Not Just Surviving, But Thriving

Up until 2016, I was the picture of health. I was homeschooling both of my grandchildren, who were recently diagnosed with autism, and I had run my first 5K. But my world came crashing down when I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and was literally a couple of weeks away from dying. 

Besides the shock of the diagnosis there in the doctor’s office, my first thought was, “who would take care of my recently rescued dogs, HoneyBee and Archie?” Especially Archie, whose broken back and severed spinal cord made it necessary to express his bladder every three hours. No one knew how to take care of him, including my husband.

Against doctors’ orders, I went home to train my husband before being admitted to the hospital through the ER. During my hospitalization, I met a pet therapy team from Faithful Paws. Although I wasn’t allowed to pet the dogs due to the leukemia, it brought me such joy just to see them.

Walking through this “valley of the shadow of death” would take the next two years and a lot of faith in God, prayers, and an amazing husband, family, friends, and doctors and nurses. As I began to heal, my husband told me that he didn’t want me to go back to work; instead, he wanted me to do whatever brought me the most joy with this second chance at life I’d been given. He was about to retire, so this wish/gift that he gave me would mean that he would need to work several more years. Because of the nature of his work, this was a big gift he was bestowing on me, that would be very difficult for him. But he was insistent that he really wanted me to have this gift. 

I instantly knew what I wanted to do: return to Houston Methodist Hospital where I was treated and encourage other patients in the fight of their lives. I wanted to use my HoneyBee and Archie to provide the joy I’d been given by them. In fact, HoneyBee and Archie’s unconditional love, cuddles, and just being there at my weakest moments were vitally important to my recovery.

Everyone at the hospital already knew about Archie and HoneyBee because I had kept telling them that I would be visiting them with Archie and HoneyBee as soon as I got well. They always remarked that my faith in God and positive attitude is what made the difference in my recovery. 

During my isolation at home as I was regaining stamina and energy, I started training HoneyBee and Archie to master the skills required to pass the Canine Good Citizen test. Following training by Faithful Paws and after HoneyBee was certified, sure enough, we began visiting at Houston Methodist. Archie started after covid in 2022.

Today, I serve as the team leader at the hospital, coordinating 23 different teams of humans and pets. We are at the hospital six days a week and most holidays as well. I have gotten to know medical staff in almost every unit of this huge, world-renowned hospital, and most of all, I have the privilege of visiting with my beloved pups as well as deploying all of these remarkable pet therapy teams of every size, breed, and description. They only have one commonality: the handlers and the pets are dedicated to their work, bringing unconditional love to the patients, staff, and families.

I am so grateful to Faithful Paws for training me, HoneyBee, and Archie so that we could use this most meaningful gift of a second chance to give back in such a profound way.