Fw: Dog cure.....this proves that animals can help us to get well:

[Guest guest]

Dearest Friends:

This comes from the MM group, and I thought that it would help some of the

ladies.

Sending love and hope to all..........Lea

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 5:41 PM

Subject: Re: Dog cure

I must agree about the dog cure. We had a 15 year old beloved dog that

passed away in August of 05. When I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in

Jan 06, we had started looking for a dog, mostly to keep my retired husband

company, but thought better of moving forward because we were uncertain what

my treatment would entail. After I went into remission, we started looking

again and adopted our beloved Border Collie, Dylan, from a rescue group. He

is a joy and so smart. He seems to know when and what we need in the way of

support. I did take him to some training classes, mostly to remind myself

how to work with a dog. He was a natural... I recommend it highly. :-)

>>> Deirdre Menoyo <dmenoyo@...> 4/2/2008 10:06 PM >>>

Dear friends,

Both my husband and my only daughter have had catastrophic cancer

diagnoses: his MM in '96; her metastasized melanoma in '98. And they

are both still here, although he, I admit, is worse for the wear of

mm.

On the first Christmas after his diagnosis, I gave my husband the best

gift I have ever given anyone: a black lab puppy. He's a very

reserved and stoic man who still doesn't like to talk about mm or what

he's going through. I thought he needed a " soul-mate " with whom words

were unnecessary. He was stunned when my son brought her home. He

sounded like a 5-year-old: " What's that? A PUPPY???!!! " )

And it was even more of a gift than I had intended. Not only did

Molly Bloom need the standard puppy training; she turned out to be

fierce (due to fear) and needed very heavy duty training to become who

she is today: the sweetest, most compliant and obedient dog you'll

ever know, though still very intense. I spent many early mornings in

the snow walking her through her paces, wearing her out, throwing

balls.

It was worse to learn that our 25-year-old daughter had melanoma that

had metastasized to at least one lymph node. (She was living at home

during this time.) After four operations in four months established

that she did NOT have cancer in her lungs, she began a year of

interferon treatment. She also got Deirdre's standard treatment: a

full-grown but young black lab who wouldn't be intimidated by Molly.

Luckily, he's easy, though full of mischief. The classic best friend

who wants to lie at or on your feet.

My daughter's world had been so rocked and her prospects seemed so

dire, even if she were to recover -- which she did -- that this dog

was a great comfort to her. Things looked better three years later,

when she seemed to be okay and the love of her life re-entered her

life. Our family joke: when her father was asked for her hand in

marriage, he replied something to the effect: " You can have the girl

BUT THE DOG STAYS! "

So we have these two, now-aging dogs. They are the first and last

thing my husband thinks about in the morning, the evening, when he

walks into or out of the house. And they give him such a

wiggling/joyful reception every time they see him! Who's to say they

haven't extended his days on the planet?

Maybe it's something about caring for relatively helpless creatures,

or maybe it's their unconditional love. Maybe it's their charm.

's article says we release endorphins when we deal with animals!

I joke about my " cure " -- I only wish the real cure were this easy.

Still, they do seem to make a lot of what ails our patient easier to

take.

Update on our daughter: her third child, Tess, is four weeks old.

They do NOT have a dog but they do visit often.

So far so good at our end, especially considering.....

Hope you have some unconditional love in your life.

Best wishes,

Deirdre, in MA

[To Join or Leave the list, go to => http://www.acor.org/myeloma.html ]

[Web Archives => http://listserv.acor.org/archives/myeloma.html ]

[international Myeloma Foundation => http://www.myeloma.org (

http://www.myeloma.org/ ) ]

!SIG:47f465eb55061288619949!

[To Join or Leave the list, go to => http://www.acor.org/myeloma.html ]

[Web Archives => http://listserv.acor.org/archives/myeloma.html ]

[international Myeloma Foundation => http://www.myeloma.org ]