We had lumps was in our throats for the past few weeks. Our lumps were about another lump that is on our dog Buddy's face. Kari noticed it a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving and mentioned it to the vet during his routine checkup, which just happened to be that week. It turned out to be a lymph gland, which triggered all kinds of worried speculation.

The vet aspirated the lymph gland and examined the sample. Her conclusion was grim. She feared that Buddy had contracted lymphoma, which is fatal in dogs. We were told to expect Buddy to live no more than three months without treatment or up to a year after a 12-week series of chemotherapy treatments.

Not being a specialist, she didn't entirely trust her own judgement, so she sent the tissue sample on to a pathologist, who would be able to confirm her diagnosis. Although we held out some hope, Kari and I began to mentally prepare for the worst. We told some family and close friends, but kept the news from the kids until we knew for sure.

Saturday we got a call from the vet. The pathologist totally disagreed with the lymphoma diagnosis. This swollen gland is a reaction to some infection, most likely from Buddy's nose (which would make sense since he's always whacking it into something during our daily ball-throwing exercises).

So: a huge sigh of relief.

Someone asked me about how I feel about the vet's misdiagnosis. We aren't sorry or upset at all, despite all the worry (and not a few tears). We appreciated her honesty and concern. Knowing what might be coming helped us work through the Big Question that every pet owner eventually has to face. We're strongly of the opinion that there is no single, correct answer to when it becomes appropriate (or even necessary) to end an animal's suffering through euthanasia. Each case is different and each human-animal relationship is unique. The best we can do is be honest with ourselves in doing what's best for our animal friends.

If Buddy's life had to end tomorrow, we are comforted to know that we have done so much to make his life a happy one--he's come a long way from the pathetic, neurotic, anxiety-prone puppy we picked up from Lollypop Farm. We've come a long way during that time, too. Here's hoping for a long, continued journey.