Sally's story begins 3 years ago when I saw an ad on Craig's List selling her. I contacted the family right away and the next evening went and picked her up! She was shaved down and resembled a red lab more than a golden. She was the sweetest girl and hopped in our car and never looked back. She fit in with our pack perfectly.
We knew when we got her she had some issues. Both her rear knees were bad and needed surgery and she had a large mass on her neck that needed drained often. Sally underwent both rear knee surgeries and never once flinched! She is the first dog I have ever had who "talks" to me. That is, she growls and howls just say hello!
Once her knees were better we began taking her to visit my Aunt in the nursing home while she recovered from her own knee surgery. Sally became fast friends with everyone she met and in the event I visited my Aunt without her, everyone was disappointed she was not there. It only seemed right to contact Pet Pals to see about volunteering.
Unfortunately, she had a few set backs with her knees that required rest but recovered with no problem. We then got a call from the Pet Pals volunteer regarding a training and I had to share some concerning health news about Sally. She had a lump removed and there was concern it was cancer. We had one surgery and it confirmed Soft Cell Sarcoma but not enough was removed. It required second surgery to try and get clean margins. Sally underwent the second surgery and is now cancer free!
She never acted uncomfortable and still dances out the door to the car for her staple removal and check ups. She faces this world head on, with a smile and a wagging tail no matter what challenges she faces! She is a true inspiration to me - I hope that when my day comes and I face serious health issues I handle it as well as she did! We sure could learn a lot from dogs! :) She will be attending the Pet Pals training in February!
Just in case you want to check it out here is the link to the fundraiser we set up for her. We used all our savings for her first surgery and had to resort to a loan with extremely high interest to get the second surgery done before the cancer spread.
Please pass it on to anyone else who might help or pass it on also.
