My aunt has been battling lung cancer for over 3 years. At this point, the treatments are no longer working. They have pretty much given up on her and she has been in the hospital for weeks on a lot of pain medicine. I went to visit her this weekend. She lives 5 hours north of me.
A little bit about my aunt: Shes never had children, but she has had a total of 3 dogs her whole life. They were her kids. She liked to have one dog at a time. They were each loved and spoiled and treated kindly. About four years ago, she bought a Cavachon puppy (cavalier/bichon mix) after her maltese had passed. I had never seen a puppy bond so closely with someone. They slept in the bed every night together for a long long time.
I got to the hospital Friday evening. My aunt begged me over and over to see Snickers. My uncle has been caring for the dog. She was so depressed. I asked the nurse if I could wheel her to the front door of the hospital so my husband can bring her dog to see her. (Its a big dog, so no chance of sneaking it in) The nurse plainly said no and looked at me like I was stupid. I never once seen my aunt cry in my life until then. She was always a strong independent woman. I cried with her. Every shift change, I asked the nurse, and they said NO! But this afternoon, a few hours before I had to head home, I asked the last nurse I was going to see there. She just smiled and said SURE!
I told my aunt and she was excited. It seemed like a long painstaking process for her to be helped into the wheelchair, but you could feel her urgency. (She is in so much pain its hard for her to move.) My husband rushed the dog over in the car. I wish I had a video camera. Snickers was so happy to see her mommy. He jumped into her lap and thats where he stayed the whole visit. It was so nice to see my aunt sitting out in the sun talking to her sweetie. I hadn't seen my aunt smile in months.
When the visit was over, Snickers didnt want to go anywhere. My husband had to pull him off her lap and put him in the car whining. It was kind of sad to see. My aunt was in a much better mood when I took her back up. She even started eating her lunch that had been sitting there for hours. I had to say goodbye myself to head home. Im glad I was able to cheer her up. I dont know how much time she has left here on earth, but Im going to visit her as many weekends as I can.