Argh

Lydy misunderstood the vet. Chumley has not been determined not to have lymphoma. They can determine it by doing an endoscopy. For a thousand dollars. If he has it, they can treat him for 26 weeks and maybe extend his life by about a year, for another two thousand dollars. Lydy hasn't got it, we haven't got it, Chumley's part-time person hasn't got it. The drugs that are used to treat inflammatory bowel disease overlap with those used to treat lymphoma and can make a patient resistant to the chemo. Lydy doesn't know yet if they'll let her treat him for the bowel disease and see what happens if she makes it clear there's no way she can pay for the endoscopy and the chemo. They don't have -- I wanted to say scholarships, but I don't mean that; any kind of assistance for people in this situation. Lord knows, the human health-care situation in this country is quite bad enough already without adding in pet stuff. They have a payment plan, but it has very high interest rates.

We hate this a lot.

Pamela