Dear OSU Students and Staff,
Woody, also known as “Sweet Woodruff”, passed away yesterday after a three-year battle with Osteosarcoma. Woody endured many hardships in his life; a rescue from an abusive first owner as a pup, a painful pinch from a car tire, and finally, several rounds of Chemo, due to osteosarcoma. And all the while, the golden essence of his nature was never lost: Kids, Frisbee, exploring the forest, and being a loyal, quiet, close companion will not begin to describe all of the joy he gave to not only our family, but everyone he met.
Our family is both humbled and grateful to the remarkable OSU medical team, who took him in on Christmas Eve of 2010 and performed the surgery that saved his life. We remember coming in to see him on Christmas Day, and we were amazed when he ran out to greet us! We were told that he had several students and staff attending to him; one allowed him to lie under her computer terminal, and another sat in his kennel with him to hold his head and pet him. And even after such a difficult medical experience, he was always happy to come back and visit for his Chemo treatments and checkups, and would even pull on his leash to get us into the building to see his OSU friends!
Woody literally did not start showing symptoms until yesterday afternoon, and passed very quickly. It was a blessing for him, but is very difficult for his four “kids”, as they are all away at college and were unable to say “good bye”. Because of this, we are hoping to be able to retrieve his remains and bring him back to the family ranch to spread his ashes. Below is a photo we took of Woody at the ranch just one week ago, and he had a grand time. With his remains, we will have something to return to the earth that he so loved, and although saying “farewell” to our grand, golden boy will be sad, it will make the experience for our children sweeter…
Thank you all for the excellent and loving care you gave Woody. Our family is so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to be a part of your program. The experimental drugs allowed us two-and-a- half more years with him, and for that we will be eternally grateful! We only hope that the information gathered from Woody’s OHSU case study will be helpful to children and teens facing this terrible disease. Woody would have wanted it that way…
With sincere appreciation from Woody’s loving family members,:
Eric, Mari, Kyra, Casey, Lucas & Maighdlin
The staff of the OSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital commend Woody’s family for their support of, and participation in, the canine Osteosarcoma research project. They and Woody helped further the fight against human and canine cancer.
