This blog is about part 1 of my 20,000+ mile car-camping trip with my dogs from DC to Alaska via Labrador. Part 1, in 2011, was to the end of the road in northeastern North America in Labrador and then on to Quebec and Ontario, 7609 miles. Part 2, which took place in 2012, picked up where Part 1 left off in Ontario and was supposed to extend to Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Canadian Rockies, but Leben, my male German shepherd, became paralyzed on the trip so we cut it short. We will finish the journey in 2013, when we will return to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

(August 2nd) - New Snag

This morning, as I gave my dog Erde a final bath before our delayed departure tomorrow, I discovered a mass larger than a golf ball on the inside of her right thigh. Somehow, this mass was either overlooked by the vet who examined her on Sunday for a urinary tract infection or appeared since then, perhaps triggered by the infection. I immediately took Erde to the vet hospital. Unfortunately, I will not know the results of this morning’s tests until Friday to determine a course of action.  On Friday, the vet will tell me tentatively whether I can wait two months to have the mass removed. Only when the cytology report comes in a week from now will I know for sure whether the mass must be removed immediately. 

Obviously, the worst case scenarios of this are not things I would want to risk dealing with on the road, especially where I am going, although I would have been prepared to deal with them.   It is extremely fortunate that I discovered this today.  It is also fortunate that I had allowed three extra days in the first leg of this trip (around Labrador), so I can postpone our departure until Friday when I should hear back from the vet.  Obviously, if the news is not good, the trip will be cancelled. If I am able to leave on Friday, I will, but if the cytology report comes in with bad news next week when I am on the road, I will return home to deal with the situation.

For those who track vet reports, which this blog is in danger of morphing into, two weeks ago Leben came down with an ear infection.  Then, in the course of some other tests, the vet discovered a "mass" on his prostate.  Further tests a week later revealed not a mass on his prostate, but only an enlarged prostate, which I knew about, so that was a false alarm, albeit a worrisome one.  Then came Erde’s urinary tract infection.  As if that wasn’t enough, when I returned home last evening, I discovered that one or both of my dogs had ripped into my food bags for the trip and consumed the handful of chocolate bars in there.  (Chocolate can be fatal to dogs.) It was too late to rush them to the vets so I administered first aid on my own since the amount of chocolate would have been fatal to Erde if she was the one who had eaten it.  (As it turns out, Leben was the culprit, and he suffered several hours of a less serious reaction.) And then came this morning's incident.

What's odd is that this same trip was planned for 2003 and 2005, and both times cancelled because of medical emergencies with Erde. And those would-be trips followed my trips to Alaska (2001) and Labrador (2002), on which Leben developed some serious medical issues in the middle of nowhere.  (What's going on here?)

These things do happen, I guess. But I consider myself lucky that it is not much worse.  And the truth is, after four weeks of continuous intensive preparation for this trip, I could use a few extra days to prepare for and rest before the trip, if it still goes off.  And if it doesn’t, there's always next year.
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