Hello Tripawds and Tripawd lovers,

Just three days after Max's 1 year ampuversary, we had to let him go. We have absolutely no regrets as we all had a very happy last year after his surgery on June 10th 2008. We are sure he is running and playing happily with Jerry and all of our missed tripawds right now.

After a very successful first round of Pamidrinate for the bone cancer that had spread to one of his remaining three legs, the second round did not work. He was in so much pain that he was just lying around not himself and we knew it was time to say goodbye.

He has been such a good friend to my wife and me and will be missed very much.

Thanks for your support,

Craig and Tiffany

Below are a couple of entries from the yahoo message boards http://pets.gro.....ahoo.com/g.....ancerdogs/ posted by mom (Tiffany) which shows how special Max was in our lives.

sent on Friday…

Saying goodbye to our incredible friend Max tomorrow…

We knew the inevitable would come and we know he will be pain free and cancer free tomorrow but the pain is beyond intense for me. My heart is ready to explode.

Our amazing golden Max has been with us for 9 1/2 wonderful years–he was around 3 when we rescued him so he definitely lived a completely full live filled with so much love and devotion. Our home, our neighborhood and our car is full of many, many Max memories and I have no idea how I am going to cope when I come home without my dog tomorrow.

Some of you may remember his story but in short, we just celebrated his 1 year ampu-versary a couple days ago. He went thru chemo last year as well but a new growth of bone cancer was recently found in his front leg. We opted for a less expensive treatment of Pamidronate. It was supposed to be given every 3-4 weeks but our amazing Max bounced back for 9 weeks. It was an incredible 9 weeks for Max–great walks around the block, running around the house, howling with happiness. When he started limping again last Thursday, we were very hopeful another round of Pamidronate would help. Unfortunately, the evil disease has done too much damage to his leg and he did not feel any relief from last Saturday's treatment. Yes radiation was an option but money aside, Max has been through so much already this past year and we feel he is ready to feel good and whole again. He has hip dysplasia as well so basically he's been managing on 1 1/2 legs at 70lbs. We have no regrets for what we have done/haven't done. He is on stronger pain meds now to keep him comfortable. I'm telling Max about tomorrow, all the wonderful people that will be there to greet him, how he will have the strongest/healthiest FOUR legs to run and run for miles through beautfiful fields of flowers. No more pain, no more drugs, no more injections, no more leashes to yank mommy all over creation to pee on every object imagineable. Free and loved by so many. But god I am going to miss him.

I keep hearing to 'stay strong' but Max is such a HUGE part of my world…it is impossible. I am a wreck. I am mourning him now and he's still here…it's brutal. I'm looking around at his beds, his bowls, his food. I have never been thru this experience before but I knew it would hit me hard.

Need to stop crying so I will stop writing…

Thanks so much for everyone who gave their advice, opinions, support to my Max on this board. You all helped me immensely.

Tiffany

Posted today 6/14…

 cannot thank you all enough for your replies to my post. It truly warmed my heart and soul. Yesterday was the lowest point and hardest day of my life. This emotion called “grief” is so powerful, so painful. It is consuming me. We wanted to spoil Max with lots of his favorite chicken treats on his last day/night but unfortunately it wreaked havoc on his digestive system so Max & I had an un-ideal last night–lets just say he left his final marks all over the backyard. Then of course Saturday morning was the perkiest I've seen him all week. It was killing me. Yet even though he 'seemed' better, he was barely putting any weight on his leg. He masked it so well. It was the right decision but the guilt, second guessing, what if we did this is running through my mind and I need to let it go. I know time will heal but for now, Max is with me every second right now and all over my home. They say that losing a pet can be harder than losing a human being. They are right. Max was my perpetual child. Most of his things are in a spare room..can't go there right now. I don't know what's harder…seeing his beds, bowls, food in the house or not in the house. This morning I dug out a large ball of hair from when I brushed him for the last time on Friday. I inhaled it and sobbed and am saving it. Call me crazy but it gave me a moment of comfort. The house is so empty, quiet and lonely. We are so used to walking around Max, stepping over Max and we're still doing it. He followed us wherever we went–bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, outside. Thank god we have our 17 month old son to help us through this–he does not understand any of it, thank goodness. He is our therapy right now. I may have heard Max's dog collar & tags rattling yesterday–it happened a few times but it may have been me losing my mind & hearing things.
We will be picking up Max's ashes from a reputable facility in a couple days. Some will be encased in a hand blown glass heart (found his info & his work in Max's cancer facility–beautiful pieces). Some will be taken to Lake Arrowhead in July where we hoped to take Max one last time.
I don't know when it will get easier but for now, I am simply trying to function and missing him terribly.
Sorry for the : ( …..

Thank you all again so very much…

Tiffany