Our Magnificent Canine 'Patient'

There was a light at the end of her 'tunnel' that long journey our retriever had travelled after major orthopedic surgery had been done, four months ago. During that period, a strict code of 'behaviour' had been enforced. Leash walking, no jumping or running was in effect. ... (Her 'DNA' had been put on hold). ... Normalcy was about to begin. Then it happened. A lump, found on her front leg during one of our play sessions, derailed us again, with its sense urgency and timing. It was not a fatty lump. It was cancer.

Several needle aspirations determined what lurked deep within this misshapen soft furry lump whose dimensions seemed to be shrinking. Cells of a nasty kind with surgery to follow began this latest crisis. It was urgent. We worried. Her doctor managed to speed us to the front of the line and expedited the medical treatment for our precious girl. Dr. M. was our hero! A return visit to the hospital, where previous surgeries had taken place on Sally and Mr. Wiggles, would follow in short order. Nothing was left to chance. The results had come in on a Friday. On Saturday an appointment was scheduled. By Monday we'd met with the head surgeon with surgery planned for the following Wednesday. It was early July. It was masterful orchestration, a wonderful end to a unsettling beginning. It was magic!

Our surgeon, back from vacation, was superb - again - his skill set, top notch, as usual. All instructions were clear and concise. A couple of years ago, when our Wiggler had been seen by this illustrious man of veterinarian medicine for a mysterious egg-shaped neck lump, we had been advised simply "to keep an eye on it." We had, till one evening it grew and could no longer be ignored. 'Others' had wanted to remove, dissect, investigate, then try again. Our surgeon did not. His ultra conservative, common sense approach made us trust him even more. (Our one-year-old puppy was not an experiment for 'study'.) Never! Next, please!

A large rectangular 'open' wound now resides on Sally's front leg. The area is raw of tissue. It is not pretty. Not enough to suture together, we were told. The wound would be left 'open' to heal. How could that happen, I thought? An extra layer of skin had been removed, reducing any telltale signs of the ghastly disease in her body. Would it return? No one knows the future. A zero count of regrowth we were told. Chemotherapy will never happen. It is not in her future. Dogs do not know of death, just the moments to moments, day to day quality of their life. Being in a strange place, at night, inhabited by people in white lab coats during the day, does not a quality of life make - for a dog. To them, they only see tall strangers, abandonment, being sick and locked in a cage. Where is my family? Would 'they' know how to love her? That is not their job. It is ours. Toronto or New York would be destinations for chemo. No thanks. She means too much for us to pull that stunt. Her diet has been upgraded. Her rooibos, caffeine-free tea, is a more concentrated formula to kill the cells that might want to grow. It is a health giving tea for us; a life-giving tea for her, right now. Other single ingredient foods will be added, as necessary. A raw diet is practiced by all animals in the wild. She is a member of that group, too. Certain foods will be researched then considered.

Twice a week, the wound is redressed, swabbed in layers of gauze with the sterilized silver pad on top of the raw layer of skin, beneath. (Silver heals all wounds). A picture is taken, each time, then sent to the surgeon for his examination. His reputation began the process in July when the surgery was performed. Three sets of professional eyes have now seen 'it'. Not me, however! I cannot look. I simply listen to the medical banter and wait for further instructions from the doctor present as I cradle our girl on the floor on her designated blanket during each appointment. The doctors' words guide me every step of the way.

Our Sally wears a 'rubber' boot, a former intravenous bag, now being recycled as fashionable footwear, attached to her leg with gauze like ribbon, for the outdoors. I try to avoid rain, as much as possible, in this current rainy summer season. At one point during a heavy downpour, I worried about the rain dampening her bandage - 4 days away from a 'redress' appointment. I waited then wrapped the top half of her wrapped front leg with plastic wrap, just in case droplets of rain hit her 'leg' above the 'boot', moved downwards then soaked the sterilized medicinal 'covering' adorning her sterile open wound, beneath. (Risk of infection loomed large in my head). I am a worrier. Her foot and leg must remain clean and dry, indoors and out. Seasons count in this instance. No deep snow, ice or freezing rain to worry about. There are some things for which we are truly grateful.

August 21^st marked a triumphant day for our healing girl. Her wound is 80% smaller; her silver pad, 50%, I was told. Real progress in real time. Sweet Mr.Wiggles is learning to play alone, though at times he tries to engage his sister with his turbo soccer ball, as she descends the short staircase, outdoors. "Not now, my sweet boy. She cannot run." Neither can I, at present. I'm busy. She has been through many incursions this past year. I love her so. She is a soldier, a true warrior. Even the doctors think it so.

Lectins, An Opposing Momsey Theory...

