Rooting for the Underdogs

[captainsblog]

We watched an amazing film with an amazinger cast tonight- The Damned United, a character study about, of all things, English soccer between 1968 and the mid-1970s. Michael Sheen, he of The Queen and fortunately no relation to Charlie, plays the manager of a second-division Derby team that works its way up to the Major League of English football and surpasses the top-dawg Leeds United team managed by one Colm Meaney. The Potter franchise contributes Timothy Spall and Jim Broadbent in equally compelling roles.

Eleanor has little use for sport in general, and my love of soccer would fit inside a thimble and leave room for a rather large thumb, but this film worked beautifully for both of us. The cinematography, the uses of color and music, and the faithfulness to its era- all spot-on.  I give it four yellow cards out of a possible five.

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Tasha, meanwhile, seems okay and the signs for her improvement are there. They'd drawn blood for a routine heartworm test at the same time, and in doing a blood count from that, they confirmed that hers is perfectly healthy (and she's negative for heartworm, as well). The estimate for the tumor removal is not too bad, and will include a full biopsying of the mass to see how likely it is to recur or spread. We still haven't decided to go forward with it, but if it will likely make her happier and more comfortable for weeks or months or even years, as opposed to just prolonging the inevitable, it will be hard to say no to it.

Comments

[i-beckygardens.livejournal.com]

We went through this with Lucy, she had her first cancer at 12. She went through three cancer surgeries and one paw repair that extended her life until she was 17. The last cancer that she got at 16 the vet told us to leave, give her the best life possible for her time left, and then let her go, which we did. I don't regret a penny I spent on her, but I understand each person has to make that decision themselves or as a family. Until her last year her quality of life was good, then she declined quickly.

[i-beckygardens.livejournal.com]

You are all in my prayers.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I do hope that Tasha's treatment options leave her with the potential to be a happy, healthy pup for months or years more. *hug*

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

We'd be happy with weeks if they're happy, active, contented ones. I've now lived with this dog for a tenth of my life, and I think I can tell when she's in distress versus just getting old. At least I hope so.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

Sounds like Tasha is otherwise healthy right now, which is a sign that removing that mass may be well worth it. Hopefully they'll find out it's unlikely to recur!

I talked about this with my sis last night (she was driving to the farm so she's not going to be online this weekend), and we think you folks have a good idea of which interventions provide a good trade-off between health benefit and not a lot of trauma for the critter.

Hang in there. You'll get through it. And so will Tasha, it sounds like!

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

I have almost as much use for football as I have for, well, football. But it sounds good. Consider it added to my list.

Here's one you can cross off yours: Men With Brooms. Written and directed by Paul Gross of "Due South" fame, with Leslie Nielsen, about curling... what could go wrong?

This could. It has a few funny bits, but it's a farrago that doesn't quite know what it wants to be: a rom-com, a buddy movie, an homage to a sport.

If you have a chance to see "Slings & Arrows", though, don't miss it.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Oh, we've already seen MwB. I've got some actual curling friends from around here- "how can you go wrong with a sport that lets you have beer on the ice?" and all.

The other is duly noted and Netflix-queued.