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Have you ever had a friend that was going through a tough time and you wanted to do something but didn’t know what to do? We recently heard that 1 in 2 dogs will be diagnosed with cancer and 39% of people will be diagnosed with cancer. The chances of you knowing someone affected is pretty strong. We recently learned what you can do to help them!
The last 3 weeks have been crazy for us. It all started with a seizure and in 3 weeks time, I had a MRI, CT and 3 radiation treatments and numerous veterinary appointments with new doctors. I found out that I had a brain mass and our world just turned upside down. During that time, many people reached out and helped mommy in many ways that meant a lot to her and she wants to share a few of them with you.
We are out to educate people on what we have learned and are still learning throughout the process. In this week’s post, we are going to talk about a few things that you may want to do if your friend is having health issues or if their beloved pet is. You may not have even thought about these things. Some are very easy, a few do not cost any money and they are ALL very helpful!
Mommy and I want to THANK EVERYONE for EVERYTHING that they did for us from the simple message to the donations. Every single thing was very appreciated!
A few things that you can do…..
1/ Send your love! We got hundreds of comments, emoji’s, messages, prayers, photo’s and good thoughts through our social media channels, blog, text, and phone messages. They meant the world to my mommy. We even got messages from people we don’t even know! Just knowing that people care and were thinking about me meant so much and really helped her to get through a ruff time.
2/ Offer to help. Mommy was fine on her own and daddy helped her but she was lucky enough to be able to take off of work and do what needed to be done. Plus, it was only 3 weeks. Many people and pets, go through months of treatment, doctors appointments, etc. We had friends offer to come with us, take me if mommy couldn’t and just keep us company. That meant a lot to mommy. Many people do not have the luxury of taking time off of work so help would really be, helpful!! Plus, mommy is in the health care field so she kind of knew the terminology and questions to ask. Daddy was completely lost. Doctor’s talk fast and use big, scary words. Sometimes just having an extra set of ears at doctor’s appointments really helps!
3/ Send gifts. My Aunty Debbie dropped off a basket of treats and toys for me while I was getting my MRI! That was a crazy, nice surprise when mommy found out and it meant a lot to mommy and especially to me because the balls were squeaky and the treats were yummy! Mommy said I had to share them with my brother! We showed you in our other post the big gift basket my other Aunties made for me. I have the best friends & Aunties that anyone could ever ask for!
Another nice thing was that our friend, Shauna, dropped off beautiful flowers for mommy to help cheer her up. I hope mommy does not kill them like she does all of the other plants in our house! The gift does not even need to be expensive to just tell the person that you are thinking about them!
4/ Help with food. Mommy did not have time to grocery shop and she doesn’t eat fast food so she was making due with what she had and she ate a lot of KIND snack bars. Another thing Shauna did was drop off pumpkin muffin mix for comfort food because she knows mommy loves pumpkin! It was another really nice surprise to come home to on our doorstep. If the person is going to be tied up with medical issues for a while, you may want to buy them a meal delivery service or just drop off some healthy food for them. A snack basket would be fun!
5/ Make a donation. Mommy did not want any donations because she was more than capable of taking care of me but Aunt Naomi made a donation page anyhow. If you are a good friend and you know that your friend needs your help, you may want to consider this. There are many different kinds of crowd funding page. Many people can not afford expensive medical tests for their pet or for themselves. They may also be missing work to take care of the medical issues. It seemed like we were filling the car with gas every other day. Stuff just adds up. If you don’t want to do a donation page, then maybe buy them a gas card, gift certificate for a restaurant or just help them out monetarily some way.
6/ Send a card. Remember those paper things that you buy and put a stamp on them. Many people still send and receive them and they are fun to get especially if they are cute and/ or funny. Sometimes people just need a good laugh! You can pick one up at the dollar store for under a buck and send it with a nice note in it. Who doesn’t love receiving a card?
7/ Offer your advice. So many nice people reached out to mommy to give her advice. Some were in the dog health field, others had been through something similar, and others just were very smart! Obviously she could not take all of it but it is good to hear other people’s experiences and what worked for them and what didn’t. There is no use re-creating the wheel. If something worked for you, you loved your doctor, you had a great experience, etc. –Share It!
These are just a few of the things that we noticed that people did that others may not think about. Mommy wishes that she could help out every single dog family that she knows that is going through a ruff time. Unfortunately since being in the dog business, this adds up to a lot of people and dogs. You probably do not want her cooking but she tries her best to reach out to everyone and offer support and love and now she has a lot of advice! If every one chips in and does their part, everyone will be taken care of!
Did you have someone do something for you that stood out. Please let us know and we will add it to our list! Stay tuned for more posts that will hopefully help you and your dog friends!
