Cooper

By Kathryn Westcott

January 4, 2011

I always joked that I went to the dentist and came home with a puppy. It was the best dentist appointment I've ever had! He was one in a litter of eleven that had been brought in to the Montrose Animal Shelter. This little boy was going to be mine, or should I say I was going to be his. I fell in love immediately and Cooper came home with me June 6, 2000. His big sister Gracie and Dad, my husband Mike, greeted him without hesitation and soon found out the incredible amount of love contained in this wonderful little boy. Life for the Westcott's was great with two furry kids running the house. Gracie our Chow mix female was always my girl and when my husband Mike wasn't around Cooper was my little man. Life was good!

The summer of 2007 found Gracie and Cooper the step siblings of Lily, a Dalmatian mix. We were to look after Lily while her Dad was in Kuwait teaching. Now the Westcott's were a happy family of five. Summers are fantastic because I don't have to work so I get to spend more time with Gracie and Cooper. One afternoon I noticed Cooper swallowing a lot, like something was in his throat. I figured it was a foxtail or something like that. I checked out his throat and felt a mass. Immediately I called our vet and got Cooper in to be checked. They removed the mass and right tonsil and sent it to the Western Slope Veterinary Diagnostic Lab. We never would have expected the pathology results in June of 2008: Tonsillar Squamous Cell Carcinoma. We were devastated! Our vet, Dr. Mark Vandenberg gave us a couple different treatment options and we decided on a course of chemotherapy, we had to give him every chance possible to beat this cancer even though we were told that the prognosis wasn't very good.

Cooper proved himself a real fighter, taking the treatments in stride and coming out on top of the cancer. Gracie and Lily got their Cooper back and we all went back to life as usual. Cooper lost his sister Gracie on July 22, 2009. I was grateful that he had Lily to hang out with when we weren't at home. I began to notice a couple of bumps on Cooper over the next few months but was told that they were nothing to worry about. Late December 2009 I became concerned about a hard lump on his head and I had our vet take a sample and send it in. When the results came back I couldn't believe it: cancer, again. I couldn't lose Cooper, not this soon after losing Gracie, I just couldn't!

Our vet, Dr. Carrie Taylor referred us to the CSU Animal Cancer Center. Our experience at CSU started on December 29, 2009. When we checked in we were introduced to
Dr. Stephen Withrow, surgical oncologist and founder of the center, and Justine Mumaw, a fourth year veterinary student. Cooper had a CT scan to see exactly what was going on. Dr. Withrow called us back to view the results while Cooper was still in the scanner. It was far worse than anyone could have imagined considering Cooper was just as happy as the day he came home with me nine years before. There was a tumor compressing his brain, a Multilobular Osteochondrosarcoma of his skull. Dr. Withrow told us that it was a fairly rare cancer. He sat with us and explained the cancer to us and what our treatment options were. He told us that surgery was an option, but there would be extreme risks, suggesting instead specialized radiation therapy called stereotactic radiation therapy, SRS for short. The goal would be to kill the tumor preventing any further brain compression. My husband and I sat for a long time, in shock, our little boy with cancer again.

We told ourselves that these were the experts and we had to do whatever we could to give Cooper a chance at beating this. With Dr. Withrow and Dr. Custis, a radiation oncologist, plans were made to bring Cooper in on January 4, 2010 to begin treatment. Every morning for a week Cooper and I met with Dr. Withrow and our new student Emily Fravel. Sitting in the waiting room while Cooper received his treatments I saw what a special group of people all those working at the Animal Cancer Center are, my husband said that he'd rather come here than to our own doctor.

The care and concern each animal and owner are given is incredible. Cooper finished his treatment on January 8, 2010. We were sent home with hope and fingers crossed that the 5 doses of radiation would be enough to stop the tumors growth. I had great hopes after all Cooper was a rock star; he had beaten the first cancer so I knew he could beat this one. Getting over the effects of 5 days of anesthesia took a few days but Cooper bounced right back.

The next 5 months he was back to his old self, always ready for a belly rub and a treat! I kept in touch with Dr. Withrow and Dr. Custis letting them know that Cooper seemed to be doing well. I had just emailed Dr. Custis an update when I noticed the lump on Cooper's head seemed to have grown. June 2010, a second trip to Ft. Collins showed some growth of the tumor. The best they could do now was one last big dose of radiation. What would happen next was up to Cooper and the tumor.

We had a good summer, but in August Cooper started to have seizures. We started him on medication and he hung in there for another month. He let me know that he had given the fight everything he could and on September 12, 2010 he let me know that it was time to go. I cannot begin to express my thanks to all of you at the Animal Cancer Center for your care of Cooper. You gave Cooper everything you had to help him battle his cancer for that we will be forever grateful! I hope that Cooper's experience will help Dr. Withrow and the whole team in the search for the answer to fight cancer!

Cooper was an incredible loving soul, my little rock star!

Share Your Story  |  Printer Friendly Page  |  View all Featured Stories