Yesterday morning I woke up and immediately thought of Lloyd the Dog, who had spent the evening at the Bath Animal Hospital. He had dodged the bullet that is Addison's Disease and so if all went well, after a night and day of hydration he would be back to normal and home by late afternoon.

I got to work on some comments for his blog that were nearly complete by 8:45 when his vet, Dr. Liz Wilcox called. She told me I needed to get down there because Lloyd had gotten much worse over the night. She told me that she feared fluid had built up around his heart and that might mean that he had a tumor on his heart. She told me that if that was the case, Lloyd's prognosis was dire. She wanted me to get him to the world class veterinary facility at Cornell in Ithaca so he could be assessed by a cardiologist.

I called Karen and rushed down to the hospital. Dr Wilcox filled me in on the details. The prognosis was in all likelihood horrible. I went in to see Lloyd. he barely acknowledged me, proof of how sick he was. I called Karen and made plans to meet her in corning so that she could comfort Lloyd on the drive to Ithaca. I pulled up to a side door and an assistant carried Lloyd out. Dr Wilcox told me she thought he'd make it to Ithaca. Wow.

We were in Corning in twenty minutes and a very teary Karen was waiting. She got in the back seat with lloyd and did what she has done for nearly nine years, she soothed and comforted her sweet doggy. We made it to Ithaca, found the hospital and pulled up to the entrance. Karen ran in and was soon followed out by an attendant with a gurney. I picked Lloyd up and he was whisked inside and out of sight.

Karen and I sat in the waiting room, choking back tears. About forty minutes late a Doctor came out and brought us to an office in the "authorized personnel only" area. This was one time I wished I wasn't eligible for special access. she told us that she also suspected just what Doc Wilcox feared. He had fluid built up on his heart and unless it was an atypical event for a dog of his age and of his bloodlines (shepherd and lab) he had a tumor on his heart. If that was the case such tumors are malignant. They would give him a sonogram and then they would try to drain the fluid that surrounded his heart. they warned us that since this required putting a needle into an area adjacent to his heart there was a very real possibility that he could die. Since the alternative was worse, we agreed.

We were brought to a special waiting room where we waited for two and a half hours for the wort possible news. Lloyd the Dog, the love of our lives, had a malignant tumor on his heart. The removal of the fluid should bring him some relief and allow him to feel pretty normal for now. His prognosis is very, very bad. the cardiologist told us he has four to eight weeks to live.

After another interminable wait a somewhat perkier Lloyd was put back in our care. We brought him home and seemed to be a good tonic for him. We all slept on the floor together. About 2:30 I woke up and took him outside. For the first time since Saturday he ate something -- some chicken. The best dog ever is asleep again. I am not.

He is still so beautiful, it's hard to believe he could be so sick. His lustrous brown coat still shimmers. His winning grin still comes when he walks outside. His deep and knowing brown eyes still shimmer. But Lloyd the Dog has a malignant tumor on his heart. So does Karen. So do I.