Though I saw him for mere minutes on the Dr. Oz show, I knew my world was about to change. I was circumspect, somewhat, troubled by what I had heard. Though the T.V. segment lasted mere minutes, the information gleaned from such a brief encounter had lasting effects. How could it not?

The lectin doctor was serious, as had been the three 'other' illustrious men of medicine before him who had professed their dietary health truths in their published books.The current dietary truth about lectins made me cringe and laugh at the same time. Was sugar going to be O.K.? And chocolate sauce on my salad? Was peeling the skin and removing the seeds from a tomato now going to happen to keep me 'safe'? Some things made sense while others seemed nonsense. Was white bread the good guy now? I thought organic and whole grains were the goals.

Organic and Non-GMO stand tall in the produce and grocery aisles. We eat steamed vegetables alongside multi grain foods, no sugar added, please. Seeds and nuts are tops, I thought. Vegetables are on that podium, too. Then along comes a doctor with a whole new set of rules on the modern diet and throws me to the wind. Now what? OK, I get the scenario described. I am a good listener.

I imagine some plants were not eaten 10,000 years or more, ago. 'Civilization' was a crude form of rules within a population structure. As we evolved, did not the food system, too, slowly? Seeds and nuts weren't eaten much, then, while other live 'subjects' were hunted. But the machinery to process these hard shelled natural foods was not available, either. We now have miniature grinders in the kitchen to help make nuts and grains a more palatable food. Heating can aid in their bioavailability. Does that not count for something? As food methods developed, systems for their 'nutrient' delivery did. Industrialization changed the world and the way the food supply was managed from farm to table.There was much work afoot and unpredictable weather patterns to consider when planting seeds, raising herds, harvesting and distributing all of it to us. Getting the products to market, be it drugs or food, sometimes, meant 'short' cuts. The health of homo sapiens began to change. Then dietary books, written by illustrious doctors, began to appear on the book store shelves. The light shone brightly on what we were eating. We were made aware. Fruits and vegetables are now a 'paradox', taking a hit, in this newest dictum on our diet. Choosing paleo isn't much better. (Who has the time to pursue a food chemistry degree)? As a little girl, I ate very little meat, preferring to chow down loads of salads (thank goodness, they're ok.) mashed potatoes with homemade gravy containing an elixir of garlic and other secret ingredients my mom had in the refrigerator. (Had she discovered a new food group?) I was happy with the simplicity of my diet. I knew what we were eating each day of the week. Simple and Easy. Food security was everything. Now, some of those early choices are suspect.The nutrients of food are found in the skin, and seeds. If we abolish the lectins housed there do we abolish the nutrients they carry, also? What happens next? Do we get credit for anything we eat? (Yes, we do, for some of the superstars in our diet are real super, such as virgin olive oil. It has vitamin K. Who knew?)

Fasting is another component to health, the doctor reminds us, a period when the body has a chance to clean house. Makes sense to me. We seem to be eating non stop, anyway. We drink. We snack. We nibble while indulging in several small meals a day. Good ideas or too many to consider. Fasting helps to reset our metabolism and allow our much ignored thyroid gland, to reprogram itself in the making of the hormones that make it and the whole body function better, on so many levels.

Technology rocks and rules our modern age. But books can, too. As do the four illustrious doctors on dietary health. Do they know everything? I'm not sure. One thing is certain: I know something. The evidence is here to support my 'thesis' - one former 13-week preemie son, now grown and making us laugh, lived with a roommate, our miracle cat, for 7 years. (She is now working on her 3^rd life). Both were expected to die, shortly after birth, by their doctors. But their 'parents' believed in the miracle of dietary selection. These living, breathing mammals entered our lives and lived, one being fed mother's milk, from a diet resplendent of nutrients and sinister lectins from grains, seeds and little meat while the other mammal, a -27F degree cat, ate Greek yogurt for survival, a no-no in her specie's diet. Who's right?

Too many voices, online, are confusing us, telling us what to do, what to eat and which videos to watch to learn the secrets of the foods that can harm or help us. If we stop to meditate for one moment, we begin to realize that maybe our bodies are attempting to talk to us, too. We should be listening. They are our true masters. ... Hours ago, I had a lettuce and ham sandwich, on multi-grain German rye bread. The ham, a Tuscany recipe, nitrite-free, with visible fat, for all to see, was oh so delicious. I supplemented that heavenly meal with radishes and green onions with iodized salt and a brew of white and green tea. Oh, my. A simple meal from my past. How could any of that be wrong? But some of the errant foods I have grown to love were not meant to be, according to the lectin doctor. Does body chemistry or biology play a part? Somehow, it must. ...

Good dietary choices must always be a priority. Our health is no joke! The lectins are out there, hidden in some of the skins and seeds of the plants and fruits where nutrients lie. Where is that red delicious apple? Mr. Wiggles and Sally want one, too!