Blaze came to us in April of 2019 from Haigler’s English Shepherds out of Monroe, North Carolina. He was nine weeks old and immediately we knew he would be the best thing that ever happened to us. He was fiercely protective, steadfastly loyal, smart as a whip, and sweet as can be to boot. We hit the jackpot.
Over his first three years of life, Blaze became an integral part of our family. In some ways, the pandemic was a blessing to us. We got to spend our lunch breaks walking to his favorite field to throw the frisbee. We’d spent the afternoons lounging in the sun together. He was our go-to hiking and trail running buddy and never met a meal he didn’t like. On his third birthday, we brought home Trek, and he proved to be an even better big brother than we could have hoped.
In August of 2022, we noticed a lump under Blaze’s jaw. We immediately made an appointment with our vet at the time. She said it was definitely an enlarged lymph node and could be related to his persistent seasonal allergies or it could be an infection, so we started him on a course of antibiotics to be safe. When that didn’t seem to help, we made an appointment with a specialist to aspirate the lymph node. After multiple tests came back inconclusive, we had an x-ray done, which found a large mass in his chest cavity and a probable diagnosis of lymphoma. It wasn’t until we got him to Veterinary Referral Associates in Gaithersburg, MD that they could give us a definitive diagnosis: mediastinal diffuse small B-cell lymphoma. A rare and aggressive form of the disease that is not well studied. Our hearts were shattered.
Bone marrow transplants are the only possible cure for canine lymphoma. Dogs can’t tolerate high doses of chemotherapy like humans do. The same protocols used in human medicine are used in our canine companions, just at a lower dose, to achieve temporary remission and extend their quality of life. The only possible cure for canine lymphoma is a bone marrow transplant. The cure rate for allogeneic (donor) transplants is 80-90%, but partially due to the cost of these procedures, they were only offered in two places at the time of Blaze’s diagnosis: North Carolina State University and Bellingham Veterinary, a private clinic in Washington state.
Blaze’s grandma rose to the occasion and got Blaze on the waitlist at NCSU while we navigated how we were going to afford the chemotherapy, bone marrow matching, and ultimately the transplant. We had pet insurance, but it was maxed out well before we even got Blaze’s diagnosis. *This is your PSA to get a really good insurance plan. You never know what may happen.*
In order to be eligible for the transplant, Blaze needed to be in remission, which meant that chemotherapy came first. Blaze responded well to the first protocol we tried, called CHOP. This is considered the gold standard in both human and veterinary medicine. Unfortunately, after 10 weeks, this protocol stopped working. We switched to a new drug, used specifically to treat canine lymphoma, called Tanovea. After two doses of Tanovea, it was determined that Blaze was in clinical remission! Blaze was always strong, but we were in awe at how well he tolerated each chemotherapy agent that was given to him. While he was undergoing this treatment, there was a period of over 30 days where we hiked or ran in Patapsco State Park every single day. We made the most of every moment that we had together and tried to check things off of Blaze’s bucket list, like taking him to see the Atlantic Ocean and making sure he ate like a king at every meal.
All the while, we were tracking down Blaze’s littermates to find his perfect bone marrow match. Dogs don’t have a “Be the Match” registry like humans do. Luckily for us, his breeder and the English Shepherd Community were hugely supportive and by the end of 2022, we had found 2 half siblings and 6 full siblings that were willing to be tested.
Little did we know that in February of 2024, the Bone Marrow Transplant program at NCSU would be indefinitely placed on hold. We, along with our village, fought tooth and nail to get the program reinstated, or at the very least to have the dogs on the waitlist treated. While we were navigating this heartbreaking news, we reached out to Dr. Sullivan at Bellingham Veterinary, the only other veterinarian in the world performing bone marrow transplants. After speaking with Dr. Sullivan, we knew that we had to get Blaze to Bellingham for his transplant. The uncertainty at NCSU didn’t sit right with us and although logistically it would be more difficult, we felt that Bellingham would be Blaze’s best shot for a second chance at life.
To add to the emotional rollercoaster we were riding, Blaze’s matching results came back in April of 2023, and not a single one of them was a viable match for his transplant. We went back to the drawing board, stayed up way too late, drew a lot of family trees, made more phone calls than we could count to the matching coordinator, and within a week had found 6 additional relatives willing to be tested. Just one month later, two of them would come back as a perfect match!
At the end of May, we packed up and headed to Bellingham with Blaze and his hero donor, Hoss. We finally got to meet Dr. Sullivan and his staff, who immediately put our minds at ease. Blaze and his donor were in great hands.
The next several weeks would be a whirlwind of good news. Blaze was in clinical and molecular remission. Hoss’s apheresis went perfectly and he made it home safe and sound to his farm in North Carolina. Blaze tolerated the full body radiation incredibly well and his stem cell transplant went off without a hitch. He only spent a few days in isolation while his bone marrow recovered. It was clear that he was well taken care of and adored by the staff at Bellingham. He would wiggle in excitement and smile every time he saw the transplant coordinator, Derek, and would always demand pets from Dr. Sullivan.
Before and after Blaze’s transplant, he got to explore the Pacific Northwest. He frolicked in the snow at Mount Baker, dipped his paws in the Salish Sea, and dove into the Pacific at Cannon Beach. He got to spend a lot of quality time with his grandparents, who live just outside of Portland, OR and made sure he kept his grandpa busy throwing the ball. We made one last trip to Bellingham and Blaze was cleared to head home. This was a huge milestone and very bittersweet. We were so lucky to have made it to this point, but the thought of being so far from his transplant team was nerve wracking.
We all made it home safe and sound, but just one month later, Blaze’s cancer returned with a vengeance. We worked with his transplant team and his oncology team at VRA to come up with a plan of attack, but Blaze’s cancer was just too aggressive. We let him go in the comfort of his own home, after two weeks filled to the brim with all of his favorite things, on August 25th, 2023.
Blaze left a hole in our hearts as big and as vast as the night sky. He was our heart dog and the very best boy. 4.5 years as our earthly protector. Forever more, our guardian angel.
Blaze will never be replaced, but we can try to fill that void in a way that will honor his legacy and the valiant fight he gave. That’s how the idea of Blaze’s 5K & F Cancer Festival came to fruition: a way to keep Blaze’s spirit alive while helping other families faced with this devastating diagnosis, in the hopes that their story won’t end the way ours did.