Saying Goodbye

From our end of life photo session.

Emmi was doing great until she wasn't. We took her to the coast intending to stay a few days but we knew something was wrong when she didn't chase her ball on the beach with her usual exuberance. That night she didn't eat. We left the next morning and got her in with my vet. An ultrasound revealed nodules all over her lungs. We went to a specialist at Oregon State University Veterinary School of Medicine. They did more tests and diagnosed her with hemangiosarcoma of the heart and thought she might have a week. She had a tumor in the atrium of her heart. It was only a matter of time before it would burst. The cancer had also metastasized to her lungs. Our wonderful vet, Dr.Matt Fricke, told us that if we wanted to, he would do everything he could to help her have some quality time and it was such a gift. We gave her yunnan baiyao, a chinese herb to prevent bleeding from the tumor, a special diet rich in protein and iron (I'm vegan so thankfully my husband Dave was able to help cook all the organ meat she needed) and prednisone which seemed to really help her breathing and increased her appetite. Hemangiosarcoma is a cancer of the blood so Dr. Fricke also did O3UV Major Autohemotherapy with her. It all helped. We got almost 2 amazing months. I wanted to give her back some of what she had done for me and for others. Every morning we would wake up, relieved that she was still with us and say to her "We get another amazing day with Emmi!" We took her on picnics, to the beach, to the river. She couldn't go far but she so loved going on outings. We just structured them so they didn't tire her out too much. We had just gotten a trailer before her diagnosis, so she got to go on her first camping trip. She had a blast. She went to the Airport for a visit. While she enjoyed it, it was apparent it took a lot out of her so that was her last therapy visit. She had lots of visits from the people in her life who she loved and she enjoyed those visits so much. We had an arrangement with Matt in case there was an emergency that he would come out so she could pass at home and I had a back-up vet for when he was out of town. We tried not to think about her crashing and needing emergency help and tried to live in the moment with her. Well in true Emmi fashion, she crashed on the way to a vet visit after a wonderful morning at the river. It was just like her to make it as easy as possible on us. Her tumor had ruptured and we knew it was time to let her go. We lost Emmi on August 8, 2024. As she passed, Matt said "Somebody in Heaven must have really needed a therapy dog".

Afterword:

A friend contacted me the day after Emmi died and wrote: "I’m so sorry for your loss of Emmi. My work family at Cascade Hospice lost one of our own this week tragically. She died yesterday. I just wonder if she needed Emmi. It gave me a bit of comfort to know she’s there." Her friend had died the day before, the day Emmi died. It gave me chills. I believe she was needed there.