jerry

Tripawd Spirit Luna is one of our oldest and dearest Tripawds members. Her Momma Sandra shares a wonderful story about this sweet German Shepherd girldog.

Luna vom Burghard–Tripawd

“Strong. Fast. Brave.”

These are the words which described my beautiful black two year old German Shepherd dog, ‘Luna vom Burghard.’ She was an active and athletic dog who was one of ten puppies born to my two German imports, Eik vom Blausteinsee and Kora von der Bultersteige. I kept all of these dogs as a family group. They are my pride and joy. Luna was a dog full of joie de vivre, prey drive, and personality.

“Shock. Disbelief. Despair.” These are the words which described what I felt on October 5, 2007 when I received a phone call from Luna’s vet with a stunning diagnosis. Her words hit me like bullets: “Hemangiosarcoma. Primary bone. Unusual presentation…a few months to live. Options: amputation… hemipelvectomy…chemo…no cure…aggressive.” That same evening as I walked Luna in the back yard it was raining hard–it matched my emotions. I wrote in my diary that night, “I don’t know what is falling harder–the rain or my tears”.

It was the beginning of a long journey with Luna. Through amputation, hemipelvectomy, chemo, metronomics, and SAHA, nearly a year after diagnosis, Luna’s spirit shone through the adversity like a full silvery moon in a clear night sky. We would lose Luna on September 16, 2008. She inspired the first “Luna Award for Advances in Canine Cancer” which was presented at the 5th International Canine Cancer Conference in 2009 in Orlando, Florida. Luna fought her battle well, so strong and full of life. Shine on, Luna, shine on.

Read more of Luna’s heroic battle with cancer here.

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