Koko
A donation was made in memory of Koko by Stephanie Thomovsky on Dec 03, 2015.
My Koko died on October 3rd, 2015. She was such a good dog and we had such a very short time together. I adopted her in 2011 from TRACS. She had already had a hard life. Her family kept her chained in the backyard for 2 years. Their house burnt down and they left ... leaving her still chained in the back yard. The neighbor kindly fed her daily until TRACS was able to step in. She had every reason to dislike people but she didn't. Chows can be temperamental but not Koko.
Late 2013 she started stumbling and yipping when her head was touched. The vet could not find the reason so in January 2014 I took her to Washington University Vet Hospital for an MRI. We had a wonderful doctor, Stephanie Thomovsky. The MRI showed a tumor between Koko's brain stem and her first vertebrae. Dr. Thomovsky suggested debulking the tumor (they would be unable to totally remove it due to its location) and then with 5 weeks of radiation they felt she could possibly have another 4 years. I chose to have the surgery. When the biopsy came back it was bad news. It was not the type of cancer they expected. It was a nerve sheath tumor and they said this type of cancer you could not use radiation on and gave her 4-6 months. The night after the surgery Koko developed pneumonia. She was only supposed to stay in the hospital for a week before I could take her home. In addition to the pneumonia there were other complications and Koko was unable to walk. I know most people felt I should have thrown in the towel at that point but I couldn't. Koko was in the hospital for 2 months with me driving over once a week and spending 2 days each week sitting with her in her kennel and going with her to her therapy. They used water therapy and a cart (I can't remember the name of the cart) that they put her in and ran her up and down the halls trying to get her to move her legs. In March I just felt I needed her home with me for awhile so even though she was unable to walk I brought her home. That was the toughest weekend ever. She couldn't walk or stand so I had to carry her (all 51 pounds) whenever she needed out. And I had to give her all the massage and work her muscles which took a lot of time. I was ready to take her back even though it hadn't been a week yet. That Monday morning I took her outside in the sunshine and laid her in the grass with my other dog (Honey Bear) and told her I would check on her. 10 minutes later I went back and Koko wasn't there. Honey Bear had barked at something on the ditch and Koko had gotten up and gone to where Honey was to "help". Her walk was not very pretty but SHE WAS WALKING!! She dragged her back legs for a couple months but she eventually got them to tuck under when she walked. What a miracle she was. In spite of their 4-6 month prognosis Koko lived another 21 months. When the cancer finally won it took me by surprise. One night she could no longer get up and was crying in pain. I knew that was it.
It has been hard getting used to life without my Koko Puff. During her time at WSU Vet Hospital she was treated by the best people ever! From the doctors to all the students that came into contact with her. She was loved by every one of them!
Thank you for loving and caring for my pup when she needed it most!
Dede L.
Late 2013 she started stumbling and yipping when her head was touched. The vet could not find the reason so in January 2014 I took her to Washington University Vet Hospital for an MRI. We had a wonderful doctor, Stephanie Thomovsky. The MRI showed a tumor between Koko's brain stem and her first vertebrae. Dr. Thomovsky suggested debulking the tumor (they would be unable to totally remove it due to its location) and then with 5 weeks of radiation they felt she could possibly have another 4 years. I chose to have the surgery. When the biopsy came back it was bad news. It was not the type of cancer they expected. It was a nerve sheath tumor and they said this type of cancer you could not use radiation on and gave her 4-6 months. The night after the surgery Koko developed pneumonia. She was only supposed to stay in the hospital for a week before I could take her home. In addition to the pneumonia there were other complications and Koko was unable to walk. I know most people felt I should have thrown in the towel at that point but I couldn't. Koko was in the hospital for 2 months with me driving over once a week and spending 2 days each week sitting with her in her kennel and going with her to her therapy. They used water therapy and a cart (I can't remember the name of the cart) that they put her in and ran her up and down the halls trying to get her to move her legs. In March I just felt I needed her home with me for awhile so even though she was unable to walk I brought her home. That was the toughest weekend ever. She couldn't walk or stand so I had to carry her (all 51 pounds) whenever she needed out. And I had to give her all the massage and work her muscles which took a lot of time. I was ready to take her back even though it hadn't been a week yet. That Monday morning I took her outside in the sunshine and laid her in the grass with my other dog (Honey Bear) and told her I would check on her. 10 minutes later I went back and Koko wasn't there. Honey Bear had barked at something on the ditch and Koko had gotten up and gone to where Honey was to "help". Her walk was not very pretty but SHE WAS WALKING!! She dragged her back legs for a couple months but she eventually got them to tuck under when she walked. What a miracle she was. In spite of their 4-6 month prognosis Koko lived another 21 months. When the cancer finally won it took me by surprise. One night she could no longer get up and was crying in pain. I knew that was it.
It has been hard getting used to life without my Koko Puff. During her time at WSU Vet Hospital she was treated by the best people ever! From the doctors to all the students that came into contact with her. She was loved by every one of them!
Thank you for loving and caring for my pup when she needed it most!
Dede L.
