Nearing the end of the road for an old friend
I try not to post too much “personal” stuff here since this is a photography blog meant to chronicle my journey from amateur to professional. But sometimes, things just come up and divert your attention for a little while.
Almost 9 years ago, a little puppy came into my life. I had decided that I wanted to buy a dog. I had never owned a dog before, at least not on my own. I was living in Pittsburgh at the time and I traveled all the way over to Philadelphia to inspect a new litter of Doberman Pinschers. I had always been impressed by Dobermans. Not because of their reputation but, because, they just looked so majestic and intelligent. I remember remarking to a friend at the time that they always looked like they were “in uniform”. When I arrived at the breeder, I remember opening the door to the little stall where all the new puppies were. I had no idea how I was going to pick from so many adorable little puppies. However, within a minute of sticking my head into the stall, one puppy decided to stop fooling around with his brothers and sisters and came over to greet me. That was it. My new little boy. I decided to call him Sieger, a German word for victor or champion. He was German after all, right?
He lived with me for about two years until I decided it was time to move back to DC to further my career. I had gone to school in DC in the early ’90s and I had been dying to come back. Unfortunately, though, trying to find an apartment that accepts what had turned into a 90 pound dog wasn’t easy. After some serious consideration, I decided to give him to my mother, who was living in upstate New York at the time. She is the quintessential dog lover and the only person in the world who I trusted to take care of my little boy.
Within a couple years, she moved to Frederick, MD, about 45 minutes from where I lived in Arlington. He’s been with her for about seven years now. I hated giving him up but I would still got to see him fairly often when Mom and I would get together and it was obvious that he was much better off. It was a much quieter suburban setting with all sorts of new dogs to play with. He was happy.
Just this week, however, Sieger was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Bone cancer. He had been having trouble with his left hind leg but, initially, everyone, including the vet, assumed it was a torn ACL or a pulled muscle. I saw him on Sunday and, other than being a little grumpy and unable to use his hind leg, he seemed like himself. This week, though, my mother returned to the vet where they discovered that, not only did he have bone cancer in his left hind leg, but the cancer had already spread to his lungs. Had it just been the leg, they could have immediately amputated it and he could continue his life as a happy, if somewhat hobbled, dog. Unfortunately, that’s not the case anymore. It’s past the point where they would recommend even treating it. So, he’s on painkillers for now and that seems to be making him fairly comfortable.
I’ll be heading up to my mother’s place in the next couple days to take some pictures of him since there is a significant chance that he may not be around when I return from India at the beginning of June. I’m sure I’ll be posting those photos here.
Anyway, I apologize for the slightly off-topic, slightly depressing post. But I appreciate you taking the time to read it.
Tags: cancer, dog, sieger
