Becket’s Bounce Back

Becket Love Bug. My caramel eyes.  My precious boy was diagnosed with primary liver cancer on Thursday January 17, 2019.  Becket has been called many things by many people, including magnificent, elegant, gorgeous, beautiful, handsome, regal, stunning, amazing, most beautiful animal, sweet, gentle, smart, and the list goes on.  If you ask me, he’s my soul dog, best friend, seeing heart dog, co-therapist, companion, bank account drainer, bed stealer, food monster, dream maker, co-pilot, body guard, home security system, heart melter, blankie hoarder, my constant shadow, my furkid no doubt.  People are different when it comes to the value they place on an animal’s, a pet’s life.  As for me, I’m one that considers Becket to be my child. As they say, he is part of my world, but I am his entire world. I brought Becket home when he was 8 weeks old and fell in love the first night he curled up in my bed asleep on my neck.  Becket was certified as a therapy dog at 18 mos. old with Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. He has given more hours than I can count visiting and providing love, comfort, and entertainment to everyone from children to the elderly, people with disabilities, homeless shelters, and patients at HealthBridge Children’s Hospital and at St. Joseph Hospital in California.  Since I opened my private LMFT practice in 2014, he has been my faithful co-therapist, seeing my clients with me and providing animal assisted therapy on a regular basis, enhancing the therapy experience in a different way.  He has often held the magic key to open my clients up in ways that I’d never seen before.  Since the inception of his Facebook page “Becket The Greatest Dane Therapy Dog” in 2013 and then his Instagram account, “becket_the_greatest_dane”, he has impacted people all over the world in a positive way. Whether to bring a smile to their face on a gloomy day, to be something to look forward to when they wake up in the morning, to make them feel better in the wake of their own emotional or physical difficulties, to make them laugh, or to educate and share the value of therapy dogs in the world.  He’s provided resources to all dog parents, including others with large and giant breed dogs, from everything from clothing and training to food and veterinary care.  He’s been a model or poster dog for clothing/accessories, business cards, brochures, dog brands, and various companies. He is a spokesdog for the Emma Zen Foundation, spreading awareness about and raising money for pet safety and first aid and emergency preparedness.  I guess what I’m saying is, that Becket has spent his life leaving his paw print on the world in an amazing way, and giving to others.  Yes, he is a dog. But, he is also a massively positive  presence on this earth, which can sometimes feel so negative, and in the lives of many people all over the world.  My intent, is to provide him with every opportunity, to continue his work spreading love and Great Dane leans and licks for as long as possible, as long as he is able to be happy and healthy.  His treatment will be expensive and ongoing.  I have provided him with the best life possible thus far.  All of his care providers agree that he is in amazing shape and looks much younger than his age.  Likely due to the quality of care he has received throughout his life.  And, as difficult as it is for me to ask for assistance, I feel that it’s the least that I could do for him, after he has done so much for everyone else.  I will start my goal with something to put toward the cost of his first major treatment.  It could likely climb to significantly more, but I will try whatever I can to get him what he needs and will adjust if needed.   I am very fortunate that he does have pet insurance, which will help cover some, but not all of his care and the things which will be needed to give him the best chance at fighting this evil terrorist inside of him with the best possible outcome.  We are so grateful to those who see his worth and value, and who would like to contribute to his “bounce back”.  As of now, his oncologist, and the treatment team behind him have a plan that they feel will likely have a good and worthwhile outcome. It is not curative, but it will likely extend not just the length of his life, but also allow him to continue to have a great quality of life for years possibly.  They are in the process of coordinating all of the appropriate specialists, equipment, and time in the surgery calendar.  Due to the location of his tumor, it cannot be completely removed. They intend to do a “debulking” surgery to safely remove as much of the tumor as possible. At that time, they will also perform chemo embolization, where they will insert a catheter directly into the tumor, where the arteries are feeding it, and inject chemo into the tumor, along with agents to cut off the blood supply in order to keep it from growing, or even shrinking it.  His surgery will likely be in the coming weeks. With additional treatment to come, and ongoing care.   He will be in the hospital for 3-5 days, with a recovery of several weeks.  We don’t know all of the options we will have, or what the future holds.  But, I’ll do anything I can to give Becket the chance to see how far he can go, and to know that I’ve done everything within my power to help him, as he has helped so many others in ways big and small.  And, along the way, I’ll help him to fulfill a bucket list, never knowing how far we’ll get.  #becketsbounceback #becketsbucketlist #fcancer 
*pictures of children with parental consent
*hospital pictures from OC Register article