This is Nash! He is a 10 year old black lab. His mom is Kimberly. Kimberly knew Nash before he was born, what he would look like and what his name would be. He is named after Kimberly's favorite basketball player Steve Nash. Kimberly used to visit him when he was a tiny puppy before she was able to bring him home. He was born in Kingstree and she used to call him Duke of Cainhoy because they used to live on Clements Ferry Road. Eventually Kimberly and Nash moved downtown. Some of Nash's favorite things to do are walk to Ben and Jerry's for ice cream, hanging out in the yard, having movie marathon of Harry Potter and driving around with mom in the car. Nash is the love of Kimberly's life and any decision she has ever made since his existence has been with him coming first.
You wouldn't know by how happy he looks in his photos that Nash has cancer. His cancer is in his mouth which makes it hard to breathe and a little hard to eat. His cancer is also in his lungs. I got to spend a little time with Nash and his mom this evening as this is his last evening here on earth. Nash will cross rainbow bridge tomorrow to go be cancer free. He will be able to eat all the ice cream and yummy snacks he wants and run and play with all the other fur angels. Please keep Nash's mom Kimberly in your prayers as she has to make a difficult decision tomorrow in Nash's best interest. This is one of the most difficult decisions that humans must make.
Sully's story
Sully was born October 9, 2011 on Wadmalaw Island. December 7, 2011 was a very special day for her new family. Sully took her first job as a greeter at Lacey's boutique in Florence. She was well loved by many customers, other locals and friends. Once it was time to move on from the boutique business, Sully and Lacey moved to Charleston where she made great friends in the Cavalier Social Club. Since moving to Charleston, Sully and Lacey acquired new family members, her dad, Brett, fur brothers and chicken friends. During quarantine, Lacey started a charcuterie delivery service and named it after Sully, Sullivan's Board Company, which has her as the logo. It wasn't until about a month ago that Lacey noticed Sully's appetite had decreased. Her mom took her to the vet and realized she had lost some weight and her blood work showed that her liver enzymes had tripled. The vet decided to take some x-rays which revealed that Sully had a mass the size of a small tennis ball on her lung. At 9.5 years old the vet gave her 1-3 months to enjoy the rest of her life. Lacey being the busy person she is got to work on ways she could make the most of this time. Sully has a bucket list and it has been almost 3 weeks and she has been able to cross off several items. Generosity from friends and even strangers has made it possible. Lacey's heart although broken by the tragic news, is truly touched by the way this has brought people together. If you would like to follow along as Sully completes her bucket list you can find her on Instagram @sullivanthecavalier.
Please keep Sully and her family in your thoughts and prayers as this journey will not be easy. It was a pleasure to work with Sully and her family. She is the sweetest little girl and has an amazing mom, dad and dog brother.
Felon's story
Felon is a special dog. You see, Felon is not an ordinary dog, he is a police dog, a retired one at that. Felon was born March 12, 2007 in Kentucky. He came to live with his handler Jimmy and become his K9 partner in October 2009. Felon was trained by Jimmy to become a dual purpose Police K9 with the North Charleston Police Department. As a dual purpose dog he was trained to detect narcotics, criminal patrol (apprehension, tracking and area search), obedience and article search. Felon was was responsible for 17 arrest apprehensions including and most importantly two apprehensions that directly saved Jimmy's life. Some people may not remember who Jimmy is, however, everyone knows or has heard of Felon! Felon rightfully earned his retirement on July 12th 2018. Felon was not only a police dog, but a family dog as well. He may not be a police dog anymore, but given the chance and any threat approaching, he has his family's back and is there to protect. Since retirement, Felon enjoys time with his other fur siblings, loves sitting in the sun, rolling in the grass and going for car rides. Getting pampered is a favorite pastime...belly rubs, being brushed and massaged! Jimmy could not have asked for a better police partner and family dog.
I am so thankful that I was able to capture some amazing moments between Felon and his partner Jimmy. Felon is starting to show his age at 14 years old, so this day was very important for his family.
We just had the most beautiful session done and i am overly thrilled with them!! Lauren was amazing and super understanding with my little ones which really made the session comfortable. We are new to Charleston so she had helped pick a spot and it was perfect, the pictures just speak for themselves. When i saw the pictures they brought tears to my eyes, seeing the shots she got of my children will be the best memories. We will be definitely reaching back out again for our next family session!
