Forever in my heart

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

My best friend Payton has passed

On July 30, 2008 Payton passed away peacefully in my arms. When I made my first entry in this blog almost one year ago, I wrote of my best friend and how brave he was. I now know that those words were an under statement. He was part of my family, his bravery and will to keep on living were 2ND to none. I never knew how incomplete I would feel without him in my life. I miss him terribly and not a day goes by that I don't think of him. It took me 3 weeks to sit down and wright this entry because I knew how painful it would be. During those 3 weeks I also realized that my baby is now in a better place. I know god gave him his wings, he is now pain free and playing as he use too. I have received so many email from people saying that Payton gave them hope and inspiration. I never want anybody to give up hope because Payton passed away. The extra year we had together was the best thing that could have ever happened to us. Payton's memory will live on in my heart and our souls will be forever connected. The last words I said to him were "see you next lifetime, I love you Pappas". We will meet again one day and when we do he will love and inspire me as he always did, once again. I love you Payton, thank you for all the good times and love you gave me and everybody else who knew you. I also want to thank Kendra. Payton loved you so much and I know you loved him also. You did a lot for him and he knew that. The pictures above were taken one day before Payton passed away. Thanks again to everybody who said a prayer for him and wrote with words of encouragement. God speed Payton

Happy Birthday Payton !!

On February 21st Payton celebrated his 8th Birthday :-) If I had one wish in life it would be to write this same message again next year while we celebrate his 9th Birthday. Payton and I would like to thank everybody who has wrote to us, said a prayer for him and has been there for payton. Without the support and kindness of others this would have been so much harder to get through.

Thank you so much,

Pappa's & Anthony

Happy New Year! Payton is still doing well :-)

Thank you everybody for your emails and prayers. Payton is still hanging in there and hopefully we'll see 2009 together.

Payton enjoying the nice weather!

Payton will start his immune therapy shots this week. He is doing great so far and he seems to be getting better everyday. Payton seems to be getting back to his old self again. God speed to all those beloved pets out there going through this terrible disease. Thank you for all the prayers that everybody has said for Payton. We all truly appreciate it.

Payton still doing good!

Payton is still hanging in there and he's a real fighter. My Pappa's is so brave and he has handled everything so well. I cherish the time we have together and I hope we'll have many more happy days to come. Thank you everybody who has left comments, it means so much to us.

Thank you,

Payton & Anthony

Payton's day at the park!

I took Payton to the park today for the first time since his amputation. He had a great time and he was getting around great. I am so happy that things are going well for him now. I know he is living on borrowed time and everyday counts that he is still with me. I want him to enjoy whatever time he has left and just live a happy and pain free life. I love you Payton! I hope anybody out there going through this same situation will find this blog inspirational and give you some kind of hope for your best friend.

Payton's last chemo treatment

This was Payton's last chemo treatment. He has tolerated it very well and he seems to be doing great. I pray to god everyday that Payton will stay in remission and live a pain free good quality life for a long time to come. I know that I made the right decision with the amputation and the chemo treatments and I have no regrets with my decision now. I hope anybody else going through this same situation finds peace within themselves and the decision they make for there beloved pet. Everybody loves Pappa's at the vets office and they shower him with love and kisses every time we walks through the door. I will now be taking Payton for immune booster shots at another vets office to keep his immune system high for the next 6 weeks. Please say a pray for my beloved Payton as I will say one for beloved pets. Sometimes we all turn to god in these situations and hope for best.

My Tripod Payton

Payton just had his third round of chemo on Thursday. He is doing great with it and he's getting around better every day. He has one round left and hopefully his cancer will stay in remission for a long time. Seeing him happy again is the most important thing to me. As long as his quality of life remains good and he is pain free that's all that matters. It made the amputation and chemo treatments worth while. Don't get me wrong, it was very hard at first and Payton needed 110% of our attention all the time. Payton most likely would have been gone by now if we didn't go through with the amputation and chemo. Payton and I want to thank somebody from the bottom of our hearts and her name is Kendra. She was a big part of our life's for a while and she was there to help us through this. She gave 110% all the time and we're both grateful and appreciate everything she did. Thank you so much for everything.

Love Payton & Anthony

Getting Better

Payton is doing so much better now. He is starting to get his confidence back again and acting like the Payton of the past. I don't regret the amputation and chemo now, at first I questioned and struggled with my decision for days. He is running again and doing his dance that he use to do when he wants a treat. I still pray everyday for him and hope that he stays in remission for a long time to come. He gets up in bed with me again and snuggles up with me like he use too(He's a bed hog). I thank god for everyday I have left with him. I hope this blog will give positive inspiration to anybody else who faces a similar situation. You truly are a fighter Payton and I hope you never give up your fight against this horrible disease.

Payton's 2nd round of Chemo

Today my baby boy had his second chemo treatment. This treatment was a little stronger than his first one. He seems to be doing well and his spirits are good. This has been hard, we lost somebody close to us and all we have is each other now. I've stayed strong for him and I'll never leave his side. I'll be there till the end, I owe him all of that. I could never repay him for all of the joy and comfort that he's brought me over the past 7 1/2 years. No matter how sick he is, never has he failed to comfort me in my times of sorrow. He has two treatments left and he'll have to follow up at the vets for some immune booster shots. We're going to make it, I have to have faith and believe. I am all that he has now and I pray for his good health everyday.

