Update: Very sad news
Our beautiful and beloved Lacey is gone. She died very peacefully at the vet this morning.
I started getting concerned about her breathing the day before yesterday. It was very fast and shallow-- like she wasn't getting full breaths. But other than that she seemed fine. Then about 3 this morning she wouldn't lay down or sit, she was walking very lethargically around the house, and kind of stood and stared. She also vomited a good amount. She was craning her neck in an odd way, and alternating between panting and kind of puffy little breaths. You could really see her sides going in and out. I called the emergency vet # at 5:30 and told him what was going on and he thought perhaps she'd had another seizure and said dogs can often be disoriented and groggy for 24 hours after that. I did find a spot of pee in the dining room so she may have had a seizure. But she also just looked like she was in pain. I called the vet office at 7 when they opened and they said to bring her in at 8:45 when the vet got in.
In the meantime my DD had been coughing through the night and when she got up she complained of a sore throat and a pain in her stomach and I decided to keep her home from school. I do think she has a cold but she was also really worried about Lacey which I think explained the pain in the stomach. So I had to take her with me to the vet. I don't know if it was the right choice or not, but that's how it worked out.
We dropped DS at school and went to the vet. Lacey had a really hard time getting in the car. And she vomited twice on the drive over. It was just water and stomach acid. They took us in and examined her. They took her back to get a chest x-ray and we waited.
After about 15 minutes they brought Lacey back and called us into the exam room. The vet put the x-ray up on the screen and I knew right away. The cancer was all through the lungs. It was really striking.
The vet said she could prescribe massive doses of steroids which might shrink the stuff in her lungs about 20%, and she could give her something for nausea so she wouldn't likely be in any pain. She did say it would all be just to give her some time. I just knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Lacey was so miserable. And looking at the x-ray I knew she was never going to get any better. And I suggested to the vet that perhaps we should just go ahead and put her down since the other options were just prolonging the inevitable and we weren't ever going to have our Lacey back to chase squirrels and roll in the snow. And she said that yes it might be a blessing that she had gone down hill so quickly and up until yesterday was a happy dog. My DD left the room and I talked some more to the vet. I asked if she might make it until Christmas and the vet said she didn't think so. She also said it was likely she might just die on her own at home, and I just thought how horrible it would be if she died on her own at home alone. She said if the lungs were that bad the cancer was likely all through her.
So DDa came back in the room and I said I really thought the best thing was to put Lacey to sleep so she didn't have to suffer any more, and of course DD cried and cried but she didn't disagree. I suggested she say good bye to Lacey and maybe she shouldn't be in the room when they gave her the shot, and she said yes, she wanted to wait outside. So she gave Lacey a kiss and said goodbye and how much she loved her and that she was the best dog a girl could have. And then she waited in the waiting room.
They brought in a fleece blanket and laid it on the floor and put Lacey on it. I petted her and looked in her eyes and told her how much we loved her, and how thankful I was that she was part of our family, and that she would always be part of our family, and that she had been such a good and beautiful girl and taught us so much. She didn't look scared or nervous. And while I was talking to her and petting her the vet gave her the shot and she didn't flinch or twitch or anything, she just went to sleep. And the vet listened to her heart and said she was gone. Even the vet and the tech had tears in their eyes. And the vet thanked me for being such a good owner for Lacey and doing what was best for her.
Then we wrapped her up in the blanket and they cleaned everything up and they brought DD in. And we sat there for a long time petting her, telling stories about her, and crying. We finally gave a last kiss good bye and left.
We've been home for the last few hours. All her toys are around, her water and her breakfast are in her bowls. Her stocking is hanging by the fireplace. It's so quiet and sad.
I do think I did the right thing as heart broken as I am. I don't think she would have wanted to hang around a few more days on a lot of drugs and not being herself. We've been talking about how lucky we were to have Lacey and that she was the best dog we could have asked for. We were her last family and hopefully her best family, and we know that she knew she was loved.
We have to leave shortly to get DS from school and break the news to him. He knew we were going to the vet this a.m. but was not expecting this I'm sure.
So all in all I'm glad I didn't do the chemo. As fast as this moved I feel like she wouldn't have survived the first dose. And as it is she was really only sick for the last few hours, and had a peaceful death.
But it will be a very sad Christmas here
Lacey 
