Lucy

My cousin Lucy hasn't been feeling well lately. When I spent time with her on the fist day of Chag, I noticed she just wasn't herself. She's an older gal in her 70's though, and I guess I thought she's just slowing down. Yesterday, my aunt took her to the doctor when blood was noticed in her urine. The tests showed that she has severe liver damage and needed an immediate infusion. Today she will have another infusion, and ultrasound and a biopsy of the liver.

The last time I cared about a dog like this I was in elementary school, and Buff's life was on the line. Our black part-lab had been hit by a car and was too broken up to keep alive. My mother had to make the ultimate decision to put him down out of mercy.

I don't know what's going to happen to Lucy, but my kids are really attached to her. She's the closest my kids have ever been to "being related to" a dog. When we go over to my aunt and uncle's, the first words out of their mouths are either, "Lucy, wanna go out?" or "Can I feed Lucy?"

I've told the kids that Lu is sick and that I don't know what's going to happen to her. I hope they have built up enough strength after the trauma of the move to be able to take any news in stride. We'll see.