Denver Parks #33

Jake and I thought we were done but on the drive home, we passed this off-leash dog park on 29th & Franklin.

Denver Parks #32

Second stop of the day, near 36th & Vine.

Denver Parks #31

Jake and I decided to visit a few more parks today. No particular agenda today. Just picked a direction and stopped here first. This one is on 37th & Clayton.

Denver Parks #30

This one is brand new and it just opened today. Downtown Denver now has its first off-leash dog park, thanks to a group called Railyard Dogs who raised funds to build it. About a month ago, we got an email from the organizers. They had seen Jake’s blog and wanted him to be the first dog to run in the park after the ribbon cutting. We love all of the Denver Parks and were honored to be included!

Everyday Is Like Sunday

Jake and I were asked to speak at Camp Bow Wow’s annual meeting at the Omni Interlocken. The Bow Wow Buddies Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for canine cancer. They also fund a yearly scholarship at CSU Animal Cancer Center. The oncologist that oversees Jake’s clinical trial, Dr. Scott Hafeman, was their first recipient.

Walking Wounded

Dan drove us all down to Stapleton’s Central Park for the K-9’s for Cancer walk today…me, Jake, Mary Ann and Maggie. The weather was so much better than last year when the high was 17 degrees. This event, like Project Ruffway back in April, supports the CSU Animal Cancer Center. We love to attend these events, help raise money for a great cause and reconnect with the amazing staff from CSUACC. After the walk started, we went over to Jaime Rowe’s tent to do “paw-tographs” for people buying her new book, “Survivors – Your Best Friends’ Journey with Cancer”. Jake is one of the featured dogs in the book. He was very patient while we gently pressed his paw on a green ink pad, and then stamped each book.

Lunch Break

OK, this was more like dinner. After lunch today, we went back to the house to do some work. One of Danny’s co-workers, Mary Ann, was spending the night with us, along with her dog, Maggie. Like Jake, Mary Ann is a cancer survivor. She was attending a fundraising event at the JW Marriott for the Cheryl Shackelford Foundation, which supports ovarian cancer. Dan and I would be dog-sitting Maggie for the night, and tomorrow all of us will be going to the K-9’s for Cancer walk. After dropping Mary Ann off at the event, Dan and I took both dogs to one of our favorite restaurants, Locanda del Borgo. We sat on the patio and enjoyed a couple Moretti’s.

Lunch Break

It’s been a LONG time since I took Jake on a Lunch Break. This time we ventured over to The Squeaky Bean in the Highlands area. Nice long dog-friendly patio. Like most places the dogs have to stay on the other side of the fence, but they have plenty of water bowls out for them.

Denver Parks #29

Next up: another great Denver park. Like so many of our posts over the last year or so, I’ve driven by this one hundreds of times but today was the first time we actually got out of the car and walked around.

Denver Parks #28

Dan and I took Jake on a big road trip around town today. First stop: the next in our Denver Park series. This is an incredible spot…don’t be fooled by the raggedy sign. Jake even met another “Jake” today…a 13-year-old black Lab.

Why Go?

We put the house on the market a week ago and have already had a ton of showings. Why try to sell now in this crazy market? Not entirely sure. While Jake was recovering from surgery this summer, we were sitting in the front yard and I had a “what if” moment. There are so many variables. Will the house sell fast? At a good price? Where will we move? When? Who knows, but it sounds like a fun experiment. We’ll see what happens.

Thank You For Sending Me An Anglel

Hard to believe Jake came home from the breeders 9 years ago today, the night before 9/11. Here’s another old photo from the puppy days. I shoulda taken more back then, but hey, no regrets…we’re making up for it now.

I Hope You Dance

This is an odd time of year. We’re in the middle of a bunch of anniversaries right now, especially ones from 2001. I always try to find something distracting on August 16th but September 8th is a good date. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Blood Makes Noise

Jake’s post-chemo bloodwork is great this time.

Bulletproof

Time for Jake’s 2nd round of chemo at CSU Animal Cancer Center. The treatment last month went really well so we’re not expecting any problems with side effects today. Dave from 9News joined us to shoot more footage so I actually got to the sit with Jake during the infusion of Liposomal Clodronate. This cool device administers the drug through his IV over a 1-hour period.

All things considered, Jake is compliant while this is going on. However, towards the end he got a bit restless and kept messing with the IV. We managed to distract him with a toy but you can see the carnage he can inflict when he’s focused on something. Thank god the puppy stage is long gone.

Stop for a Minute

Something simple. A quick shot in the front yard before dinner.

