Its been a week.....

And man what a hard week. In some ways it seems like just yesterday and in others it seems like he's been gone forever. Overall each day is a bit easier but the pain isn't gone. I was able to go away for a couple of days and I think that helped. Our home seems so empty without his wonderful "presence"....its just not the same :-(. I know he is gone but man sometimes it is hard to comprehend and get your mind around it. At times I feel so lost because for every day for almost 16 months I was fighting an evil enemy, cancer, and that enemy finally won and it just feels weird to not have that fight part of my daily life. It just seem so unfair that he is gone, yet I feel so blessed that he was part of our lives, it just wasn't long enough!!

The final blow......

It is with extreme sadness that I need to report that as of shortly before 2:00 today Jack is no longer with us in body, though he will continue to be here in spirit for those he touched. I was fortunate that even though it was a Sunday my vet agreed to come to my home and do it so that he could be somewhere he loved and felt safe. While extremely hard, I know he is at peace now. I was able to keep is pain under control but something else was going on and it got to the point where he was having difficulty breathing and got to the point today where he couldn't even lay down, he also stopped eating. Up until the end he was typical Jack with his loving eyes and a tail wag. He was even able to go on a short walk. On first glance you would never be able to tell anything was wrong. My mom came up to be with us and her initial reaction when he greeted her was oh he has time left. But it didn't take long to see beyond his wonderful greeting and big tail wagging. I've had many animals but Jack has touched my soul more than any other. It has been a long, hard 16 months full of ups and downs, but he has fought hard and stayed strong up to the end. He was able to say goodbye to his wonderful oncologist on Friday (though at the time we didn't know how near the end was) and today his sitters when I was gone also came for a last visit.

Attached is an awesome picture that we took this morning next to a stone we made in his honor which was placed by his favorite spot to lay.

Its time to start healing for my daughter and I, but it will be long road.

More bad news.....

Well Jack went to the vet today to possibly have a few small growths removed. I took him to his "regular" vet on Friday because I was concerned about his limping and that he seemed to be limping on his right front leg too. The vet couldn't find anything obvious wrong but did suggest possibly removing the small growths with just a local so that they would not get large and ulcer. After speaking to the vet that would be doing the surgery and the vet that ultimately diagnosed him I decided to not remove anything but to ok x-rays to see what was going on with his leg and lungs. While his lungs came back clear, his right rear leg is showing signs that the cancer has spread there. We now have to face the hard, cold fact that he doesn't have long. We are now at the point of making sure we control his pain and continue to keep his quality of life up. Once either of those suffer we will then have to make the hardest decision a pet owner makes. For now we will shower him with treats, play and love.