Stella Blue has always been a healthy, happy girl and I have been uber vigilant about chemicals, pesticides, vaccines, nutritious dog food and lots of outdoor activity during her life. So when she got a terminal diagnosis of canine lymphoma, I was shocked. How did my dog get cancer? How does that happen, I asked the Doctor? It just does, she said. It just does.
We were given our options, first to find out what kind of canine cancer it was by removing a lymph node, then the chemotherapy options. Something called CHOP therapy. Apparently it was appropriate and it in essence would give her maybe nine more months. What if I do nothing, I asked? Two months tops, my vet replied, and looked away.
Filled with fear, dread and wads of uncertainty I wondered was I to go home and google canine lymphoma or at home pet euthanasia or worse? With a million questions, I fell into my bed that night crying into Stella’s warm body. How life can change in an instant or can it?
So for a few days, I told “a story” to people that was so difficult to tell. The words didn’t come out of my mouth easily and they felt like a lie. Stella has …. ! And I would think, every time I said that, how it felt like a nail in her coffin. So I stopped. It was doing nobody any favors, least of all Stella, who would look at me as if to say “I got what?” Nothing honey, you’ve got nothing, just me and JJ and the cats. We’ve all got each other.
I knew I knew so much more, and I knew it was time to put it to the test. I was certain it was not Stella’s time for pet euthanasia or to die. So we opted out of conventional therapy and we did what felt appropriate for us, what aligned with our values and our beliefs. Here is a list of some of the actions we took. All of this is covered in greater detail in a customized HealthVision session.
• We changed her diet completely
• We switched to human grade water
• We dove into immune support
• We got started on homeopathy
• We got started on a customized CBD formula
• We got to the beach twice a week
• We language-d our life
• We implemented HealthVision
We received a terminal diagnosis of canine lymphoma for Stella four months ago for two months if we did not follow conventional, recommended treatments. We got a couple of second opinions and review of her medical records. Stella is twelve years old and takes two hikes a day, two small walks, chases critters with her brother JJ and at night she’s snores like a bulldozer on CBD and her lymph nodes are back down to normal size. Stella is taking a quarter tablet of prednisone every other day. Is she in pet hospice? We do regular pet hospice assessments with Vetmetrica (takes 5 minutes and we get instant results) and her pet quality of life is really good.
We look forward to Halloween and Christmas and a new year in 2022 and in some strange way, we bless the canine lymphoma diagnosis because it brought us closer, made us look at what we believe to be true and put it to the test, and it gave us tangible proof that there is no such thing as the last word. All words matter.