~Samantha McGrew
Lauren has been doing pictures of my girls for a couple years now and has grown so much as a photographer. She is incredibly flexible and talented. She recently did a photoshoot with my girls and I and I absolutely loved every single one of them.
~Amanda Thomas
AMAZING SESSION! My fiancé proposed to me and she caught every moment. She was so easy to work with and the pictures turned out absolutely amazing. I highly recommend!
~Holly-Ann Carter
Lauren is great, very patient and kind. She did our photos while we were in Charleston for family vacation! She did whatever we asked and had great recommendations for different places for us to go. Highly recommend, you won't be disappointed.
~Allison Ardouin
Highly Recommend! Thank you for a wonderful experience, my daughter had a great senior photo shoot and we love the photos!
~Sally Deas
Chance’s story
Chance was born on March 31st, 2015, in Florida. Before Chance came into my life, I had a Doberman named Levi. He was the best boy. I knew I would always have Doberman’s. Levi passed away in May of 2015 from prostate cancer. My heart was shattered. My other dog Maley was sad and seemed depressed. I knew I needed another Doberman in my life, so the search began. I came across the sweetest face on a puppy find website. This sweet face was my Chance. I called the number listed and spoke with the most wonderful woman/Doberman breeder. We talked multiple times about all kinds of dog stuff. Chance was the last puppy left. I believe he was the last one because they always save the best ones for last. Well let me tell you, he was the best one. I drove down to Florida to get Chance on June 15th, 2015. As soon as I saw him it was pure love and joy. He was the silliest and happiest little guy. I named him Chance because I got the chance to love another Doberman. Chance gave me a run for my money all the time. He hated his crate and tore up blankets and dog beds all the time. But he was the best cuddler ever. Chance always got the zoomies and loved to play. He enjoyed baths in the tub, swimming, playing ball, playing with Maley and occasionally eating leather. I took Chance to work with me often and one time on my way to work he vomited in my cup holder. I’ll never forget that. Yuck! One of Chance’s favorite things was sleeping in my bed and sometimes sleeping upside down. Chance and Maley went on many trips as well with me to Tennessee to see grandma and grandpa. Everywhere Chance went he turned heads because he was so majestic. He was one of the best-looking Dobermans I’ve ever seen. I taught Chance how to play hide and seek so we played that all the time. I remember when I first introduced the laser pointer to Chance and oh my he went nuts. He was like a cat in a dog’s body. It really made his little nub wag. Chance experienced many things with me like hurricanes, moving and a bad divorce. Going through my divorce was one of the hardest times of my life, but he was always there to comfort me. I gave up everything to keep my dogs. They mattered more than anything else. Chance and Maley moved into a small apartment with me for a year until we could get into a house with a backyard. Once we moved into our house, they were able to play and run around again. Chance loved running in the yard. He would dump the water out of his bowl and carry the bowl around outside. He loved rolling around in the grass and laying in the sun. One year around Christmas Chance ate several ornaments off my tree, including ones with glitter. From there on I had to push my coffee table in front of the tree to keep him away from it. There were also a few times Chance enjoyed eating my leather flip flops, Matt’s leather belt and our recliner. Chance loved to get his kong and sling it around, get it slobbery and then drop it in your lap and wait for you to throw it for him. He could do this for hours. Chance was only afraid of a couple of things such as the vacuum cleaner and pinecones. Anytime Matt went out of town Chance slept in the bed with me and made me feel safe. I taught Chance when he was young how to sit, shake and switch paws, lie down, stay and spin in a circle. He was pretty good at these things. Chance followed me everywhere. Anytime I got up to go in the kitchen he was there, or to the bathroom he opened the door with his nose. He never left my side. One time I let Chance and Maley outside and after a few minutes Chance kept coming to get me and I had no idea what he was doing. I finally got up and went outside to find Maley no where in sight. Our gate had blown open by the wind and Maley was gone. Luckily, she was only down the street at the neighbor’s house. I was so proud of Chance for alerting me that something was wrong. Every birthday I would put a hat on the pups and take their picture. They didn’t mind. Little did I know that Chance’s 7th birthday would be his last. On September 7th, 2022, Chance plopped his head in my lap and I went to rub his chin and noticed that his submandibular lymph nodes were huge. I immediately started to feel all his other lymph nodes that we will during exams at the vet. They were