We are Blue, Chunk, Vincent & Karen. Most of you know the boys already either personally, from the years of photos we've happily shared on social media, or thru our numerous daily encounters. We are blessed daily to see the pure joy and happiness Blue and Chunk have brought to so many people. Our story began almost 8 years ago 

in Westchester, 

New York. A Kentucky Rescue Shelter made its way up to our area hoping for adoptions at a local shop that offered their venue. 

It was a Saturday morning. One that forever changed our lives for the best in every way imaginable. 

October 7, 2017 @ 10:26 am to be exact!

More to come…

All filled with stories of more than we could ever have hoped for in our lives.  

Unfortunately we have to pause and skip ahead to our current situation. Now we’re at our hardest time ever.  This year has been one of our toughest. after finding a lump on Chunks neck that we couldn’t be sure wasn’t cancer until it was removed and biopsied. What a trooper Chunky is.  Not Cancer...

Phew, we came up for air. But wait,  why did this happen? We didn't understand why Chunk had to have this happen to him. Was there some larger picture we were supposed to understand? That's when it dawned on us to stop asking why and recheck both of them for any lumps, bumps, or new growths we may have missed. And that’s when we found a small lump under Blues front "armpit" almost like a lymph node and a pesky bump that masking as a possible allergic irritation on Blues leg.  Thats the thing about Mast Cell Tumors they mimic many other possible issues. We had it looked at by our veterinarian on a  Tuesday. Confirmed it was cancer and timing was crucial, we scheduled surgery to have it removed that Friday. Time wasn't on our or Blues side. However, since we caught it early and had it removed we gave our Blue puppy the best possible chance of survival. We were worried and scared and really in disbelief. The only way we were able to get  thru this and continue to is simply by looking at both Blue & Chunks faces!They are still so happy even with all of the tests and vet visits and medication.  It’s an unspoken and irreplaceable bond we are lucky to know. It’s our saving grace. Giving us the strength to fight more bad news from the results of the biopsy. On a scale from I-III his  tumor was a higher grade II making it very aggressive and having a higher tendency to metastasize.  And more tests to see if Blues cancer had a specific gene that would make him a candidate for palladia, a pill form of cancer treatment. He was not. Chemotherapy was mentioned as an option. This was not anything we wanted to put him thru or so we thought. We just didn’t know. We got a referred for an Oncologist that had recently moved from our area to a practice in Portland, Maine. It’s at this point we want take a moment and mention our number one priority is and will always be for our boys quality of life not just quantity. We scheduled the consultation visit to find out answers to all our questions. And we had many.  Ultimately we wanted to know if and what we could do for our Blue Puppy. Worried, stressed and ughh the unspoken but ever present daunting reality of the growing bills. 

Then we got some much needed good news! The Sonogram results showed no spread of cancer to his liver, spleen or lymph nodes. This was huge. We have hope again. Blue has a chance to fight the nasty MCT! And so this is where we are at. His treatment plan consists of 8 treatments of chemotherapy, along with anti nausea, anti diarrhea and a steroid pill. Once a week family trip to Portland where these two impress everyone with how fantastic they are. Chunk is the best moral support buddy for Blue always. And Blue is consistently refereed to as the best patient never needing sedation bc he’s always laid back. To try and put a price tag on all we have learned from them both is impossible. Their resiliency to bounce back and keep fighting shows just how much they love us. It also goes to show they want to get thru this so we can get back to doing the really fun stuff again. And we couldn’t agree more! 

We, Vincent & myself are “embarrassed” to ask for help, despite the overwhelming financial stresses we’re facing. But we know those of you who know the boys would want to help and we’d be foolish not to reach out. Humans and our pride.. except this human is willing to put that aside in order  for Blue puppy to get his treatments so that he/we can have another 2-4 years together. Times are tough and we understand if you’re not able to monetarily contribute. We ask then for your moral support and positive energy. We will be giving back by posting progress updates, photos, MCT information, answering questions, sharing our stories and forever be grateful.

Blue , 

Chunk❤️,

Vincent and Karen