Christmas from Hell

I apolgize in advance for the shocking title but believe me it describes the theme of my heartbreaking holiday just perfectly. My well-thought-out plan for a memorable Christmas came crashing down when I received a disturbing phone call around 9:30 pm Christmas eve night. It was my mom and she sounded very worried and concerned. She then began to tell me that Tucker was very sick and they were rushing him to the 24-hour animal hospital in West Bridgewater. Upon hearing this devastating news Cory & I were in Taunton celebrating Christmas eve at my mother-in-law's. I was sitting in their living room and I immediately started balling my eyes out. I just knew that it was something very serious just by the way my mom was talking. 


As a result, we left Taunton right away to head home to drop off the gifts we had received. Feeling beside ourselves, Cory and I immediately jetted right up to Bridgewater. We arrived at the hospital around 11pm. As soon as we arrived there we were greeted by my mom and aunt. Within the first five minutes of being there we all just cried hysterically and embraced one another. While we were waiting on word from the doctor my mom began to explain to me why exactly they had brought Tucker in. Around 7pm that night they noticed that all of the sudden he was not acting himself. He had been pacing back and forth and he was also very lethargic. After about an hour he started to deteriorate very quickly. He began limping around until he just couldn't walk anymore. My brother, Keith, was forced to pick him up and put him in the car because he just couldn't walk on his own any longer. On the way to the hospital my mom & aunt noticed that his breathing was becoming very shallow. When they arrived there the two assistants at the front desk ran out with a gurney and brought him in right away. They ran some tests, and to our dismay they found a mass near his spleen. Soon after this discovery they presented us with an estimated cost of 6,000 for surgery to see if the mass was cancerous. The doctor told us that she was very nervous for Tucker and that he was a very sick dog. She also told us that he was bleeding internally and the only way they would be able to do surgery is if they could stabilize him. They decided that the most effective thing to do was to give him a blood transfusion to see if his red blood cell count would increase. They preformed one transfusion but he still continued to bleed profusely. Miraculously they found a similar breed dog with the same exact blood type as Tucker. They were hoping that this transfusion would stabilize him enough to put him under for the surgery.


Meanwhile my mom and my aunt had been waiting anxiously for over four hours. To make matters worse my mom was scheduled to work her regular shift on Christmas day after being up all night long. At 2 am, in spite of  it all, they decided to leave their phone numbers with the receptionist and leave to try to get some sleep. In the event that anything changed they were instructed to call them at home. Cory and I had left the hospital two hours eariler, around 12am, I begged them to call me with any updates. We got home and tried to sleep, but there was no way I could knowing that my first baby was very sick. I lied there with my eyes wide open until about 3am when suddenly I received a call from my mom stating that the doctor basically said that it was time to decide what we were going to do. She advised us that they had done all they could do as far as trying to stabilize him. Tucker was losing so much blood at this point that it was near impossible to stabilize him. They had given him the blood transfusions and all the blood they were pumping him with just continued to drain back out again. In other words, we had one of two options: we could try another transfusion and see if by some miracle it was effective or to agree to terminate his suffering and just put him down. All things considered, we decided as a family, at 3:30am, on christmas to part ways with our best friend and first pet, Tucker James. He was only 7 years old and I truly believe that it wasn't his time. God took my best friend way too soon. This news came as a shock to my whole family due to the fact that Tucker really wasn't even showing obvious signs of previous discomfort. All of our family & friends were heartbroken when they heard of Tucker's passing on Christmas day. They were all aware how important he was to our family and everyone that had the pleasure of meeting him also shared in our sorrow.


Little side story on Tucker: I had always wanted a dog my entire life. I had grown up with the dogs in and around my neighborhood since I was six years old. I begged my parents for a puppy every Christmas for as long as I can remember. They finally gave in during the summer of 2003. My mom came home from work one day with a puppy in a cardboard box.  Originally the dog was purchased for me as a high school graduation present, but as the years went on he became the family dog. As the years went on, Tucker became such a enormous part of our family. We had birthday parties for him and we even gave him Christmas presents just like you would any other member of your family. Tucker wasn't just any lab mix, he was unique in a way that is almost indescribable. He loved every single person that would walk into our home. He was so welcoming to all our guests and  he was always so happy and full of life. He loved attention and thrived on the company of humans. He would go up to everybody individually and greet them. Everyone that had the pleasure of meeting Tucker instantly fell in love with him. This is truly proof that god only takes the best and takes them too soon.


It will be a week this Saturday that he has been gone and I can't even begin to describe the pain and emptiness that I feel inside. I feel as though I lost my best friend. I can speak for everyone in my family when I say that the pain that we endured on christmas day was worth it for the seven years of pure joy and happiness that he brought to our family. Tucker was one of a kind and he cannot be replaced. He will be greatly missed and he will always be my first baby. A friend sent me "The rainbow bridge" poem the day of Tuck's passing. I thought it was fitting to share my favorite part:  "....when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... "

Until we meet again my sweet angel....Mommy will always miss you.


Rest in Peace-Tucker James- Mommy's sweet angel puppy forever. May 19, 2003-December 25, 2010

These pictures don't even begin to display the enormous collection of pictures I have of him. I would love to share all the pictures I have of Tuck..he was just that handsome.