Trigger warning: sight of blood and injured animals.
For a little less than a year, Hawken the Irish wolfhound has had a lump behind his left ear. A vet told me in the spring that it’s a skin tumor, and harmless, so if nothing happened, we’d just leave it alone.
Today, something happened. He spent last night inside because it was cold out. I put him outside at around 7 a.m. and fed him. At some point between then and 1:30 p.m., he must have cronked that tumor on something, because when I went out back to walk him, there was blood on the back porch, and when he came around the corner, I could see he was bleeding.
I put pressure on it, but it didn’t stop the bleeding, especially since every time he would shake, he would re-open it. I wrapped it with paper towels and an Ace bandage, which was enough to stop the bleeding while I drove him to the vet.
And of course, the back yard and the garage look like a crime scene.
They are sedating him now and will remove the offending tumor. I expect they will find it is benign, but I am aware there is a chance that isn’t the case. They expect to call me this evening to take him home.
Update: I was right to be concerned that Hawken could have bled to death. The vet (who is a good friend of mine) got him right in and excised the mass, which was, as we suspected, a hemangioma. Due to the sedation, he was a handful to get into the back seat of the pickup, and still a little weak and confused when I got him home, so I piled him out of the truck into the front yard.
Overall, it was a crisis, but my vet and I handled it well.
Dear Hawken: OH YOU POOR THING – GLAD YOU HAVE A GREAT DADDY. BUT DON’T DO THAT AGAIN – THAT LOOKED SCARY & MY HEART WOULD’VE BEEN SO SCARED FOR YOU – I HAD A LITTLE GIRL I LOVED SO MUCH – I SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON HER – BUT NOTHING HELPED AND I HAD TO LET HER LEAVE ME. I’M STILL CRYING EVERY SINGLE DAY BECAUSE SHE WAS MY FRIEND. LILLYPIE KNEW I WAS SICK, WOULD GO SIT WITH DOC (caregiver) FOR A WHILE, BUT ALWAYS CAME TO CHECK ON ME DURING THE DAY. SHE ALWAYS SLEPT NEXT TO MY LEGS. SHE WAS MY SECRET KEEPER & SHE SERVED AS AN ESA – EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL. CUZ NOT 1 FRIEND HAS VISITED ME IN THIS HOUSE, THRU THIS DISEASE, SURGERIES, BROKEN BONES & NOW HOSPICE – BUT LILLY WOULD’VE. I’M GLAD ALL IS WELL FOR YOU HAWKEN. I LOVE WHEN WE GET TO TAKE WALKS WITH YOUR DADDY & YOU AND I AM JUST SO GLAD I KNEW AFTER IT ALL HAPPENED. IN MY OWN GRIEF RIGHT NOW, I WOULD’VE JUST BAWLED AND CALLED YOUR DAD TOO MUCH, IN.A PANICK.
YOU’RE A LUCKY BOY. WE NEED TO HELP EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU – SINCE, AS WE ARE TAUGHT IN NATIVE CULTURE, DOGS & CATS AND ANIMALS ARE INNOCENTS. THEY COME FROM THE “ANGEL” PLANE – OR “LIGHT WORKERS.” IN FACT, OUR ANIMALS WILL BE LINED UP WAITING TO GREET US WHEN WE DIE. YOU, HAWKEN, CARRY WHAT WE CALL ‘MEDICINE.’ YOUR MEDICINE IS “LOYALTY.” NOT JUST YOU’RE LOYAL – DOG MEDICINE HAS TO DO WITH TEACHING YOU – PEOPLE – THEIR MEDICINE – TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO BE LOYAL THEMSELVES. TRUE TO THEMSELVES. KNOW THAT LOYALTY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN TRUST. THAT’S HOW IMPORTANT EVERY SINGLE ESPECIALLY DOG &. CAT – CARRY MEDICINE, COME FROM A PLACE HOLIER THAN THIS EARTH IS – BUT COME TO BE EVERYTHING SO-CALLED “ANGELS” DO. AND YOU WILL BE JUDGED IF YOU’VE HURT AN ANIMAL – THOSE ABUSING ANIMALS YOU “ENTERTAIN ANGELS UNAWARE.” —SEE? PEOPLE ARE EVEN WARNED ABOUT IT. THESE WERE NOT THE PURITANICAL BELIEFS THAT LANDED ON OUR NATIVE SHORE – THEY WERE REPUBLICANS HAWKEN – AND BOY IS A LOT ABOUT TO HAPPEN – DOJ – WHEN IT BEGINS, HAWKEN, IT’S GONNA BE BADA BOOM BADA BING!
THE BLOOD between your DADDY’S FEET is what’s scary – I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOUR DAD. I HAD TO MAKE A HORRIBLE DECISION OVER MY LITTLE GIRL ESA (EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL – PART OF HOSPICE) – AS A NATIVE WOMAN, I KNOW THE MEDICINE THEYU CARRY – AND THAT THEY COME FROM THE SAME PLACE AS “LIGHT WORKERS” OR “ANGELS” – AND ONE DOES NOT WANT TO MISTREAT A SINGLE THING – ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL ARE WHAT KEEP THE MOTHER IN BALANCE, AND SHE IS CERTAINLLY NOT BALANCED RIGHT NOW. I’M GLAD YOUR DAD DIDN’T HAVE TO DO WHAT I DID. I STILL CRY CUZ SHE TOOK SUCH GOOD CARE OF ME. ….
LOVE YOU HAWKEN.
P