Syncroid (Dan), your story is so heartwarming and you have a lucky new addition to your family.
We had a 65 pound Greyhound/Shepherd mix (our LUCY) who we adopted from the Broward Co. Humane Society shelter where my wife volunteered back in '92. She was a gawky 5 month old mutt that no one wanted, but that my wife loved to spend time with. Her boss told her one day that Lucy was scheduled to be put down (for lack of space at the shelter) the next day, so that sealed it - she became a Romanos family member. She was such an awesome dog. At age 9, over the Christmas holidays, she was diagnosed with Canine Osteosarcoma - an almost always fatal bone cancer. We had her right-front leg amputated, and a few days later she came home. The recovery was tough for her, but she made it. By sheer dumb luck, the amputation seemed to stop the spread of her cancer, and we were lucky enough to have her for another six years, hobbling around on three legs as if she were born that way. She finally passed at the ripe old age of 15 - one of the toughest days of my life.
My Lucy's last day...
