[nagdu] Lexia Retirement

[Cindy Ray]

Nicole, I am so sorry that you have had to retire her, but it sounds as if
you made a good decision. I can imagine that you are feeling rather lost
without her.

Cindy


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nicole Torcolini
via nagdu
Sent: Monday, December 1, 2014 11:02 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: [nagdu] Lexia Retirement

Lexia retired when I visited my parents for Thanksgiving, and she will live
with my parents in Washington State now. Lexia has mast cell cancer, but it
is under control. It started in May of 2013 when she got a bump on her front
right leg that was thought to be some kind of bug bite or something, but,
even after treating it with a spray, it did not go away. In June of 2013,
the tumor was surgically removed. Because it was a high grade tumor, Lexia
was given chemotherapy, which went well. In January of 2014, everything
seemed to be fine, so the chemotherapy was stopped. In July of 2014, the
cancer returned in a different spot on the same leg, so chemotherapy was
resumed and worked for a while. In September, the cancer started coming back
in spite of the chemotherapy, so Lexia was switched to a different
chemotherapy. However, the new chemotherapy both did not work and had bad
side effects. A third chemotherapy was tried, which luckily worked, and
Lexia is still on it. She is doing fine, but she is not the same dog that
she used to be. She does not have the same endurance that she used to have.
Also, although Lexia very much enjoyed her job, I do not want to do anything
to put even the slightest amount of stress on her and cause the cancer to
come back.

    Lexia is now living with my parents, whom we call her grandparents. I
think that she is still slightly confused. She wanted to come with us when
my father and I left for the airport.

 

Nicole

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