4 months!

Although it's only 2 AM, I couldn't wait to post and celebrate that Harvey has reached the 4 month mark!
He had a check up a few days ago - doing well so far. I think we've decided to not do an ultrasound at this point, opting for periodic bloodwork and x-rays instead, unless we see obvious symptoms that would indicate an ultrasound is warranted.
We're at a point where, if we see signs of metastasis, we'd have to make a decision about another surgery and I don't know if we'll choose to put Harvey through that again. He always recovers quickly from the procedure itself, but if additional tumors are found, they would most likely be in areas that would be difficult to remove completely, most often the heart, lungs or liver with HSA. His quality of life is at least as important as buying a few more weeks or months. Considering that recovery time may be prolonged due to his overall condition, who knows if he'd bounce back as well next time and we want him to enjoy every moment of every day from now on.

But we're so grateful for the time we've had so far, and continue to hope and pray that Harvey becomes one of those exceptions we've read about on the HSA and canine cancer boards. This anniversary marks a full month beyond what the oncologist said was typical for HSA without chemo, so we've beaten that limitation.

Now on to our next milestone - we're determined to have our boy with us to celebrate his 12th birthday on 5/26. That's two months from now and will be his sixth month since the splenectomy. We will be spending a lot of time in prayer, asking for continued good days and thanking God for the mercies he's shown us through these past 4 months.