Dear Conway is not doing well at all.  Sadly we got more bad news when his biopsy came back.  He has an Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma that is in the very back of his throat.   We got him back to our Rehab facility so we could take care of him and get him better.  Sadly, because of the pain associated with the tumor, he was in a lot of pain and had to go back to the hospital to make sure his pain level was controlled.  In addition to the pain, he still had excessive draining.   They did not put a drain in but have been doing warm compresses to keep him comfortable.

I have gone over Conway's Records a million times to see if there was any indication of this in his records.  Sadly, there was no sign of this at the time we had him.  We knew of the anal tumors, and those were thoroughly evaluated.  The tumor in his throat would have eventually become apparent when Conway had trouble breathing because of where the growth was located.

Conway did not need to have all of the tooth extractions he had.  He was an older dog that was doing fine given his age and the hardships he had already endured.  These surgeries set off a chain of events that he has not been able to come back from.  We will never know how the hyoid bones became crushed in his neck or the puncture wound below his chin.  That is part of his history that only he will know.

What we do know is that we have a clause in our contract that says you have to have prior permission from NAR before doing any major surgery on any of our pups unless the animal is in a Life-Threatening situation.  We were contacted after the fact on several occasions from the Family and even sent them a note saying, NO more procedures until we had addressed this with the Surgeons and Medical Team that knew him best, first.   If he needed more surgery, we would get him back here to do it.

It is hard to hand over one of our pups after saving them just for this reason.  We know the animal better than anyone when you first adopt them.   It is only after years of living with a Family that you know them better than we do.   We have some of the most incredible Adoptive Families that love our pups unconditionally.  They stay in touch with us and share the joys of loving them.

We will be picking up dear Conway and will be bringing him back to our Rehab facility where he will be loved and adored.   We have already been told that he probably only has a couple of weeks left.  The Oncologist wanted us to start Conway on Palladia Chemotherapy to help reduce the size of the tumor which we will be doing.  Pain management and Quality of Life is our top Priority for Conway.   We have Vets that are on standby if we notice him having any difficulty breathing.

The only good part of all of this is that Conway could care less what is happening.  He is a happy boy that LOVES spending time with the pups and hanging out with them in the yard.   Being outside is his favorite activity.   He would rather spend time with them than be in our lap being loved on.

Any support to help us with Conway's bills would be greatly appreciated.  We have done a Cat Scan and a lot of other expensive procedures to get this amazing little dog comfortable.  We will continue to do everything that is recommended until his time comes to ensure he is happy and comfortable.   Thanks for caring and being his Guardian Angel and ours.   We are forever grateful for your Love and Support.