General is in "Dog Heaven"

General and Frankie

There is the sweetest book called "Dog Heaven" by Cynthia Rylant . It is a book about what Heaven is like for "angel dogs". It begins with how angel dogs don't have angel wings because "God knows they like to run best." It talks about all the things they do in Dog Heaven: God makes funny shaped dog biscuits. He makes squirrel biscuits, kitty cat biscuits, and ham sandwich biscuits. When it is time to sleep, they turn the clouds upside down and walk around and around until they find the perfect place to curl up to sleep. All dogs are good dogs in Dog Heaven and sit when angels say 'sit'. All dogs have a home in Dog Heaven, even if they didn't have a home on Earth.

The book ends with how every once in a while, an angel will take them for a walk invisibly around their own home and back yard. Checking everything out to make sure all is well, even checking on the cat next door. It finishes by saying how they will be waiting for their old friends to get to Heaven.

A dear friend bought us this precious book when our dog Ruby Leigh passed away in 2016. It was a great way to help our son, James, process the loss since he was only two.

Unfortunately, about a month ago we had to bring out our "Dog Heaven" book because our sweet old General died of cancer. Watching him deteriorate as he lost the battle with cancer, was one of the hardest things I have ever witnessed. Every day he lost more weight and slowed down a little more. He had the strongest will to live that I could have imagined.

By the end of his life he looked like a skeleton. I'm sure he was suffering but he was so brave. I don't know if he was holding out for me because I wasn't ready. Or if he was worried about Frankie, our Vizsla puppy we got a few months ago, who is still learning the ropes. . But he was such a fighter. He got so skinny, I actually put his pumpkin costume on him because it broke my heart seeing him like that...

James had such a sweet reaction as we read the book after General passed away.  He said, “This is a magical book because now General is in it.”  Then he wanted to “find General” as one of the dogs pictured in the book.  We did find a dog that looked like General and it gave us both some comfort. I love seeing things from his point of view.

It gives us all a little bit of comfort knowing he is no longer in pain. He is now in Dog Heaven swimming in the lakes and barking at the fish and birds. He was the best dog and will always be missed and remembered. We love you General!!

Please say "hi" to my mom too. I miss her every day...

How buying dog food can be an act of Faith

Courtesy of Bazemore Photography

When a dog has cancer, even buying the economy size 55 lb. bag of dog food, is an act of Faith.

Our sweet Vizsla, General, was diagnosed with cancer 2 months ago. The journey to discovering the cancer started when he kept losing weight. General has always been kind of skinny. We noticed he was getting much thinner than normal. So I took him to our vet, Dr. Haden, at Animal Medical Center of Holly Springs.

The first thing he recommended was doing three different panels of tests. The results were inconclusive but Dr. Haden thought he could have a problem with his kidneys.  He recommended a more in-depth panel of one of the tests. He consulted a veterinarian endocrinologist and they concluded it was probably not the kidneys, and he recommended an ultrasound. The ultra sound revealed he had a large tumor originating from his spleen; however his heart was healthy and he would be a good candidate for surgery to remove the spleen and the tumor. The tumor was pushing against his stomach and was so big it would explain why he kept losing weight. We decided to have surgery on General to remove the spleen and tumor.

By this time General had been continuing to lose more and more weight. He was skin and bones. You could feel every rib and even his hip bones were very pronounced. His once silky fur was dried out and almost brittle. A male Vizsla is typically between 55-60 lbs. The day of surgery General weighed 48 lbs. After surgery, Dr. Haden said the surgery was more complicated because the tumor had attached to the stomach, the intestines, and the wall of the body. The tumor was the size of an orange! The day after surgery we weighed him. After removing the spleen and the tumor, General weighed 43 lbs.

Dr. Haden sent the tumor off for a histopathology tissue biopsy. When the results came back, it was the bad news we were praying it was not. The orange size tumor was actually a cancer sarcoma. Not only that, but, it was a really aggressive type of cancer. Dr. Haden said he may only have a month or two to live if it had spread.

I cried. Then I prayed. Then I asked my family to pray. Then I asked my small group members to pray. Then I asked my other friends to pray.

We had already prayed to find answers. God answered that prayer, but it wasn't what we wanted to hear. Now we had to pray that the cancer had not spread and that removing the sarcoma would be enough to save General's life.

Only God could answer that prayer. Only God could heal General. Only God could decide if the cancer would or had spread.

Only God.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24 NIV

This is what we did: we asked God to heal General and we are believing He will.

Courtesy of Bazemore Photography

Now, back to buying dog food as an act of Faith...

Right after General had surgery, exactly two months ago today, General was getting really low on dog food. I was standing in Costco wondering if I should buy the dog food there or at the grocery store. Should I buy the 55 lb. bag or the 23 lb. bag? I had a moment. Would I buy the big bag and believe our prayers would be answered? Or the small bag in case he didn't make it?

I took a step in Faith and bought the big 55 lb. bag of dog food, believing God would answer our prayers. I believed we would have our miracle.

Here we are, 2 months later, and General is doing so well!! He has gained 17 lbs., has filled out, his fur is silky smooth, he has energy, and shows no signs of slowing down or terminal cancer.

And today, I bought another 55 lb. bag of dog food...



A special thank you to Dr. Haden for being part of saving General's life!

Cancer Sucks!

Brandi's dad

I have a special request this time from a good friend at work.  Her name is Brandi and her dad was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and they are going to Charleston this Monday for his surgery. 

She is trying to raise money to help with medical expenses by selling these "cancer sucks" wristbands for $2.00 each.  They are purple for the ribbon color of pancreatic cancer.  If anyone is interested they can email Brandi at blsimpson412@yahoo.com