Sam has been scratching a lot lately, so Cliff took him to the vet for a check-up.  The vet didn’t think his skin had any issues.  But in the process of checking him, the vet thought Sam’s spleen was quite enlarged, pushing against his other organs and causing discomfort.  Sam has also lost about 10 lbs in the last 5 or 6 months.  So Sam went back to the vet yesterday to get an ultrasound, x-ray, and blood work done.

I went to work this morning, waiting for Cliff to call me with the test results.  I’ve been holding my breathe all morning, worried about the worst case scenario.  What if it’s cancer?  What if it’s some odd disease?  My heart sinks everytime I think about the possibility of Sam suffering, or us losing him.  If you’ve ever met Sam, you would know he is the most gentle soul in the world.  I could have never asked for a more amazing dog.  The moment we laid our eyes on him 5 years ago, we knew that us and Sam are destined to be together.

When Cliff finally text’d me in the afternoon, I was deep in thought working on a proposal at work and I heard the “beep” on my phone.  I picked up my phone from my desk, took a deep breathe, and opened up the text message.  First word I saw was “cancer”.  F@&!#@!!

Then I read it again, phew, Cliff said “cancer free”.  The blood work came back, and the vet decided that Sam is as healthy as a 2-year-old lab.  He’s not sure why Sam’s spleen is enlarged, but it is definitely not cancer, and not even an infection.  So, all that to say there’s nothing wrong with Sam, and we just wait and see what happens with the spleen.

I always assume Sam will just live forever.  He’s an integral part of our lives, and I can’t imagine life without him.  Sure, in my back of my mind, I know his life is finite.  But on a day-to-day basis, I take it for granted that he’s always there for me, ready to cheer me up, loyal and loving, nudging his head under my arms, sitting on the bath mat waiting for me to come out of the shower, curled up at my feet when I work on the computer, and always so excited when I dance with Joshua.

What I haven’t conveyed here often, is that Sam has been a constant in our lives.  He doesn’t say much, but he provids us with companionship and love all day long.  I don’t post often here about him because he doesn’t talk and doesn’t do new trick, but he fills a part of my heart that no other person or animal could.