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Decker

Decker

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Staff member
Hi all. Myself and my wife Vicki hope you all had a great Holiday Season and you spent time with family and your loved ones. We had a pretty quiet Christmas and New Years was kind of a bummer but I will tell you about that in a minute.

Just before New Years, around the 28th of December I went ahead and ordered my new broadcast computer. I used the money from CyberstationUSA that they sent me and since I didn't want to wait forever I took some from our budget. Kind of put us in the tank some but I was getting antsy to get DMR again. I will be putting up info on my Pay Pal if any of you would like to help me out. I will have a segment thanking anyone that does, just to let you know. And ... let me thank anyone who plans to right now.

About the middle of last week our beloved dog Buckwheat started acting very odd. He stopped eating, showing any signs of what he was known for ... total excitement when Vicki or I came home from somewhere, or when Vicki was out and came back Bucky would stage a genuine show at the front door. We were worried but because of the weekned being New Years our Vet was closed. At first it didn't appear to be a life-threatening thing, but during the weekend it was apparent he was having a hard time breathing. Monday we had him to the Vet first thing and after checking him out and X-ray's the Vet told us his chest was filling up with fluid. He called a specialist and we rushed him down to South LA to this guy. They tapped his chest and drained the fluid, his chest AND Heart, ran ultra-sounds, the whole enchilada. His breathing improved and they let us take him home while they ran some other tests. Monday night he seemed better and we settled in to wait to see what the Vet came up with.

Tuesday night Buckwheat seemed to be having more trouble breathing. Vicki and I kept an eye open on him and decided if by morning he was not better we would take him back down. Well, Weds. dawned and he was worse so I called and we rushed him back to the Vet. They told us he had a growth next to his heart that caused a heart valve to shut down which then allowed the fluids to build up. They told us they could operate and remove it, but were sure it was cancer and he would have to undergo chemo-therapy. Even if successful they only gave him ... maybe ... 3 to 6 months. Vicki and I were devastated. We discussed it and decided we could not put our Canine baby thru that, we loved him too much. He passed Weds. at Noon. We have just been trying to get thru the damned week. If you do not have a pet or animal companion you may not understand but this was as traumatic as loosing a human family member. I don't know what else to say.

I will be unpacking the new system this weekend, have a lot of software to deal with, tests to run and so forth. We will have to run tests with CyberstationUSA and iron out any wrinkles. Keep a good thought, wish me some luck and hopefully DMR will be back before much longer. Thanks for your ear.

Decker
 
Gee Don, i'm very sorry to hear about Bucky, My wife and i have always had lots of dogs, and its always really really really hard when you lose them, i know first hand how bad you and Vicki must be feeling right now.
You did everything right though, You made sure he got the very best treatment available and made the right choice not to prolong his discomfort.
Our dogs are our family, and the pain of their passing is something we accept as part of the package, Its never easy. But in the big picture its the price we pay for the joy of having shared the path for a while.
Its sad they only get to walk part of the way with us, but its that part that is the great treasure to be remembered.
 
Sorry to hear of your pet.

This reminds me of our dog, Sashi. He was rather a nervous animal, we were concerned how he'd react with a baby in the house, and so he was given away before our son was born, in 1986. He's long gone, but we think of him sometimes.

And if you need help in working with your new setup, you know you can always ask and we'll be available. :)
 
Thanks Mike and Gene. Yes, I have had dogs my entire life. We got Bucky at 6 weeks and had him for 9 years. He was pretty damn special, not only a handsome guy but damned big. He was about 130 lbs. and when we got him had no idea he would get so big. He is missed, really missed.

Decker
 
A digital photo frame, loaded with as many pics as you have, and set to display them at random, is a good way to remember them
 
Hi Don,

Buckwheat was one of a kind, what a pooch, it will take time but he had the best life a dog could ask for and in the end that's what matters, all the love and joy you shared with him. With you and Vicki grieving right now remember this , a joy shared is twice a joy , a sorrow shared is half a sorrow.
Hang in there buddy.
 
Don, sorry for your loss. My wife and I just went through the same exact thing with our dog in october. We know how you feel.
 
We have a pound rescued chihuahua who i noticed last night has a lump on her chest, so she's booked in to the vets.
Her original owner dropped dead in the lounge, and it was several days before the police broke down the door and rescued her. She didnt go hungry though....... a genuine man eating chihuahua.
His family wanted her destroyed so she could be placed in his coffin, but the local pound had a few rude words to say about that.
So we adopted her, and ive busted my ass to give her the best second chance a dog could hope for. But im philosophical about this lump.
As my vet once said for a dog life is a "long walk in the park of existance" we have the priviledge of sharing that walk with them.
Fate has allowed us to go walkies on a portion of the path together, i'm confident i speak for us both when i say i'm grateful for that.

For a Dog life is a long walk, to share that walk together is what its all about
 
Buckwheat was a character I think listeners enjoyed hearing about on your show and we picked up how much he meant to you, really sorry to hear about this news and here's to 2012 being full more positive experiences from this point onwards.
 
Absolutely devastating news Don. My heart goes out to you and Vicky for your loss. We have dogs and i know how devastated we would be if we lost either of them. My condolences to you both.
Oh and all the best with the new broadcast gear. Can't wait to hear you live again.
 
Don, I extend my sympathies and condolences to you and Vicki. Being owned by two dogs, I know how they are an integral and very important part of the family. I'd hate to come home to an empty house, in fact I can't imagine what it would feel like. My heart goes out to you.
 
I didn't want to post in this thread at first because I know what it feels like and there is only so much comfort in words, but condolences.
 
I want you all to know that I very - very much appreciate your thoughts and feelings. On the one hand I realize that these things happen, hell I have experienced them before. But as you get older you appreciate things to a greater extent as you might have taken for granted in the past. Vicki and I never thought we would have to deal with this until much later. She had a really close bond to Bucky, perhaps even greater than I did. As days go by, as time goes by it will hurt less and less until we simply have the memories. Good memories I might add. Like how comforting he was when we got evacuated from our home for days during the wild-fires a couple years back.

At any rate Guys, thanks. We really do appreciate it.

Decker
 
I am so happy DMR is going to be coming back. I am very unhappy to hear about the Dog. Although I think I sent condolences on FB, I wanted to once again say sorry for your loss. I can't imagine losing my guys.
 
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