Eat to the Beat

Jake went to see some cooking demonstrations at the Cherry Creek North Food & Wine event.

Clear Skies

Nothing earthshaking today. Just a quick walk over to our favorite spot, Mayfair Park.

Missing

Last year’s post about my Mom was one of my favorites so you get to read it again. More Mom-related entries here and here and here.

New Kid (On the Block)

Our neighbors across the street have a new puppy, a red Lab named Ellie. She came over to meet Jake today. They asked for advice on how to train her to be a well-behaved dog like Jake. Simple. Just use treats as a bribe for anything you want them to do. Labs will do anything for food.

Somewhere Only We Know

Kind of embarrassed to post this picture. We don’t do limos all the time. No really. However, Dan and I were going to Boulder tonight to see one of my favorite bands, Keane. We thought this would be fun for a night out. The last time this band was in Colorado they played at the Ogden Theatre. I took Jake down there in the morning to take a picture of him in front of the marquee. I almost drove him up to Fox Theatre to do the same kind of pic again today but there just wasn’t enough time. So here’s one of him in front of the car and then one of the marquee. Use your mental Photoshop and combine the two. I’ll try to take a proper one the next time the band’s in town.

'Cause when your back's against the wall
That's when you show no fear at all
And when you're running out of time
That's when you hitch your star to mine
We won't be leaving by the same road that we came by

“My Shadow” by Keane

Bring My Family Back

I burned some more United miles to bring my sister and niece out for a visit. They got in on Wednesday afternoon and I surprised them with a limo ride to the Pepsi Center and tickets to see Lady Gaga with our friends Jeff & Ryan. Then we all went up to the Westin in Beaver Creek the next day to see Mary Chapin Carpenter. Of course Jake couldn’t go to those shows. But indulge me with a few photos that don’t include him for a change. LOL After 4 four fun days in Colorado, they flew home to Memphis today. But we did do the “front yard” photo with Jake, just like Dad, Blake, Billie, Catelin & Jenny Claire.

Ugly on the Outside

Oh, don’t even try to think this is creepy. Jake’s foot looks fantastic compared to what I saw a few weeks ago. You can thank me later for not posting those photos!

Orange Crush

Time for new collar. We deviated a little from our usual color palette and went for something with a Southwest theme. This time from Two Pals and a Pup in Cherry Creek North.

Again & Again

We were back at CSU Animal Cancer Center today and here’s another photo of Jake in front of their building. This is the first of 3 rounds of an IV drug called Liposomal Clodronate. No GI side effects this time, thanks to a pre-dose of Cerenia. When we got back to Denver, we cooked out tonight with the gas grill that Dan gave me. Am I running out of background ideas for the photos??? Jake has to wear a white gym sock taped on his foot so he won’t tear off the bandage. Why does he always cross his paws like that?

Interesting Drug

The UPS man brought Jake’s chemo again. Same as the last time. It’s called Lomustine (CCNU). One 40mg capsule and two 10mg capsules. He takes them easily in Pill Pockets. “Wear gloves”? You bet I will follow those instructions.

Young Blood

Jake had more bloodwork done. His numbers are great so we’re cleared to start another round of chemo next week.

Yellow

Jake had an appointment at Aspenwood Animal Hospital for another bandage change. So cool that they were working on a holiday. This was the first time that I’ve actually seen his toes unwrapped since the surgery and, although I thought it looked a little gruesome, the docs were actually pretty happy with how it’s healing. Today they picked a bright yellow bandage. When we got home, I put one of my mom’s chairs in the front yard. Jake and I just hung out there for the rest of the day, enjoying the afternoon.

Independence Day

This time last year we were all in the mountains for July 4th weekend. Jake’s foot is still sore from his recent surgery and he’s not supposed to walk much, so we stayed in town this weekend. Funny that he is still wearing a red, white and blue bandage a year later, but for something totally different this time.

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.

I'm Hurtin'

Jake had surgery today on Thursday. I picked him up at the vet’s office and his paw was wrapped in a massive bandage. I had to carry him from the car to the house, limp in my arms like an 80-pound sack of furry potatoes. I made a bed for him in the living room and slept with him on the floor all night. He was pretty doped up from the morphine and in a lot of pain. Every breath that he exhaled came with a tiny whine. All…night…long. Poor guy. But he slept most of the day on Friday while I worked from home. Saturday was a major improvement even though he can’t put weight on the leg and won’t be able to for awhile. Today he was back in the front yard sporting his trademark colorful bandages and a pretty fine attitude, considering what he just went through.