Last night when I got home from work Tucker was obviously in a lot of pain. My mom had been sitting with him and had given his pain medicine but he was still uncomfortable. He wouldn't get up, I had to carry him to the car and that was really uncomfortable to him. We got to the vet and the wonderful girls there came out and helped me carry him into the vets office. The doctor came in and did an exam on him and said he felt a mass in his stomach and they did an xray on his chest. This was the first xray since before his surgery. We decided not to xray because we didn't want the constant worry of finding something, we wanted to enjoy every minute instead of dreading every xray appointment. The xray showed that the cancer had taken over in his lungs and a mass was pressing on his trachea and esophagus which was causing the decline in eating and the difficulty of breathing. The vet said that since dogs have such a big capability of compensating when things are wrong with them they often don't show us that they are having trouble breathing until they just can't stand it any more. My husband who is a fire fighter was working last night and I know he really wanted to be there if we had to put him to sleep told me to go ahead and do it because we could tell every breath was so difficult for him.

We will really miss Tucker, and even more than that our other dogs seem lost without him. when I returned home without him they seemed to know something was wrong, they were very calm and sat beside me the whole night, moving room to room with me and watching my every move. Poor little Hoyt will really miss Tucker, that was his buddy and he seemed to take it the hardest. He whined a lot during the night and kept getting up going to the door like he did the only other night Tucker has spent away from him, the night after his surgery.

Tucker brought us so much joy and laughter, my favorite memory of him is two weeks after his surgery when we took him, after his staples were removed and an ok from the vet, to the beach for the first time. He started rolling in the sand like it was the best feeling in the world. He was so happy then and I wouldn't want him to have suffered for a minute longer, he was too good of a dog to suffer.

Thank you all for your support. I wouldn't have made it through the last four months without you. I was so blessed to have found this site when Tucker was first diagnosed. You all gave me the education and courage to take care of him the first night after his surgery and every other difficult step of the way. God will certainly bless you for everything you do. I know Tucker is up in heaven playing with his sister Maggie and waiting patiently wagging his tail for us to get there.

God Bless You All...

Casey, Ryan, Gracie, Hoyt and Angel Tucker