Dogs are the best - Story

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FloridaLady
FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
edited June 2014 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Dogs are the best - Story
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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited January 2009
    Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you don't and you may even decide you need one!

    Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

    Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular tha this toys stay in the box.

    It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease....in fact , she was just sure it was fatal.

    She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him. The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

    The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

    Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he d idn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

    When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.

    Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

    Remember....live every day to the fulles t. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards They are the ones that care for us.

    If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God

           

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  • Jenniferz
    Jenniferz Member Posts: 541
    edited January 2009

    I am a dog person.  My daughter's dog is like this.  She sensed when my daughter was going to have a seziure, then never left her side.  The downside was....she wouldn't let anyone near her!!! But things are now under control, and the dog is as loving as ever.

    I loved your story.............thanks for sharing.

    Jennifer

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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited January 2009

    How do they know when we need them the most?  My girl knows when I need her to just lay with me.  Last month I had some bad days.  For the first time since this all started she decide she was not going to let me just lay in bed.  She was pushing me to get up and keep moving.  I look back now and I did not even recognize what she was trying to do for me until later.

    Flalady

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  • pinoideae
    pinoideae Member Posts: 1,271
    edited January 2009

    Dogs are indeed the most caring, loving family pets.  They are truly unique and definitely part of the family. 

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  • PineHouse
    PineHouse Member Posts: 416
    edited January 2009

    FlaLady, it's a very touching story! 

    Years ago when I was on Dexamethosone for months, I was very emotional, angry, crying a lot.

    A couple of different times, when I was crying and sobbing on the sofa, the dog looked at me in the eyes.  Then she came closer and nudged me.  Then she stepped back and looked at me.  Then she nudged and stepped back again.  As if saying "C'mon...it can't be that bad, can it?  Let's go outside and play ball..."

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  • lewisfamily503
    lewisfamily503 Member Posts: 621
    edited January 2009

    Love love LOVE this story.........My boy, George, is as goofy as it gets, but....sometimes he seems SOOOO smart and just soulful!!  This picture sort of depicts thats mood!!!

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  • shinypenny
    shinypenny Member Posts: 15
    edited January 2009

    I have two siberian huskys named Keisha and Koda, they don't have very good manners, they like to jump up on you to say hello so naturally after my surgery I was really nervous about seeing them I know they missed me and would attack me when I got home, but they didn't they stayed down and just kissed my arms, I went to my bed and laid down and Koda got up on my bed and laid as close as she could and wouldn't let anybody near me. Keisha laid by the foot of the bed too! it was really cool they knew I wasn't feeling well and wanted to protect me. I do love those dogs they are my best friends.

    I love stories of dogs  any one have any more?

    Much Love Lynn 

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  • Indigoblue
    Indigoblue Member Posts: 274
    edited January 2009

    Oh, I had so many Golden Retrievers, Labs, and the last pup I had was a Chocolate Retriever I saved from dieing.  He was my best friend.  I had a white couch, and after he died, he was about 17, I think, he left a permanent brown spot on the couch where he always curled up behind my legs.  He was the best boy I ever knew.  I think I would have left my husband long ago had I not had Brownie to keep as my savior and friend.  Not a few months after he died, my lump appeared; I wonder if the heartbreak between knowing my husband was a cheat and a liar, and losing the spirit of this lovely animal didn't somehow encourage the cancer to grow.  I guess it was likely always there; and losing this wonder-dog was the last straw.

    Love,

    Indi

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  • FloridaLady
    FloridaLady Member Posts: 2,155
    edited January 2009

    bump...we need some more good stories.

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  • toyful
    toyful Member Posts: 1,461
    edited January 2009

    I had not had a dog since having 2 boxers in my childhood. After I went off to college, I became allergic to dogs, so I never got another dog. Two years ago, when 43 years old, I noticed a neighbor that I had seen usually with one Westie, now was walking with 2 Westies. I asked her about this, and she told me that she had been considering adopting the 2nd Westie because a woman with MS was no longer able to care for her Westie. But my neighbor was going to bring back the Westie to the sick woman because her old Westie was not happy with the arrival of this 2nd Westie. Something came over me and I knew I had to have this dog. I told her I was allergic to dogs, but since Westies have hair rather than fur, I asked if I could keep her 1 night and see how I do. She had been planning to return "Annie" to her sick owner the next morning, so this would work out fine. Meanwhile, my significant other was in the background making all sorts of hand gestures and mouthing NO! But my desire to have this dog was so great I totally ignored him! So right then, I took her leash and walked her to my house. She spent the night and everyone loved her, but I did feel a little bit allergic. I decided I could live with the allergy and informed the neighbor the next morning that we wanted to keep her.

    After about a month, I was still feeling allergic but it was not unbearable. Three relatives of mine were smokers (not me) and they decided to have a hypnotherapist come to my house to help them quit smoking. Because it was at my house, I just stayed in the room where they were doing the hypnosis because I wanted to see what it was all about, although I was quite skeptical about its efficacy. The hypontist asked if there was anything I was trying to overcome and I somewhat jokingly said as I sat there with the dog on my lap and my itchy eyes, that I would like to not be allergic to my dog anymore. So she hypnotized me and "suggested" that I would choose to love Annie more than I loved my allergies. That seemed kind of silly, but amazingly from that moment on, I have never felt a single allergic symptom to my dog.

    Fast forward 7 months. I have my 3rd recurrence of bc and this time it is stage 4 and I have been on chemo ever since. I have been miserably sick alot of the time, but when I curl up with Annie, she never fails to make me feel at least a little better. I am convinced that the Universe/God sent me Annie so that I would have this additional level of comfort during these tough times. And the Universe freed me from my allergies via a hypnotist, which I didn't even believe in. By the way, none of the smokers who were hypnotized quit smoking! And my sig other who was so against having a dog in the house (too much trouble he said) now loves Annie as much as me and treats her like his baby.

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