Many of you wrote to us during the Woofentine Awards to share your moving stories of battling illnesses such as cancer, enduring treatments that left you completely drained. But through it all you found powerful emotional strength in your dogs, who gave healthy doses of unconditional love and support.
Now we’re sharing these and other stories of survival encouraged by your ever-faithful canine companions. Tell us how your dog supports you and blesses your life when an illness has taken too much from it. Submit your stories and pictures to dogblessyou@explore.org, and we’ll publish many here.
Jennifer and her dog Meko, both cancer survivors.
Jennifer tells us: “My boy’s name is Meko, a 10 yr old Boxer. I was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer in 2009 when I was 38 and Meko was 5. My then husband was away at the Police Academy and it was just Meko and I through 5 rounds of chemo. He never left my side, never complained and is the sole reason I’m still here today after a very dark period following my diagnosis, treatment and eventual divorce. We discovered a cancerous mass on Meko in 2013 and he is currently being treated for a serious heart condition that could take him any day. He had pneumonia last month and I thought I was going to lose him. I love him with every fiber of my being and am unashamed to say he is my very best friend.”
Scott’s doctors recommended a companion, so the hospital let Penny visit when he was admitted for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Linda’s dog get her through all of her radiation treatments.
Mark’s dog comforted him every time he came home from a chemo treatment.