Payton's first day of Chemo

Payton had his first treatment of Chemo today and all seemed to go well. The process overall was fast and painless for Payton, about 5 minutes to administer the dose. He is showing no signs of sickness or side affects from today's procedure so far. He's going to have this done three more times before he's finished with his Chemo treatments. Hopefully all will go well for him and we pray for him everyday, we love you Buddy. Please click on "Payton's first day of Chemo" above and it will link you to a site that contains lots of information on Canine Chemotherapy.

Payton's itchy recovery

Payton is doing very well. It's been 9 days since his amputation. Everything's healing well and he's determined to help the healing process by licking himself, constantly. As much as we hated to do it to him, we've had to resort to the elizabeth collar. He just refuses to let it heal on it's own. We also got the post amputation biopsy results back... it was in fact Osterosarcoma , but the good news was... the lymph node in his leg was 'clean' and cancer free. The vet told us that if the cancer had spread, the lymph node would have been the first 'screen' it would have passed though. Therefore, the cancer has not spread. We encourage anyone going through this process to get a second, or even a third opinion if your vet tells you that based on the size of the tumor it has already spread. We were told by our vet that the cancer had most likely spread, he had 2-3 months to live, and it would not be worth it to amputate and start chemo. We were told to give him pain meds and make him comfortable until he passed away. Even when the x-ray of his lungs came back clear, the vet suggested that it was there...even though it didn't show up. Payton is happy to report that he is cancer free and just to make sure, he is starting the first round of chemo this week. Lots of licks, Payton

Payton's story, posted on Rottweiler health

http://www.rottweilerhealth.org/shared_stories_payton.html This website has been a very useful resource for us and we're greatful that they've decided to share Patyon's story.

Tripod style

It's been 4 days since his surgery and our little tripod is still in a lot of pain :( We're trying the tighty whities to keep him from licking at his stitches. It's not really working...he's learned how to crawl out of them. He's getting the hang of walking, but sitting is still tough. He had a couple of falls, but gets right up and keeps on going...

Payton cooling off

This Picture is from June 30, 2007 before Payton had his surgery. Payton loved taking a dip with his friends in the river. Hopefully when he recovers from his surgery he can swim with his friends again :-)

Payton is home!!

Payton is home and adjusting to being a tri pod. He still has a morphine patch on his back and seems pretty out of it. He seems to be OK. He did attempt to scratch his left ear, with his... left leg. He seemed surprised that the itch wasn't being scratched. It's ok, we scratched it for him. He's walking considerably well with the help of the sling that the vet has provided us with. He has a long road to recovery. We decided not to post his post amputation photo today. We will post pictures when he's looking and feeling better :) Please feel free to leave comments for Payton on our blog. (You can leave them anonymously is you'd like) He still needs lots of love and support.

What to Expect with Amputation

Here is a great site for what to expect.

Quiet night

It's a very quiet night without Pappa's being home. We pray that he is comfortable and not scared. Hopefully, he'll be home tomorrow. We miss you Payton. See you tomorrow baby boy :-)

Payton's surgery - a success :-)

It's 1:40 PM and we just heard from the Doctor, Payton made it through surgery. Payton had his left hind leg amputated. If we didn't have the surgery he was given maybe 1 month or so to live. I believe in my heart that we did the right thing. I know Payton has a long road ahead of him with chemo and learning to adapt, but we have faith in him. Thank you to everybody who said a prayer for Payton. We love you Payton.

August 9, 2007-Paytons surgery day

Its the night before Payton's surgery and we're both very nervous. We hope all goes well and we're saying lots of prayers for him. I only pray to god that we've made the right decision to have his leg amputated and start chemo treatments for him. I feel this is his only chance for a pain free life. Good luck Payton, we love you.

Our website

Coming soon, please visit our website to support canine cancer awareness: http://www.mydoglickedcancer.com/

My Best Friend Payton and his battle for life

Here is our first of many posts: I truly never understood the saying " A dog is a mans best friend" until I had the privilege of sharing my life with my Rottweiler Payton. Payton is a 7 1/2 year old Rotti and has just recently been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a fast spreading cancer of the bone. The cancer is located in his left hind leg and the detection of the cancer was fairly early. His blood work and a chest x-ray came back normal. However, according the the vet, a negative result doesn't mean that the cancer has not spread. Payton will be going in for surgery tomorrow morning for the amputation of his left hind leg. If all goes well, which I pray to god that it does, he will then begin the chemo treatments. We have also decided to include holistic supplements to boost his immune system. (We will update on the products that we are trying in future posts. Hopefully this will help others.) I know that many dog owner's have experienced this pain.. especially Rottweiler and other large breed owners. My heart goes out to all of them. Watching him lay there... knowing that he is in pain absolutely rips my heart out and giving him the pain meds to control his pain is just as hard because he's so out of it. The remarkable trait among Rotti's is their devotion to their owners. They're so devoted that they will not show you that they're in pain, almost as if they're trying to make you feel better about the situation and comfort you. He still continues to follow me around the house and yard despite the pain he's feeling and looks at me with such love in his eyes. I feel Payton has been and still is an ambassador for all Rottweiler's because of his great temperament and his friendly greetings towards all people that he meets... showing the true demeanor of a Rottweiler. I don't want to sound selfish, but I don't think either one of us are ready to let go yet. I never want him to suffer or feel pain, but I feel in my heart that he's going to fight this horrible disease. If he gets a year or two more of good quality life and free from pain, I think we'll both be happy. I am writing this story about Payton because I only ask one thing from people who read this... please say a prayer for Payton and all other dogs out there who suffer from any kind of disease or illness. Payton has brought so much joy into my life and the lives of others, I feel that he deserves a little more time on this earth.