IWSG and Poor Puppy

I know I'm a little early for the IWSG post. Even more so than usual. But next week I'm moving. Who knows when I'll be online again. Hopefully, it will be in time for August's IWSG.

 This month's question is:  What personality traits of your own have you inserted into a character in your story?

Well, in my book,  Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China, I've used some of my children's personality traits. Not exactly the way they are, but similar. Bubba, like my son, is personable and someone who thinks outside of the box. In his younger years, he tended to be impulsive, like the character in the story. Squirt, like my daughter, is the responsible older one, always watching out for her brother and taking care of others. The mom in the book, although she doesn't make much of an appearance, is like me. Practical, observant, and always busy doing something.

Now for the story about Schultz, the poor puppy.

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook know that Schultz, our 115-pound German Shepherd, and subject of many stories here, has bone cancer.

We are heartbroken.

A few weeks ago, he started limping. We thought he had sprained his leg either jumping out of the car or running around chasing the flashlight.  We took him to the vet who took X-rays. It appeared he had no broken bones, so he was sent home with some pain killers.

A week later, the vet called back. He checked the X-rays again and was concerned about a shadow he saw along the bone. He thought it might be indicative of cancer.  He referred us to a specialist. The specialist took a super-powerful X-ray and said, "Yep. It's cancer." Poor Schultz has a tumor inside the bone that is growing and pushing it out.

The cancer is aggressive. If we did nothing, he would have only three months to live.

We had a decision to make:  Give Schultz radiation and painkillers to keep the pain under control as long as we could until we had to put him down, or amputate the leg. X-rays showed that Schultz's lungs were clear, so cancer had not metastasized to there. We don't know if it's anywhere else. Schultz was a candidate for amputation which may save his life, at least for another year or two. He may also need eight weeks of chemo on top of that. The whole thing is a gamble.

It is difficult to imagine Schultz as a three-legged dog. Especially since he loves running around, chasing things, and climbing up and down stairs to visit everybody. Probably, if it was up to me, I would have done the first option. Keep him as comfortable as possible and put him down when it was time. But the kids couldn't bear to lose their dog yet, especially since we've got a lot of other rotten things going on right now. They opted for amputation.

So, as I write this, Mr. Schultz is at the doggy hospital prepping for surgery. When  I see him tomorrow, he will have only three legs. Hopefully, he'll adjust well, and hopefully, it won't be too painful for us to see him that way. 

Whenever I come back, I'll let you know how it all went.