Kasey
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My name is Kasey and I want to share my story. My owner brought me to visit his mother when I was just a wee pup. She laughed at me because I had no tail and bounced off every piece of furniture in the room. When I was just over 2 years old, she and Grandpa fostered me for about 7 months when my “dad” was temporarily unable to keep me. I adored them and didn’t understand when it was time to take me back. Every time they visited, I jumped in the car, ready to go ‘home’.
Fast forward 6 years and circumstances changed for me. I needed a new home. Grandma and Grandpa couldn’t collect me fast enough! I was glad to be back. Now I don’t want to brag but they said I was the smartest dog they had ever been around. Ha! What do you expect from an Aussie? They became my Mom and Dad and bought pet insurance to keep me healthy. I got to show my Frisbee skills to lots of folks, travel to wonderful places, met lots of friends and relatives and even adopted two little sisters. (I was always the gentleman and let them have their way.)
The year 2010, at the age of 12 and a half, I no longer wanted to play Frisbee (and I was great at it, too). I stumbled a bit, began walking in circles, had tremors in my legs and sometimes didn’t seem to see where I was going. Mom and Dad took me to several specialists and eventually to VEC where a CT Scan showed that I had a brain mass – inoperable. The doctors said I might live another two months but that radiation and/or chemotherapy might possibly help. The ‘might’ scared Mom and Dad but they talked to an oncologist to learn as much as they could. She said that treatment could give me up to a year of quality life. The cost was high and she knew that my insurance allowance was maxed out and Mom and Dad had exhausted considerable savings trying to find out what was wrong with me. That is when she introduced us to FETCH A CURE. We attended a fund raiser for Companions in Crisis and that very night, a wonderful gentleman announced that he would pay for my radiation!! Mom and Dad packed me off to RVRC in Springfield for treatment. After only 3 treatments, I was almost back to my old self. My treatment continued each week for 4 weeks and I improved so much that it was decided to try low doses of chemo to help sustain those results. The promised year passed, then another. My thyroid decided to act up so I took meds for that, too. My joints began to ache with age and I took meds for that, too. The third year was great right up to the anniversary of my radiation. My body needed a rest from the chemo – the bad old tumor took full advantage of the lapse. As I began to decline, I fought hard to stay in the middle of all the activity in the house. My mom carried me to my food when she saw me struggle. She carried me outside to potty and even covered the floors in case I had an accident so I wouldn’t be embarrassed. When I could barely stand, Mom and Dad talked to my doctor about ‘the time’. For one whole week, we shared so much love and then the time had come. I was smiling, loving being with my people and finally, my mom held me in her arms and told me how much she loved me. She had kept her promise to never let me be hungry, thirsty, cold, scared, in pain, or lonely. With her hand stroking me lovingly, her wet cheek next to mine, doctors and techs who had come to love me standing nearby, I went to sleep peacefully in her arms on December 6, 2013 – 360 days ago.
Thank you FETCH, and thanks to all the doctors who cared for me. You gave me more time with my family. Not one year, not two, but three fantastic years for us to share. I will wait for them at the Rainbow Bridge and someday we’ll run and play and love again. I will be watching over FETCH and all the families who enter into the Companions in Crisis fraternity.
