Goodbye to Our Friend

I had been putting this off because I wasn't sure if I'd know what to write and honestly just didn't want to have to write it but I feel it needs to be done.  There are many of you out there who have followed Jake's story that I do not even personally know.  As was mentioned in my last post, Jake hadn't been doing well and sadly was out of options to treat this aggressive tumor of his.  Even worse, it was finally affecting his quality of life and poor Jake just wasn't himself.  He was in pain and we could not bear to see him like this.  It was clear last Friday, April 8th, that Jake was not himself and was suffering so we made the toughest decision we've ever had to make and chose to have Jake put to sleep.  Both Jenn and I were with him till the last moment and while it was extremely tough to be there I wouldn't have done it differently today.  I feel as if I've lost my best friend and we miss him everyday.  It has been tough but we are very thankful to our friends and family for being there for us.  There were a lot of people pulling for him and he made an impact in a lot of lives.  He will always be remembered and while our time with him was short, it was truly memorable.  He should be remembered as the crazy, loving and active dog he was.  Even with that horrific tumor he never let anything affect him until the very end. 
In his death I hope he can still help this clinical trial as they study his tumor that even fought back against the gene therapy.  Our thanks go out to Dr. Pluhar and her team for always being accessible and trying their very best to help Jake.  Her optimistic attitude was a pleasant surprise while having to deal with this.  She always hoped for the best.  We are also extremely thankful to everyone at Richmond Valley Animal Hospital, especially Dr. Esposito who went above and beyond her normal veterinary duties.  She truly is one of a kind.  She is what every vet should be and her love for animals is evident in her work.  Please visit the non-profit organization that she helped found, NY SAVE (Save Animals in Veterinary Emergency), which provides emergency veterinary care for low-income pet owners.  http://nysave.org/

2 Month MRI

Its been a while since I updated but during that time Jake was doing fairly well.  He has been very active and all around doing good.  Two days ago he started showing signs that he wasn't feeling well.  A few times he yelped as if in pain but I couldn't narrow it down to what was bothering him.  Then Thursday night we woke up at 4am and just could not get comfortable.  He was awake for an hour and a half trying to get comfortable and shaking so I called the on call vet and he decided to meet me at the office and check him out.  After some blood work and drugs he recommended we get his MRI as soon as possible.  He was originally scheduled to go next Friday but we were able to go in yesterday and get it done.
So I headed to Yonkers with Jake to meet with Dr. Joseph, the doc who initially diagnosed Jake with the brain tumor.  He gave Jake a initial exam and confirmed he was having issues on his right side, opposite the side of the tumor.  This was the first sign that things weren't good.  He then went in for the MRI.
A few hours later I was given the bad news.  Jake's tumor had fully returned and was actually slightly bigger than before the surgery.  In a matter of 2 months it was back.  I was devastated and couldn't have gotten worse news.  I spoke with Dr. Pluhar and she was also amazed with the speed of his particular tumor.  To make things worse, Jake actually received the gene therapy and not the placebo in the clinical trial.  His tumor was so aggressive that the gene therapy and chemo both failed to keep it in check.  Jenn and I are both truly saddened by this and don't know how much longer we have with him but we do know that we will cherish every last moment that we do.