Guest Blogger: Sandy O.
October, 2022
We adopted Nola 8 1/2 years ago from New Hope Rescue of Colorado Springs. From across the room of about 50 dogs we spotted Nola and knew she was ours. Nola is considered a rescue dog but, in many ways, has rescued us. She is our number one protector, knows when you are sad, never wants to disappoint us, and unlike her two sausage dog brothers, is always up for a run or long hike outside. Nola has grown with our family from the very beginning. She (along with her brothers) has been with us through one international move, three domestic, and welcomed our two children into the world.
When we found out we were moving back to Colorado we were so excited, thinking of all the places and things we were going to get to do with Nola again in the place we became a family. Three days after we arrived, we scheduled a vet appointment to have some lumps looked at on Nola’s neck. Two days later we received the devastating news that Nola has lymphoma. I knew when we decided to adopt three dogs, we would watch them grow old and may even see them get sick, but no one can prepare you for what that day will actually feel like when it comes. To say we took it hard is an understatement. Nola is the rock of our family and such high energy, to think of her sick just didn’t seem real.
Chemotherapy was our only hope, and we knew we had to start as soon as possible. I was worried how therapy would affect her but being the trooper that Nola is she has done amazing so far! Nola started her treatments 3 weeks ago and we could not ask for a better experience. She is eating well, still loves car rides, snuggles with her brothers, and even wants to play fetch again. We know the future may look a little different now, and our envisions of long hikes and runs with Nola may consist of evening walks to check the mail for a while, but we know that Nola is happy, and that is all we want for her in this life.
Update on Nola (February, 2023):
Nola is still in the process of receiving chemo treatments. We switched to an oral at home pill a few weeks ago but unfortunately she didn’t respond well to it. Her lymph nodes started to become swollen again so we found ourselves back at the vet. That was hard for us to hear but we quickly decided to switch treatments to a different medication and after one treatment her lymph nodes have reduced in size significantly. We will continue this treatment every 4 weeks for 5 treatments. As always, Nola remains happy and healthy during her chemo. She loves our daily car rides to and from our kids school as well as stalking a rabbit that likes to taunt her by eating right outside of our fence. She plays with her brothers daily and loves all the snuggles she can get. We are so happy to still have her with us!
KarmaSue 