Drake's Glioma Brain Tumor & Radiation Treatment

*Update: We can't begin to explain how grateful we are for everyone's generosity over the last week. This has truly exceeded our expectations and Drake can feel everyone's love and support. We are leaving Sunday to go to SC for radiation and will give updates as we get them from his doctors! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to each and every person who has donated, prayed, visited and reached out.

Hi, my name is Adam! Drake’s first 8 years of life have flown by. He has spent them pouring out endless love (and jumping wet kisses) to anyone and everyone he’s seen. Anyone who meets Drake will find it hard not to find themselves being engulfed with Joy. That’s who Drake is. That’s truly a calling I believe he has had on his soul since the day he was born and he entered my life 8 weeks later. He loves to play and cuddle and has never met a stranger. I swear he would never be stolen bc he would simply beg to get in the dognappers car. He is a ball of energy mixed with a passion for naps. If you haven’t met him before you might have seen him on social media always trying to find ways to make people smile. Simply put, Drake is love and with him comes joy.

This past Tuesday, August 29, 2023, we got some of the worst news we could have ever imagined. When we got home from work around 7pm, Drake wasn’t acting like himself. He was walking around with his head down, isolating himself to a dog bed in the corner of the living room and he was wobbly & confused. He refused to go up or down the stairs.. something just seemed very wrong so we rushed to Nashville Veterinary Services (around 9pm), the same hospital who took care of Drake with his spine surgery in 2020. They started by running a multitude of tests & labs, which all came back clean, so they told us it was most likely an issue with his brain and Drake would need an MRI. The neurologist wasn’t back until the next morning so he would have to stay in the ICU overnight. As we were saying our goodbyes for the night Drake had a seizure. The staff promptly rushed him back where he was given mannitol to stop the seizure and another medication for his intracranial swelling. Once Drake was stable (around 1am), they had us leave for the night and promised to watch him closely throughout the night. The next morning after the MRI the neurologist, Dr. House, called to let us know the results of his scan and it was what we all feared. An aggressive brain tumor.

Drake has a right-sided glioma (inside the brain) tumor that crosses the midline. Due to it being inside his brain, it’s in-operable. If left untreated, Drake would have 2-4 months to live; and the quality of life would be low as seizures and lethargy and confusion all set in. Our other option is Stereotactic Radiotherapy (radiation). It’s a procedure that uses many small gamma rays to deliver a precise dose of radiation to the target area. The technique allows for focused radiation to be delivered to the tumor to minimize side effects while shrinking the tumor. Best case scenario, doctors think this could give Drake a medium lifespan of around 1 year. The procedure occurs over 4 days, with the first day being a consult and the remaining 3 days are filled with treatment and radiation. The procedure is very low risk and comes with no discomfort to dogs! Radiation is unlikely to be curative in nature but does afford more time and high quality of life to the dog undergoing the treatments.

Unfortunately, there is no one in the state of Tennessee who does this sort of radiation treatment. The closest (and fastest) we could get in is with Dr. Nathan Lee at Upstate Vet Emergency in Greenville, SC. The estimated costs associated with radiation treatment is around $10,000. Plus the bills from our night (Tuesday) in the ICU and MRI which was $5,700 this past week. My fiancé, Molly, and I will be heading to Upstate Vet next week for treatment September 11-14th with Dr. Lee. We have a chance to show up for Drake, love him and give him the chance to live out his life longer and with a higher quality than if we simply did nothing.

This page was started because we know so many of you have met Drake and were instantly overwhelmed with his ability to make the hardest days brighter. We also know some have never met Drake, but have been able to connect with him through socials and the joy he brings each and every person with his humor and obvious cuteness.

We are asking for your help. We are asking that you would be a part of Drake’s unfinished story with us. If giving isn’t on the table at this time, we ask you to simply pray for Drake. Pray that he will be able to have a successful procedure next week and we can shrink his tumor through the radiation process. We appreciate each and everyone of you taking the time to even come to this page and reading about what Drake is going thru. He loves you and knows that no matter how life plays out he was loved big and loved even bigger.

In Love,

Drake’s Parents (Adam & Molly)