more milestones

So, what are the biggies coming up? Hitting 2009 was the first. The next two come in quick succession - January 16th and January 19th. January 16th marks year since taking Dave to the vet, suspecting/knowing that he had something bad going on with his lymph nodes. January 19th is Mike's 31st birthday, also a year and a day after getting the cancer dx confirmed. It's only 16 days away. Dave is still great, and the lymph nodes, while they change a bit through the day/week, are generally soft and sometimes difficult to find.

If (when, hopefully) Dave makes it to January 19th, it's a bigger milestone than just reaching Mike's birthday. One year since diagnosis means that he exceeded the "average" prognosis for LSA. He already beat the odds he was given at Penn Vet in September, and is going over three months strong. Read any canine LSA factsheet, FAQ, etc., and it says that most dogs live a year from diagnosis. Anything after the 19th would be just fabulous and exceeding all expectations.

(edited for clarity since the blog shouldn't be updated late and after a couple glasses of wine)