Bailey with Spleen Cancer

“…My beloved Beagle named “Bailey” was diagnosed with spleen cancer in November 2016.  She was losing a lot of weight quickly so I took her to her normal veterinarian and he wanted to operate on her.  At that time Bailey was over 16 years old.  I agreed but after talking to several people, I had second thoughts so I cancelled the operation.  When I called the vet it was mentioned to give her the herb “Yunnan Baiyao” and I could get it in the health food store.  After trying many stores with no luck I reached out to my good friend Amy that makes essential oils and she recommend Dr. Mary Ellen of Sayre Veterinary Acupuncture...  At that time Bailey was only given a few days to a couple of weeks to live.  She was that bad. 

Faith: An Amazing Life

Faith was adopted in February 2002 from Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control, approximate age one (1) year, six (6) months, a Black and Tan Shepherd/Mix, birthday 09/08/2000.  Her condition at that time was a normal healthy dog.

In August 2005, I noticed Faith's right rear leg was bothering her and causing her to limp.  I took Faith to her primary veterinarian and she was treated for "right knee joint inflammation resulting from a partially torn cranial cruciate ligament.

Hannah was born in March 2004. Her life has been mostly holistic and fairly uneventful.  Holistic medicine helped her ACL issues when she was younger. In typical newf fashion,  it didn't slow her down anyway. She made a full recovery. She is stubborn and does what she wants. And when a 125 lb dog pushes thru or pulls a particular direction,  she typically gets her way.

Diablo, cancer
In 1994, my father was diagnosed with cancer. The disease was advanced so alternative treatments, we were told by professionals, weren’t a realistic alternative. The best and brightest minds in oncology decided aggressive radiation would give my dad his best chance.

Two months later he was dead.

My family grieved and while I urged my lonely mom to get a pet, she wasn't ready. Nor was she ready the next year. Or the next.  Five years went by until she decided it was time.

We visited a breeder who had five toy fox terrier puppies, all so bouncy they spent more time in the air the on the ground. Of the five, one loomed large and in charge, at a whopping 1.5 pounds. He was more willful than the rest. He wasn't taking no for an answer. He was coming home with us by his choice; we had no say in the matter. And he would go almost two months in our care before being named because we desperately hoped he would outgrow the only name that felt appropriate. He didn’t. So the name stuck: Diablo.

About 6 or 7 years ago Heidi, our schnoodle, lost all her toenails. The condition was diagnosed as Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystrophy and there was no traditional treatment for this auto-immune disease. I am convinced the root cause was an apparent poisoning Heidi barely survived a couple of years previous (contaminated chicken jerky made in Chine suspected). At any rate, my acupuncturist (mine, not Heidi’s) told me about a veterinarian in Pittsboro NC who is a homeopathic veterinarian.

In June 2012 our then 15-year old Australian Shepherd Dexter was diagnosed with maxillary osteosarcoma. We had a partial mandibulectomy done and were recommended nothing else but palliative chemotherapy and radiation. The oncologist and dental/oral surgeon were in unison that this would stall the tumor from coming back for a while. But re-occurrence was a given since the necropsy of removed tissue showed dirty margins. I was told that this method of treatment would give us 3-5 months with our beloved boy.