CHANEL'S PURSE
Caregivers, Supports, Guardians, Angels - our furry and feathered friends
Various types of pets boost cancer patients' emotional and physical well-being. The most commonly used animals are cats and dogs, but others include fish, dolphins, miniature horses and miniature pigs.
Cancer patients can receive substantial benefits from the complementary treatment of animal-assisted therapy during chemotherapy, after an operation and during long-term recovery at home.
Cancer patients can receive substantial benefits from the complementary treatment of animal-assisted therapy during chemotherapy, after an operation and during long-term recovery at home.
Our helpers and "friends in need, friends indeed".
Benjamin and Pablo
My chihuahua helped me big time when I was feeling isolated from all the changes and struggles I had while on chemotherapy, I didn't want to be with anyone else but my fur baby. After treatment I got Pablo ( brown color) as a gift to my daughter, she has been through so much seeing me fighting breast cancer, this puppy has motivated her very much. Pets are amazing, is a really unconditionally love. CLAUDIA L.
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OwenLooking back, Owen knew there was something wrong with me even before I went to the ER and was rushed into surgery to remove a 17cm tumor. He had begun to be more clingy and affectionate. It was one of the hardest days during my treatment when I realized I couldn't keep him or my chihuahua, Chanel. I gave him to a good friend with a big yard so he could have the best life possible. When I got out of treatment, he didn't recognize me. I smelled different. But as I have returned to my old self, so has he. I have him back and my little stubborn furball knows I'm ok now, so he's back to his old ways. And I'm grateful to be chasing him down the street again. HEATHER R.
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Angels waiting at the Rainbow Bridge
Chanel 1/22/2007 - 5/3/2012
RIP Chanel. You brought me a lot of joy... I thought she had 9 lives, she had been through a fire at my old apartment, she survived her first owner who passed away of cancer, she fell off the patio on the second floor once, she blew up after first meeting a mastiff, she got lost for a few months while I was going through chemo and some how she always came back to me. I even think she knew I had cancer months before I was diagnosed, she wouldn't leave my side, along with Owen. One day I'll come back to you. She was family, when family was not. Thank you Chanel, I know how it feels to be loved unconditionally.
I may not be able to hold her anymore, but she is supporting me even now and waiting patiently at the Rainbow Bridge. HEATHER R. Remus approx 1995-2010
I've never had cancer, but my cat did. Remus came to me all the way from Kentucky. He was an older cat, so the shelter thought no one would want him, but I did. He helped me heal from the violent death of my cat Max.
He spent the last year of his life as a companion to friend's very sick mother, who had asked for him. He lifted her spirits and even got her to walk around the house, as he rode patiently in a special basket on her walker. Remus eventually died of a combination of old age, diabetes and slow-growing tumors. But he gave a lot of love to my world in the two short years he was here in Texas. CHRISTINA W. Cort 1997-2008
Cort, aka Porkchop, was my first dog. I'd had other dogs, but they were family dogs. Cort was MY dog. I got him for protection because I lived in a house with three women at the time. But Cort was so much more than a protector. He was my buddy, my big goofball. Then one night he was sick. The next day he was so weak I had to lift him into my mom's car so she could take him to the vet while I went to training for my brand-new job. I got a call an hour later that there was no chance to save him. He was in renal failure. He hadn't even looked sick the day before. I started crying so hard, my work told me to go ahead and leave. I went to the vet's and pet my big baby while he went peacefully to wait for me at the Rainbow Bridge. It's four years later, and I still cry when I think about my loss. But he'll always be my first and best dog. CHRISTINA W.
Baby ?-5/1/12
I found this dog starving to death at Bachman Lake in Dallas. She was only in my life for a few hours because she was so sick that she had to be euthanized. But she was another reminder of how precious and fleeting life can be. And how important it is to have people around you who care. She didn't have anyone until the very end, but I know that I made the end of her life more comfortable than dying under a bridge alone. HEATHER R.
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RAINBOW BRIDGE
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies who has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... |
