Survivors and Celebrations

Maya's Story

Sweet Maya (aka My My) came into my life on September 13, 2005 when I adopted her from the HSNT. She was to be a companion to my other shelter pet when she lost her brother. I have been a dog owner my entire life and have had a lot of dogs that I loved, but nothing prepared me for the all consuming love I had for Maya and she had for me. We were soul mates right from the start. People would say "you love that dog more than you love your human family" Guess they were right, because I would rather be with her than any one else in the world. Never have I been so loved as she loved me and showed it every minute of the day. We could even read each other's thoughts. Maya was 100 percent pure love and lived life with gusto. My husband would make me very mad when he would say she was slow to learn things. Boy did we prove him wrong and made him eat crow over those comments. She became the best alarm clock. My husband has this terrible habit of hitting the snooze button on the alarm which made him late for work. That ended when Maya decided it was her job to make sure he got up. So the second that alarm would click on, she went to work getting him out of bed by whatever means was necessary. She even had a way of knowing to get him up on time when he forgot to set the alarm. When he would take naps and it was time for him to get up, I'd tell Maya to "Wake up daddy and don't take no for an answer." She made sure he got up. She learned to shake hands. The odd thing was, she loved to shake hands with her back feet alot. That was funny. Tell her to shake and she'd roll over and hand you a back paw. Whe learned to be patient when it came to dinner time. She was a chow hound and really loved food. She'd eat her's and Kylies both if given the chance. She learned to wait patiently while I filled her dish and then she would bow her head and say her prayers before eating; waiting for the "Amen" to be said. I could go on forever about the lessons she learned, but it would take many pages. Maya loved her sister Kylie. They were always together and would not be the least bit happy when parted. Maya loved my godson, CJ and would kiss him every chance she got. Things started getting bad for my family less than two years ago. My dad was diagnosed with agressive prostate cancer and was told it could not be cured and had already spread to his bones. Right about the same time, my uncle (my dad's brother) was diagnosed with lung cancer. It is heart breaking to know that you will soon lose your family to cancer; but Maya was always there greeting me when I would come home from a long day at the hospital. She was my rock. In January 2010 I took Maya to the vet for her check-up and shots. Vet said she was healthy. Then in February I took her to get her dental cleaning. Right after that we had a record setting snow storm in our Texas town. Her and Kylie played in the snow till they were exhausted. On March 21, 2010 at 7:30 am things were just like they were every morning. Maya had breakfast and went out to take care of business, then at 8:00 am she started throwing up and couldn't stop. She became lethargic. By 10:00am I had her at the emergency vet office. They put her on IV fluids because she was dehydrated. She spent two days there while they ran all sorts of test on her. They did complete blood work-up, radiographs, and sonograms on her. They saw the spleen was misshappen and had what looked like loops in her intestines. she was turned over to her regular vet who decided to run his own test on her. The test just werent't showing a complete picture of what was going on so he suggested exploratory surgery. So it was set for the next day; March 24th. I told him not to call me and say she had cancer; because I would not be able to handle that. When he called; he said it was the worst news possible. She had a malignant mass cell turmor in her intestines that measured 8cm by 15cm. It was the size of two oranges. It had spread to the spleen and lympnodes and she had extensive internal bruising all over. He said that she would not live more than a couple of days max and believed that she would pass during the night. I couldn't understand how this cancer could be so large and not have been found in January or February. How could it be so bad and she never showed any signs of illness or pain? So I had to make the hardest decision of my life; put my sweet My My to sleep. I can honestly say that my life also ended that day. Not a day goes by I don't cry for her. I have gotten no understanding from family or friends; because they think it was just a dog and I can just get another one. You can't heal a broken heart, you can't fill that big rift in your existence. Where do you find answers to the endless questions? My vet didn't have any answers to give. I can honestly say that in all the years I have been a dog owner, I have never had a vet mention cancer to me. They don't educate you on it. They don't tell you what to look for. I can only hope that vet practices evolve more. Pet owners need to be educated from day one. The very first time you come into their office be it a long time owner or a first time pet owner, educate them. I also found that not all vets are alike. My dog's cancer was missed because her stomach was never palpated during her check-up. An oversite that was fatal. I also encourage all pet owners to invest in pet insurance, it should be mandatory for pet lovers. If my experience can help save one dog's life, then Maya's would not have been in vain. So in loving memory of Maya (June 9, 2005 - March 24, 2010) Your momma will always love you best, always and forever. Maya sweet My My although we are apart we are separated in body but forever joined in heart