Buddy's Prognosis

On February 10th we took Buddy to the vet to get some testing on some bumps on his neck. On February 24th, one day before his 4th birthday, Buddy was diagnosed with high grade lymphoma. While he still seemed ‘normal’ we began him on Prednisone to help keep him comfortable.
This brought back memories of Niner, our Rottweiler, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in May 2007 and six months later diagnosed with lymphoma. Like the vet and others told us, we would know when his quality of life wasn’t quality anymore. On January 30, 2008, we said goodbye to my best friend of 9 years.
Buddy weighed 56 pounds when diagnosed and has dropped to 52 pounds as of Friday, even though he still wants to eat. He has distanced himself from us (not sleeping with us throughout the night, not cuddling with us on the couch, not being next to us every second). He appears to be depressed, breathing deeply and more lymphnodes are appearing daily. Since Sunday he has had continuous diarrhea and gas. Poor Uncle Todd let the boys out on Monday and walked in to a stink bomb! I called and left word for the doctor to call me.
I received a call from the doctor first thing this morning and we discussed Buddy’s progression. The doctor said it sounds like the lymphnodes have gone in his chest and seems to be progressing. He said he could try a drug, L-spar that has worked for others, but if this drug did not work, the only option left was to keep him on Prednisone and allow the cancer to run its course. He told me that we need to start preparing to make a decision and estimated his time would be within two weeks. I could only imagine how hard it is for him to tell an owner something we never want to hear while listening to them cry. I came home to be with my baby and give him some medicine to stop the diarrhea.
My heart is breaking for him to be comfortable and for us to get to say our goodbyes soon.