Petey

I was fortunate enough to adopt Petey on 12/23/23. She was the perfect dog, especially after having lost 2 dogs in the prior two years. In late June of 2024, I thought I noticed a fullness in her neck. I thought I must be paranoid, having just lost my first dog to CLL about a year and a half earlier. I had to go on a brief trip, but made a vet appointment for when I got back. During my trip that week, I was notified about lumps in Petey’s neck. This could not wait until I got back the following week. I was able to get my dog walker’s husband, a true angel, get her to the vet for me from boarding. Later that day my fears were confirmed when the biopsy revealed Petey had lymphoma. I was on the phone trying to get her into an oncologist almost immediately after my plane landed less than a week later. We were able to see the oncologist the next day. He was encouraging, I decided on the gold standard treatment which we started right away. It was sobering to learn that her life expectancy would still be 14 months with this. But, I was ready to fight for that, and more importantly to prevent the bad stuff from happening to Petey for as long as I could. Chemo went well, she finished in December, and I was told to monitor. The remission was short lived however, when about 6 weeks later when she started to snore out of the blue it was discovered that her airway was being obstructed by the lymphoma, which was back. I thought I might lose her then, but the oncologist was prepared with a rescue protocol which she immediately improved with. Her improvements were temporary however, with one treatment after another. In April of 2025, approximately 3 months after her relapse, we had run out of things to try. Petey was holding her own, even still going for a walk the day before her last, until the night she declined in the middle of the night. I knew it was time, my plan was to take her in in the morning. But when I awoke, having tried to sleep a little to gather my strength for what we were about to do, I found Petey gone in the morning. I still have so many emotions. Petey was a gift, and one who touched my life forever.