lisa_goldstein | More News About Bonnie

Bad news and sort-of good news about Bonnie. The bad news is that all the problems with her paw are due to cancer, which has spread to other pads within the paw. (Yes, our vet said it wasn't cancer, but apparently there were some in-depth tests he didn't do.) The sort-of good news is that this can be fixed — but, unfortunately, they have to amputate her paw up to the shoulder.

Richard Herman, the husband of my friend Michaela Roessner, used to do paintings and sculptures of three-legged dogs. When I asked him why he said that it had to do with resilience, with continuing on, maybe not in the best shape but still breathing. He and Michaela had gone through a pretty brutal motorcycle accident, so I figured that he knew what he was talking about. Three-legged dogs, he said, never seem to mind the loss of a limb — they just carry on doing what they have to do.

So I’m thinking about that a lot. The other thing I’m thinking about is something the vet said. At the beginning, when cancer was just one possibility out of many, my first impulse was to say that I wouldn’t ever amputate Bonnie’s leg. The worst, for me, was the thought of her waking up after the surgery and realizing that one of her legs was gone, especially because I wouldn’t be there to comfort her. But the vet told me that dogs aren’t that attached to their limbs, that she’d done hundreds, maybe thousands, of amputations and pretty much all of the dogs got around well after the operation. Just carrying on, like Richard said.

The surgery is Monday, and we get her back Tuesday. If you have a good relationship with a god or gods, your intercession would be appreciated. Or just send some good thoughts our way.