We Lost Someone Very Special

The past few weeks have been very tough for our family. I'll let Mommy and Daddy tell you about it...

Just over a month ago, Sophie seemed to have lost her appetite. We took her to the vet, and they ran some tests. After a few tests, the vets suggested that Sophie might have early renal disease. We learned that was something we could manage, switched up her food, and went on. She didn't seem to recover her appetite, so we went back in for more tests. The vet suspected Addison's disease, tested for that, and it came back negative.

That weekend Sophie was sick, and ended up at the emergency vet. She was running a fever so they put her on an IV and antibiotics, and she spent the night. The next morning we picked her up and took her to her regular vet for more tests. They decided that she wasn't "rallying" like they hoped. They could not figure out why she was running a fever and was not eating. They told us to take Sophie to the specialists.

The specialists saw us immediately, and during an ultrasound, discovered a growth in Sophie's bladder. The growth was beginning to block the exit to Sophie's bladder, causing the contents of the bladder to back up into her kidneys and dilate them. (This was what triggered the initial diagnosis of early renal disease.) That night they biopsied the growth and sent it out for pathology. The next day we got the news that Sophie had Transitional Cell Carcinoma, cancer. We started chemotherapy and medication that day to work to shrink the tumor. We were able to bring Sophie home for the night, but she still was not eating.

After being home for a day, the vet was concerned that Sophie had not started eating. We were leaving for Florida, for Iliana's wedding. (Amelia will post about that later.) We had to take Sophie back to the specialists for more fluids and hospitalization, as she still was not eating. While we were in Florida, the vet saw a spike in Sophie's kidney values. The medication she was taking to shrink the tumor was damaging her already-compromised kidneys. The vet elected to stop giving that medication, as it may lead to kidney failure.

When we returned from Florida, Sophie had to spend an additional two nights hospitalized. She still was not eating much, and they were concerned about her kidney function. We brought her home Tuesday night and she was happy to be home. The oncologist hoped that by bringing her home she would start eating and we would see some improvement in her system. We had a nice week, just spending time together.

Friday we went back to the specialists for more tests, and received bad news. Sophie's kidney values were back up again, indicating that her kidneys were not able to remove the toxins from her system. They did another ultrasound, and the oncologist believed that Sophie's kidneys were no longer functioning. He suggested that we discontinue all treatment and just enjoy the time we had left. As you can imagine, this was incredibly saddening news, as Sophie is a dear member of our family.

We had a nice weekend together. Saturday we took a family trip to Stinson and Muir beaches. Sophie had a great day, barking at other dogs, smelling everything she could, basking in the sun. It was a great day, but Sophie had a rough night. She was sick, as the oncologist said would happen with the buildup of toxins in her system. She ate a little bit during the day, but not much.

Sunday we decided to take it easy in the morning, since Sophie had a rough night. She ate a couple treats, but refused all other food. (We were cooking anything we could think of to offer her.) We had an easier day, just visiting Sophie's favorite park across the street. It was an exciting trip to the park though - a gopher stuck its head out of a hole right in front of Sophie! She loved sticking her nose as far into the hole as she could. And when she couldn't get her nose in far enough, she dug a little to expand the hole! We came home and relaxed. But Sophie had another rough night.

Monday, she refused all food, even her treats. Sophie got sick a bunch in the morning, and spent much of the day falling in and out of sleep. The oncologist warned us that she would move from being sick to developing ulcers and eventually just become very sick. We made the hardest decision of our lives, and elected to end Sophie's suffering. So Monday, February 11, 2008, Sophie lost her battle with cancer, and we lost a dearly beloved member of our family.

Sophie was an amazing spirit. When we moved in together in June 2001, Sophie was there. She was there for Lori when she made the move across the country, keeping her company and giving love nonstop. She was there when we got engaged, and flew across the country to be a flower girl in our wedding. She was a well traveled dog. She went with us everywhere - Corona, Medocino, Yosemite, Santa Cruz, Lake Tahoe, and plenty others. She was full of unending love. She was there when we discovered we were pregnant, and loved Amelia like no other. Sophie loved many things - barking at doggies, "wanna go?", Magilla Gorilla, bonies, red bell peppers, hanging her head out the window of the car, the park, chasing the squirrel along the fence. She was an amazing person, with the best personality imaginable. She will be so dearly missed.

Thanks to Ann Marie for this saying, which is really comforting right now...

Everybody is born so that they can learn how to live a good life and love others - dogs already know how to do that so they don't have to stay as long.