[Anne]

Gina, it's so sad we've lost so many. Every day I think of those who have lost their dogs and hope you are all coping as well as can be expected.

Sophie saw her regular vet yesterday and he was surprised at the large size of her tumor. He did a lot of prodding and poking and Sophie didn't flinch or shy away from him. His assessment is that she's not in pain, the pain meds are working well. He said apart from the horrible tumor she appears to be in good condition. Her lymph nodes are not enlarged and chest sounds clear. Her coat is shiny and she looks healthy.

If her tumor doesn't erupt he said she may go on for another month or thereabouts. If the tumor does erupt then Sophie's time will have come. So little time left together.

We've been seeing the oncologist and haven't seen Sophie's regular vet for a while. Soph remembered the drill and bounded through the door and went straight to the scales and sat awaiting the vet nurse to come and record her weight. She was happy to see her vet again, she's very fond of him. The oncology centre is impersonal and though Sophie is well behaved for them, neither she nor I like going there.