Jazzman: 1/22/95-6/28/04

Copyright 2004, David Simerly

Jazzman

Jazzman, our nine year old Kerry Blue Terrier, has been having immune system-related health problems for the past few years. We've been juggling ever changing doses of prednisone and various other drugs in a delicate balancing act to keep his immune system stable and keep his platelet count high. Jazzman lost two brothers to the same problem, so we always felt pretty lucky that we had detected his condition in time. Taking all that "pred" was almost as hard on Jazzman as the illness though, so about a month ago we decided to take him to local specialists to see if there was anything we could do to give him non-drug-related relief. They recommended a surgical procedure that was supposed to extend and improve his quality of life. \

The specialists, located in Fremont, wanted to perform a spleenectomy on Jazzman; a procedure that would remove his spleen and thus calm his overactive immune system. These vets were very upbeat and confident that the procedure would be successful, claiming that it is fairly common and that they have performed it on numerous other dogs with good results. After wrestling with the decision for about a week and a half and asking for more reassurance that this was the right decision from the specialists, we decided to go ahead with the procedure.

That Monday morning Jazzman was happy to be going for a ride. He always enjoyed going to the vet because they give him lots of treats. I wasn't overly concerned after being bolstered by the vets' reassurances, and Jazzman's successful survival so far. He was a tough dog, I had no doubt that he would come through with flying colors. A phone call that afternoon confirmed that thought as I was told that Jazzman had come through the surgery just fine. He had been given post-op pain killers and was resting comfortably. The only bad news was that his spleen was larger than the vets expected, and contained a number of tumors. They said that his liver also appeared to be "abnormal." Later in the evening, they moved him from the vet's office to a 24-hour emergency clinic where he would have attendants overnight. The move was uneventful, and again we were told that he was doing well.

At 10:30 Monday night, the phone rang. My wife answered and it was the lead specialist. I knew instantly that something was wrong. Veterinarians never call at 10:30 at night unless something is wrong. The specialist told us that the emergency clinic had just called to tell her that Jazzman had stopped breathing and hadn't recovered. Our faithful companion was gone. We were so totally unprepared.

Jazzman had a tumultuous life. He was a "rescue adoption" after being a prize-winning show dog in Canada, he suddenly developed aggression towards human males. We never knew precisely why that happened, but speculated that possibly he had been abused by his handlers. When I first got Jazzman, I worked with a trainer who specialized in "problem dogs," and was eventually able to "out dominate" Jazzman. I was never able to completely break him from pulling his aggressive dominance tricks on other people though, and could never tell who he would "like" or "dislike." Because of that I could never really trust Jazzman, which was terribly difficult because he had become such a wonderful dog at home.

With his immediate family, he was loving and gentle. In fact, his breeder had referred to him as "Lover Boy," such was his nature with the people he chose to love. This is what makes Jazzman's passing bittersweet for me; I will terribly miss his loving side, but am relieved to be freed from the burden of his dark side after nine years. My wife however, is absolutely crushed, having developed a stronger bond with Jazzman over the past six years than I did in nine. The only solace we both find in this time of loss is that perhaps finally, Jazzman has found peace.

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