Live Like Jax

Alaina Neary Case is organizing this fundraiser.

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On March 13, 2017 our 14 month old Australian Shepherd puppy, Jax, was diagnosed with terminal stage 5 lymphoma cancer in his bone marrow. We are devastated. Jax and his 9 year old Aussie sister, Cody, are the world to our family. Our dogs go everywhere with us. Jax (aka DooderFace, Jaxy, Wiggle Butt, and Jackson) has taught us how to love every moment of life with his silly smile and boundless enthusiasm. He loves running, skiing, paddleboarding, hiking mountains, travelling, playing in the backyard, and, well, everything about life. He brings joy not only to our family, but to everyone he meets, and we are going to lose him. But not without a fight. Jax is having the best end-of-life that any dog could ask for, and we need help to keep that up.

Jax has been on a highly-regarded chemo protocol called CHOP for the last 70 days, but it hasn’t gotten him into remission. He has had an incredible quality of life these last 2 months while on chemo. In addition to being spoiled daily, he’s been able to hike, run, paddle and even go on a trip to see the Grand Canyon and boat on Lake Powell. Lately his red blood cell count has started falling and his white blood cell count continues to fluctuate, and he’s often on the brink of not being able to receive chemo treatments. Since his current protocol isn’t achieving the results we expect, we are changing course.

There is a new chemo drug called Tanovea that just hit the market and it is the first drug to be approved by the FDA for canine lymphoma. It was developed at Colorado State University vet school and has positive results in dogs who have chemoresistant cancer, and we are hoping it gives us more quality time with our Jaxy McDooder-face. Our oncologist is now able to administer this new drug and Jax will be the first patient to get it. Chemo is already very expensive, and Tanovea is no different.

We are asking for help to be able to enjoy any more time with Jax. He has lived every day as his best life, with no regrets, but it is still far too short, and we simply want to give him more of it. We are fighting a losing battle, but the fight itself is worth it, and everyday we will continue to #livelikejax