Duke first came to us on February 7, 2017, through our emergency service and from there visited a few other departments. Through this, he was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma of the spleen, a very aggressive cancer. He then went on to our internal medicine department for chemotherapy treatment. Duke’s family did not want to give up on him.
On May 24, 2017, Duke completed his chemotherapy protocol. He did not complain once. We let him borrow a tennis ball, but he would not give it back! He let go of it for just a moment while receiving his treatment (but did not let his eyes off of it!) and snapped it up as soon as we told him he was done. He then went home with his bandana and the tennis ball, his awards for being such a good boy.
On July 7, 2017, Duke crossed the rainbow bridge, he had lost his battle to cancer. He was such a wild, happy boy. We found if we just gave him a tennis ball he was a bit more patient with us. Duke’s parents wanted to pass on the love we all gave Duke with a bag of tennis balls for our patients. He will always be remembered here at VREC with love and we will share his story as we pass these on to other patients who need a little extra love when we see them.
To learn more about Duke’s legacy please visit our Facebook page