I've been dreading this post. Tyco died the Monday after Thanksgiving. He and Jesse stayed with my mom as we traveled north over Thanksgiving break. Prior to leaving Tyco had been a little more lazy than usual (if that dog could have gotten any more lazy) and wasn't eating all his food. Nothing alarming. He was still eating, just every now and then he would skip a meal. Nothing drastic. When someone is slowly deteriorating in front of you it's hardly noticeable. But when you've been gone for nine days and then lay eyes on them it becomes very apparent that something is wrong. Mom had mentioned she was worried about him a couple times when we were gone. It's not unusual for Tyco to be sad when we leave and besides he was getting older. We didn't think much of it until we saw him that Saturday night. The entire day Sunday was spent in the emergency vet hospital with Tyke. It wasn't that it took them long to figure out what was wrong. It just took them forever to get to us. Understandably they see patients based on severity of injuries. When we walked in the vet tech took one look at his gums and ran him back into the lab. His gums were almost white. That's not good. (And for those of you with animals that's the first place you should look to determine how sick your animal is.) Once the tech determined Tyke was stable we had to wait. And wait. And wait. Waiting didn't make Tyco any sicker, nor did it change the fact that his spleen was 10 times the normal size. It just meant that we spent our last day together (and practically our last dollar) in the vet clinic.
Tyco's spleen was HUGE. On the x-rays it looked like three grapefruits lined up next to each other. After discussing all of our options we opted for an ultrasound the next morning. There was no concrete evidence this was cancer, but being a nine year old Golden it was most likely. (And yes for those of you that remember Mason that is what he died of as well.) The ultrasound would tell us if there were signs of cancer on other organs. If so, there would be no reason to operate. Tyco would die in a matter of days. We called our vet, Dr. Booker, the next morning to talk about what we knew. He agreed that the ultrasound would give us much more information. We were all THRILLED when the ultrasound came back 'clean'. It looked like Dr. Booker would be able to remove the spleen and Tyke would be ok. Talk about roller coaster! Before the ultrasound we had accepted our dog was dying. We didn't know how bad it was, or how long he had, but we were pretty sure our dog was dying of cancer. But now. Now we had a chance. Tyke had a chance. A good chance! Everyone was very optimistic! Tyke's surgery was scheduled for 11:00. Dr. Booker was pretty positive that IF he got the spleen out that Tyco would be ok. His only concern at that time was that the spleen would rupture as they tried to remove it and thus fill is body cavity with cancer, guaranteeing death within days. It was on the verge of rupturing before anyone touched it and removing it was risky. We decided to sign a DNR in case the spleen did rupture during surgery, but we really didn't think this would happen. We also came to the decision to not resuscitate if cancer was found on other organs. Even though the ultrasound looked really good, Dr. Booker warned us that until they opened him up they really didn't know for sure what they were dealing with. I stopped by to see Tyke just before surgery (I was on my way to take the kids to the doctor). Tyco was so happy to see me. He jumped at the crate, licked my hands and face. He was getting so excited that I had to leave. I didn't want him worked up before surgery. Besides we were told to treat him like an egg shell, his spleen was so delicate we were not to get him excited. I only stayed for a minute. I gave him a quick pat and told him to have a good surgery. I would see him soon. I could hear him yelping for me all the way to the car. Tyco never made it off the operating table. Dr. Booker found cancer on his liver. He did not resuscitate.
I know exactly how he feels.
Ok. Enough tears ... let's remember some happy things about Tyke. Everyone asks about his name. Officially his AKC registered name is Mason's Own Little Tyco - you know like the toy company. Mason was two when we got Tyco and he was very much a toy for Mason to play with.
Mason taught Tyco everything, or at least tried to. Tyco sure was cute, but he wasn't very smart. Mason was born with hip displasia so he never jumped, therefore Tyco never jumped. He never knew a dog could get on a couch, chair or bed if he tried. One day when Tyke was chasing Jon through the house (playing hide-n-seek with the kids) he ran into Katie's room and ended up standing on top of the bed. You could tell by the look on his face he had no idea how he got there.
Tyco was one of the biggest Goldens I have seen. 105lbs at his heaviest and resembled more of a small horse than a Golden Retriever. We picked out Tyke from his litter when he was just a few days old ~ his eyes were barely open. He was the biggest in his litter, so the fact that he ended up at 105 wasn't surprising. He was the best dog with the kids. Every one of our children crawled over, pulled on, tugged at, poked and prodded that dog. He sometimes would look up at me with those big brown puppy dog eyes and say "could ya do something about this little person with their fingers in my nose?" But mostly he just smiled and took what love he could get.
When summer rolls around we will miss him all over again. Boy did he love to swim in the pool. And he even figured out how to jump into it. We never tired of seeing him run and leap into the water after a ball.
We miss you Tyke. More than I ever thought I would. I hope you and Mase have found a nice cool lake to swim in and plenty of tennis balls and ducks to chase. We love you. And I am so sorry.
1 comment:
Oh Kirstin. That was beautifully written, and I am wiping away the tears. He lived a full, happy life and knew more love than he ever thought possible. He has forgiven you. Now forgive yourself.
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