Tucker, my love
Angelina Hamilton
My boy Tucker! He was 7 years old when he passed away on his own July 4, 2024. He was my everything, my life!
We did and went everywhere together. He watched over me physically and emotionally.
In February 2023, he was diagnosed with SARDs which stole his sight and wreaked havoc on his beautiful body. Due to lack of research there’s no cause, no cure or treatment except for a controversial treatment.
It’s a rare disease and his general vet wouldn’t treat him. I called 100 vets in 3 different states looking for help when finally I found one in the next state. She agreed to treat him with the controversial protocol which helped him briefly.
We tried for months to manage his new and ongoing symptoms caused by SARDs but to no avail.
Tucker had been diagnosed with a heart murmur (grade 3), heart disease and an enlarged heart in September 2023 so his vet referred him to a cardiologist and an Echocardiogram. After the Echo was completed, the cardiologist explained the results. She stated that Tuckers heart was now normal size, the murmur was downgraded to a 1 and no heart disease was present.
I was beyond elated because after his SARDs diagnosis, we hadn’t had any good or optimistic news.
Not long after his cardiologist appointment November 2023, after a fluke visit to his vet, she requested a CT scan because a lump she had been watching had grown considerably in a short time.
A CT scan was done the following week. Two days later, we got the results I was not expecting. Tucker was diagnosed with cardiac Hemangiosarcoma, Layrengeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Thyroid cancers. He was given a month to live at best and suggested I euthanize him which I refused until I could research more.
He defied their grim prognosis by 8 months but sadly my baby passed away on his own July 4, 2024.
Also during all this he was having vestibular episodes and had calcinosis cutis from steroid use.
He was a true warrior in every sense of the word. He lived and loved until his last breath. He passed away on our bed while I lay holding him. He was the sweetest, silliest, goofiest and sneakiest boy. Even that morning before he passed away, he had snuck into my daughter’s room to steal the kitty food.
He saw the real me—the one under the sadness—and he loved that version most.
Tucker gave me a piece of my soul that I didn’t know was missing… until he was gone.
And even now, he stays with me—etched into my heart, shaping the way I love, forever.
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