No, it's not the end!  You are doing so much, more than most people would ever do.  And, yes, Wiley can recover and do well for a quite a while I believe.  Raven and Wiley had their amputations around the same day and I am pulling for you two.  Just try to take one moment at a time, rest when you can, rejoice when he's fine, and not worry about what hasn't happened yet. 

I know, much easier said than done becuase I'm struggling with it right now, but that's why I can say that.  😉

Hang in there! 

Dawn and Raven

You said : For the last month, everytime Wiley moves in bed, I wake up to check on him. I read these forums and lay awake at night wondering if I've done enough.

Man does this sound like deja vu. I did this for months with Shilo. I wish I could take all your worries away but, there is no magic pill for that. (I wish) It is so hard not to hit panic button every time somthing happens.

There are many tripawds here who went a awhile after the mets showed and had a great many good days left. We do spend a lot of time worrying about "when is it time" but, you will know when it is the right time.

So try to stay strong, and give that fur baby lots of loves each day.

Sending you my strength..

Alisa & Spirit Shilo Anne

Having gone through a couple lung met bursts with Yoda before he had to go, I would just advise you to keep your vet informed on the symptoms as much as you can and I would ask directly what you should watch for that might warrant getting him in.  Yoda's first met burst wasn't a big deal.  They did recommend more pain pills and that seemed to help, because he had had a loss of appetite with it.  His second met burst, however, caused enough blood loss that he started going into shock.  His snout above his nose I had noticed had gone cold.  With this met burst, he actually didn't cough up any blood, but he did have coughing fits that were longer than the time before and it was clear he couldn't get his breath.

That said, if you're prepared for an emergency as best as you'll ever be, set your fears aside so you can enjoy every minute with Wiley.  That's what he needs most!  And there's plenty of reason not to despair - Wiley couldn't totally bounce back from this.  Yoda did after his first met burst.  His cough eventually went away completely.  He went on to catch a rabbit in the backyard a week or two later.  And it sounds like Caira Sue has bounced back from her bloody cough!  Yea!!  Tika had a few too, I think, and she was the queen of bouncing back!

You're doing great.  Hang in there!

Wiley's Dad,

As always, the preceding posting are filled with excellent advice by wonderful people with a very large collective knowledge base.  We all should be most impressed by the advice from those who's angels have passed over the Rainbow Bridge, for they have walked these steps.  In spite of being on this journey for 12½ months, I consider Cherry and I to be newbies.  To us, the mere fact that you can ask the question "It's not the end yet, is it?", would indicate that IT IS NOT!  There has been some discussion as to "how definitive" are the signs, but from my experience with loosing previous companions, your love will tell you that Wiley has endured enough.  This is not to say that it will be easy, for I am concerned that I will ask too much of Cherry because I honestly do not know how I will continue without her.

Regarding your question "And still I wonder….is it enough?", that actually is much harder to deal with.  The short answer is YES, but the heart and the mind do not always communicate in a logical manner.  We have all been in the mode of second guessing our actions, but such guessing is counterproductive.  Your actions have been gigantic and your course true, but like you the doubts creep in every time I see Cherry's energy level slip, her appetite slip, or her having a long coughing spell.  It has been said many times above, Wiley will take your cue so stay as possitive as possible around Wiley.  Be sure that you are treating the soul as well as the body.  Have you done something with Wiley that was purely for his enjoyment.  I will be taking Cherry out for a ride around the Valley because she loves to take rides.  It helps provide a purpose for her to fight.  She is laying here now beside me, so I better make sure that she does not peek.  She will be all over me till we go if she see that I have the ride planned.  Hoped this helps, but know that you are doing just great and do not doubt that fact.

Paws Crossed and Sending Pawsitive Thoughts,

Bob & Cherry

Hey, sorry I've missed all this discussion-and Caira Sue is famous now, because all these other people are bringing up her name!

I work nights, and when I do I work 3-12 hr shifts and miss about 4 days of life!

Anyway, we thought for SURE it was the end when Caira was coughing up copious amounts of frank red blood. She would calm down while sitting, then take a few steps and hack up another big huge bunch of it. I tried so hard to hold in my anxiety about it, but I think she read me anyway. She acted very nervous. Or was it that she was coughing up blood? Anyway, I thought it was the end. I decided to take her to the ER. I grabbed her harness and she was like "YAY! ROADTRIP!!" She only coughed once in the car on the way there. When we got there she coughed only a little blood.

They confirmed what I thought and feared-it was a lung mets burst. We kept her quiet the whole next day. She dry hacked some the next day, but no blood. Then 2 days later we went to the tripawd party. I seriously thought it would be a 15 minute trip of "hi, nice to see you, sorry we can't play, my dogs cancer is getting worse." But Caira decided otherwise.

She was dancing as we took the exit to get there. She was pulling me to get to the park. My husband was like "we need to take it slow today." and I was like "could you tell her that."

Caira Sue played for 4 hours that day. No coughing, no blood. I'm sure the NorCal Tripawds people think I have Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. I mean really...she didn't act sick at all.

And maybe that's the point. It's all knowledge. If you or I were hacking up blood from lung cancer, we wouldn't be playing volleyball or swimming 2 days later. We would be saying "oh, I have cancer and I was coughing up blood. I can't run." Dogs don't think like that. They think "I feel like running." and they run.

Today she ran through my legs (something she does to show her excitement about you coming in the door, usually 2-3 times with a big grin) TWENTY FIVE times! I counted. She followed me from room to room to run through my legs more. Such happiness!

So, I don't know what to tell you other than it's not a sign of the end. It's a sign of the process. Cancer is a crappy journey, because we all know how it ends. However, the minutes and the days of the journey can be an absolute delight. Keep looking for he good. I hope you have many more.

mary and caira sue

My nursing friend said we should recommend dog parks to all patient's who are coughing up blood! ha!

I'm totally in agreement with Mary and Caira Sue, Tika just wouldn't abide by "take it easy, honey".  Especially if a trip to the lake, or rompy area, or elsewhere was involved.

I like the comments about if you have to ask is it time, then it's not yet.  I didn't really understand until we were there what that meant.

Even the last week of Tika's life, because of the Pred, she was drinking/eating alot and therefore needed to go out a lot, and she would STILL hike her butt up the stairs to wake me.  Of course, I would wake up before she got all the way to the top after the first few times.  Soon after I just aired up the mattress and slept with her down stairs.

I can't advise to you when to say 'it's time.'  I know for us it was the fact that Tika was starting to gasp for air, and was getting too weak to get up.  I was at the 'it's time' point before my husband, but I had started staying home with her more because I could pull it off. Her big squishy body was taut with pain, and when the final shot of the Buprenorphine didn't seem to be effective.....it was time.  

It was time to release that mighty body from it's pain.

It was time to not have her struggle to breathe.

It was time to give her the one gift that we had to give her, and that was to let her go.

It was time to let her know that she didn't have to be strong for us anymore.

I'm really not trying to be poetic, but it was our mantra that night/morning before she passed.  You might notice that 'coughing up blood' was in the mantra, funny it never seemed to bug her half as much as it freaked us out.  Sometimes, she almost looked relieved like, that got I finally hacked that crap up.

I hope you are doing well.

Take care,

Kim