all huge. My heart sank and I felt sick. I knew exactly what was going on. I knew it was lymphoma. As tears filled my eyes I called several of the doctors I work with and they told me to bring him to work with me the next day. My husband tried to comfort me saying it could just be an infection, but I knew it wasn’t, being in the veterinary field for 10 years. I didn’t sleep any that night. The following morning Chance and I headed to work. As soon as I got there the doctors looked over him and we aspirated his lymph nodes and sent to the pathologist. I had my confirmed diagnosis in an hour. It was indeed lymphoma. I was hysterical at work and couldn’t hold myself together. He was only 7 years old. Why was this happening to be baby? On September 9th we went to see the oncologist and formulated a plan to help treat this horrible disease. The oncologist did a test to determine what type of lymphoma Chance had and another test to determine which chemo drug would work best. When I got the results of the type of lymphoma it was promising news. He had B-cell which is the easier type to treat. I got a call several days later that the test they sent to determine which chemo would work best was not good news. Chance was resistant to most chemo drugs, which means his body wouldn’t respond to them. I wasn’t giving up. The oncologist wanted to try them anyways and resubmit the test. We immediately started chemo and Chance got a dose of L-spar which is used to shrink down the lymph nodes. About 2 days later I saw a huge difference in the size and was hopeful. Chance was on the schedule to get more chemo the following week. Chance’s lymph nodes started to increase in size after only about 4 to 5 days of getting the L-spar. That week Chance received a chemo called Vincristine. I waited to see if he would respond to this chemo and there was no success. Chance started to develop edema in his rear legs and had trouble getting up and down. The oncologist suggested that we try another dose of L-spar. This 2nd dose helped some but there was concern that it wasn’t doing its job to the fullest. The week after the oncologist wanted to try a stronger chemo called Mitoxantrone. After Chance received this, he stopped eating and was very lethargic. One night he had a extremely high fever. Thankfully my boss allowed me to go to the clinic and get some antibiotics, fluids, and anti-nausea meds to see if this would help. The oncologist called in an appetite stimulant for me to give him as well. Chance continued to decline. I was desperate to save my beloved friend. I spoke with the oncologist and the next dose of chemo she wanted to try was a very strong one called Doxorubicin and had the potential to affect the cardiovascular system, so she said that Chance would need an echocardiogram to make sure he could handle this drug. I took Chance to work with me on Monday October 3rd to get his echo and unfortunately found out that he was in early stages of DCM (Dilated Cardio Myopathy), there was free fluid in his abdomen, and that the cancer had spread to his liver and spleen. I knew then what I had to do. My heart was more broken than it could ever be. My work friends comforted me and I took Chance home to spend one last night with me. Thankfully the week before he was really sick, we had a wonderful photo session. On Chance’s last night at home, we laid in the floor with toys and I didn’t leave his side. His breathing was labored, and he wouldn’t eat anything for me. I was worried he would pass in his sleep. Chance always loved sleeping in the bed, but that night he wanted to sleep on the cold floor. I tried putting him in the bed, but he just got down. I knew he was ready to go. We face timed grandma so she could say goodbye. I cried all night and got no sleep. The next morning, I got myself up and took Chance to work. He had some soft blankets to lay on and all my work friends and doctors came in and said goodbye and comforted me. Chance’s friend Hector, the little poodle also came to say goodbye and I finally got a tail wag from Chance when he saw him. Chance received some sleepy meds and was snoozing well before Dr. Briley came in to preform the euthanasia. Chance passed away peacefully with me holding him tight and letting him know he was the best boy and I loved him more than anything and that we would be together again one day. I chose to take Chance myself to Legacy Pets Cremation Center. They were wonderful and took the best care of him. A few days later I received a beautiful urn with Chance’s ashes inside. No one ever expects to lose a beloved pet at such a young age. I have asked God why so many times and just do not understand why they must go so soon. Life isn’t fair and life is short. Love your babies with all your heart and remember they are your family. Dobermans are my heart dogs and one day I will have another one. Chance was the most wonderful, sweet, and goofy boy and I will never forget him. He took a piece of me when he left. He was my favorite hello and my hardest goodbye.
Rest in peace my sweetest boy. Forever in my heart you will be. 03/31/2015-10/04/2022
