Nitro (written by William)

We awoke early today to get the feeding and milking done ahead of schedule. A appointment had been made for Nitro at 09:00 in Raleigh at the state veterinary hospital/school. Where Nitro's two oldest sons(here at Hidden Haven)were dehorned last year.
In the past few months,he had been not feeling his best. Peggy had pulled him through what seemed to be a bad cold or possibly pneumonia earlier this year. But in recent months he continued to lose weight and act lethargic. At times he would swing his lower jaw from side to side which made us think that he may have injured it playing with his sons and Leonard.
Traffic was heavy on the way from Fayetteville to Raleigh which made us about 20 minutes late. The receptionist paged the vet(Dr. Foster) as soon as we checked in. He came to the waiting room and started the process to get a history on our concerns. Within a few minutes,we were backed into a unloading dock and encouraging "Nitro" to walk off the back of the pickup. He easily did this and walked to the holding stalls for large animals.
Dr. Foster asked more questions and intermittently examined Nitro. He seemed to be leaning toward thinking that the jaw injury or a impacted tooth was likely the problem.
After a x-ray he said that a tooth or injury was the probable cause of his discomfort. However he said that there was a slight possibility of cancer. We ok'ed some more tests,blood work and extracting a sample from the glands under his jaw.
We left to take care of some paperwork and get bite to eat. Arriving back at the hospital late afternoon we or I was expecting the news that a injury was the problem and with some continued good care all would fine. Peggy had expressed more apprehension about news to come.
Sadly to say this but she was right! Nitro has a aggressive cancer that is incurable (Maxillary lymphosarcoma). The Dr. explained our options of the near future. He could put Nitro down at the present time or we could take him home and have it done in the next few weeks. I'm not sure which would be the better choice but I opted for him coming home and take some medication(steroids) for a short time, and then--------.
Nitro is a champion billy and even in discomfort he continues to be the most gentle,yet massive built goat in this part of the country.
Peggy is being the remarkable lady she always is,while hurting deeply,crying some,she continues to be the Hidden Haven mainstay center.