitable, our hearts ask the question, How DO you say good-bye?