Sabian
Blogging has never been my forte. Writing, sure, that’s easy. Blogging is different somehow. After a recent incident with a dog-friend I wanted to introduce him to the world.
I'd like you to meet Sabian. He's a good boy with a good family life. He lives with two other dogs: his little brother, Mezzie, and his big sister, Darby. This little pack of hooligans have a pet human who is one of the most important people in my life, which makes them, by proxy, like my kids... or at least little nieces and nephews.
Puppy kisses and cake on Sabian’s birthday. I love this little boy. ♥
Sabian came home as a puppy and has been part of the family ever since. He's never had any serious health problems until this March when he had a grand mal seizure. With no prior warning signs, it was shocking, to say the least. After rushing to the vet, it was discovered that he had a glioblastoma brain tumor. If you are unfamiliar with this sort of thing, a GB tumour is a pretty bad diagnosis. We were devastated but knew that we had to do whatever we could for him.
It was a scary time, but we rallied around him. We have been taking the best possible care of him and making sure he is comfortable and happy. It's not easy, but we are determined to fight for him. Devloping a treatment plan was crucial. Guided by the vet and several tests to determine the most appropriate course, a proper care plan has been worked out. After a lot of consideration and weighing the risk of something so invasive, we decided to proceed with surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible.
The operation went well. It was smooth and without incident, and we were so relieved. The first few days of recovery, however, were pretty scary. The vet reassured us that everything was fine, but seeing your little boy in such a state is just plain hard. To help address the mounting vet bills, we have set up a GoFundMe page.
Just waking up from surgery.
As of today, the incision is almost fully healed and his medication is working. He makes minor improvements every day, with some days being better than others. Sabian also lives with dementia which presents it's own challenges, but as we adapt to his new behaviours we become better at reading his signals and meetings his needs in a way that allows us to help him feel normal.
Sabian's life is different from what he knew and the tumour may come back at any time, but we are with him every step of the way to make him as comfy and happy as possible. We still take him for walks, and cuddle with him on the couch as we try to keep things as routine and predictable for him as we can. This little guy has taught us a lot about resilience, strength and love in the face of adversity.
Sabian is our family's hero and he inspires us every single day. We are so thankful that he is as strong as he is and we cherish every moment we have with him.
I'll be posting more cheerful updates and lots of photos of his shenanigans and adventures as he has them. His recovery has been bumpy and arduous but improvements are steady, albeit slow.
Thank you for taking the time to read about Sabian.
The little dog pack with Sabian front and centre. The incision is healing and he’s looking like quite the little bad-ass. Pretty soon he’ll be making up stories to impress the ladies. Haha
