Happy Birthday...Again!

Jake turned 9 today! A year ago I thought we were counting down his final weeks. Who knew? I still like the photos I took last year so take a look at this one or this one if you want to see him in funny hats.

The Price You Pay

I don’t usually think about the cost when Jake needs treatment. However, I’ve been whipping out the credit card a lot these days. Jake’s surgery. His meds. Bandage changes every few days. Very expensive. So I had an idea. As a teenager, I collected Marvel comic books and have thousands of them boxed up in our basement. I’ve been thinking about selling them for years but not sure I wanted to part with them just for the heck of it. I’ve posted a couple of them for sale online recently. Today, I sold my Incredible Hulk #181 for $1,200 which was pretty close to the cost of the vet bills over the last few weeks. It has the first appearance of Wolverine, from the X-Men. I remember buying it at a drugstore in 1974 for 25 cents. Seriously. Kind of bittersweet to sell a tiny part of one’s childhood but I loved the idea of using it to help pay for Jake’s care.

Thanks, bub. Now if we could only get him some Adamantium bones and get rid of those leg braces. (Inside jokes for comic geeks.)

The Book I Read

Here’s the information on the “Survivors” book, which features a number of inspirational stories about dogs who are fighting cancer, including Jake’s. Jamie Rowe did an amazing job at our photo shoot a few weeks back. Check out her blog and the video below. And if you’re feeling generous, buy a copy for yourself or another dog lover. I just ordered mine. Proceeds benefit the CSU Animal Cancer. Thanks to the great docs up there, I’ve had Jake a year longer than I thought. That’s worth $25 to me any day.

Ease the Pressure

Still recovering from surgery but, in general, Jake’s doing pretty well. We sat on the porch for most of the day, enjoying a beautiful summer afternoon in Denver. The bandage will get professionally changed by the vet every 2 – 3 days. Because of the difficult location between his toes, they really want to watch out for potential infection. We have to keep it wrapped pretty tight to keep him from chewing it off.