My Beloved Barkley (1991 - 9/25/06)
For those of you who remember from cc.net, I posted my 1st Cushpup's story, Barkley. For our new members, I am posting to give you a beacon of hope for this dratted disease.
I adopted Barkley from a local breed rescue when he was 2 years old. He came to me to help heal the hole in my heart from the loss of a miniature poodle who had been a beloved friend of my college & early adult years. Barkley was a Lhasa/Shih Tzu mix. He came to live with my Mom & me, & I think he decided that since these ladies were so nice to give me a kind, loving home, it will be my duty to protect them, & protect our house. Barkley could be quite comical trying to be the big protector. Here is the little 25 lb. pup who is trying to act like the mean, ferocious 100 lb. guard dog. Anyone that would come in the house, he would go nuts, & just bark constantly to let us know that someone was in the house who he really thought didn't need to be there. Mom & I would try our best to get him to knock it off, with absolutely no success. Friends & family basically got used to it. My Mom's youngest sister came to visit us quite frequently, & of course, B would start in on his "rant". My aunt was a retired school teacher. All she did was whip out her misbehaving kid's voice on Barkley, & he absolutely shut up in world record time. My Mom & I just looked at each other, kind of stunned, then broke out in gales of laughter. Any time my aunt would come, she would correct Barkley with the "voice" once, & that would be it for the rest of her visit. Barkley & Harley, both, were a lifeline for me during my Mother's struggle with Alzheimer's. I can't tell you how many times I would come home from the hospital when she was very ill with pneumonia. I would hold on to B, crying my eyes out, asking him what were we going to do if we lose her.
Barkley endured more medical problems than most humans do, & was one of the bravest of God's creatures when it came to facing these problems. Prior to his Cushing's diagnosis, he suffered from extremely severe allergies which manifested as chronic ear infections. He was on a number of medications to control his allergies, thanks to his derm vet, which finally got everything settled down. When B was about 7 years old, he blew a cruciate ligament which had to be repaired twice. The abnormal pre-op lab work, including a sky-high alkaline phosphatase, is what set us on the path to a Cushing's diagnosis. Barkley was very successfully treated with lysodren for almost 8 years with really no major issues from his Cushing's. Unfortunately, at the age of 13, he became very ill, with my GP vet & the derm vet unable to determine the problem. A trip to an IMS is what led to a diagnosis of lymphoma. At 13, with his many problems, I can't lie, I, initially, felt that I would not treat the lymphoma. I did seek a consult with an oncologist, & after hearing that without treatment, B would be gone in 4-6 weeks, I did opt for chemotherapy. I made the decision because I had lost my dearest Mom to the ravages of Alzheimer's, about a year prior to B becoming ill. I was ABSOLUTELY NOT ready to loose him. The chemo that B received give an average remission of 6-8 months. My boy blew those statistics to the moon & back, surviving 20 months with a good quality of life. His oncologist absolutely love him, along with all of the onco techs, said he was one of their star patients. He never gave them any grief, even when he had to lie still for over 2 hours to receive his chemo infusion.
On the day Barkley crossed the bridge, I will have to say that he had been struggling for the past several weeks, & I knew the time was coming. I got home from work that afternoon, came in from the garage. B was always sleeping in underneath the dining room table where he could watch the garage door for me to come in the house. I came in, he struggled out to greet me. I took one look at him, & started crying. I know to this day that he was telling me, "Mom, I am so very tired of feeling bad, all the trips to doctors, & all of the medicine I have to take. Please do the last kind thing that you can for me. With tears streaming down my face, I told him, "OK". We already had appointments with both the derm & onco vets that afternoon, so I loaded him in the car, & away we went.
We went to an exam room in the clinic. Dr. Lewis, his derm vet, came in, took one look at B, & said he was going to get the oncologist. They moved us into an exam room in a section of the clinic that was closed that day, so we could spend some quiet time together. A couple of the onco techs came in, & gave me a ceramic paw print of B that they had made as a keepsake for me. I held him in my lap, told him how grateful I was that he was my friend, & that I would see him, again. Here is the remarkable thing about B's passing, his oncologist, derm vet, his IMS, & several of the onco techs came into the exam room when I was ready to offer their support. His oncologist asked me if I wanted to be there, I told her, "Not really, but I promised Barkley that I would be with him to the end of his journey." The injections were given, & my Barkley was gone. All of us had tears streaming down our faces. I really never knew how truly kind people could be until that afternoon, which was the worst afternoon of my life.
Yes, Barkley was named after Charles Barkley, the NBA basketball star, who played for the Phoenix Suns, among several other teams.
Dearest Barkley, you will always be in my heart.
Debbie
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