The Dog Cancer Survival Guide (10 page)

If the vet recommends chemotherapy, the guardian’s “old” brain may apply this rule of thumb as soon as that word is spoken. The “higher” brain might be blocked, so that information about side effects, remission rates, and median survival times is discarded as irrelevant. As a result, the guardian instinctively decides not to use chemotherapy. For some cancers, for some dogs, and for some guardians, this automatic decision could be the right one. But for some cancers, for some dogs, and for some guardians, this automatic decision might be a grave error that is regretted for years.

Keep this critical fact in mind: when you are under great stress, your brain has an instinctive tendency to make automatic decisions without processing all of the available information and without consulting your brain’s center of logic. Managing your stress levels by managing your emotions can help you to avoid automatic, faulty decision-making.

There is one more reason managing emotions is a guardian’s first priority.

Even the most logical of human minds tends to lean toward delusional thinking during times of stress.

A brain under great stress doesn’t handle information well, especially if there are gaps in its knowledge or if there is a great deal of complexity. Instead, the brain tends make up “facts” and simplify complicated issues. In certain situations, the otherwise normal human brain actually leans toward what researchers call “delusional thinking.”

“I have to understand what caused her cancer,” a client told me. “I need closure on this. It’s driving me crazy. I can’t think about anything else.”

We went over her dog Lucky’s medical history, but found no single, obvious cause for her hemangiosarcoma. “This is typical,” I explained, “We will probably never know the one cause of the cancer. More likely, it was caused by many things, happening over a long period of time.”

There was a long pause on the line. She finally said, “It was the vaccine. They gave her a third round of vaccinations when she was three months old, and something inside said not to let them do it. But I did. That’s what it was.”

“I agree there is some evidence connecting cancer with vaccinations,” I said. “But I can’t possibly agree, with absolute certainty, that a vaccination given ten years ago definitely caused this cancer today. It’s more likely that several things came together to cause this condition.”

“When we first found out about Gordon’s cancer, all I wanted to do was hold him and cry. But if we ended up losing him, what would our last few weeks together have been like? So, with Dr. Dressler’s point in mind, I gave myself permission to grieve but for no longer than one week. When that week was up, I was going to put the sadness aside and love and enjoy my dog every minute I still had him. Once I read Dr. Dressler’s book I had hope and faith that something could be done. That alone gave me a brighter outlook. Once I started to implement his recommendations, the outlook got even brighter. I am confident that Gordon could sense all this positive energy and love for him and responded to it.”

– Kim Gau, Stow, Ohio

“That was definitely it. I knew they shouldn’t have done it!” she replied.

This is an example of what can happen to a normal brain under great stress. My client simply could not deal with not knowing a specific answer to her burning question. In response, her brain made up a story (“it was the vaccine”) that simplified everything. She felt better, momentarily. However, if her next dog actually needs a vaccination, then today’s delusional thinking could become tomorrow’s dangerous rule of thumb.

A cancer diagnosis represents treacherous territory for the normal brain. Cancer diagnoses are frustratingly devoid of complete, accurate information. For example:

Has it spread?
We don’t think so – but we can’t be sure.

Will the surgery get it all out?
We hope so, but we won’t know until we get the biopsy back. And, even then, we still won’t know for sure.

How long does he have?
We can talk about median survival times, but those aren’t directly relevant. Those times are true for a particular group of dogs in a particular study – but not for your particular dog, now.

No matter how much we know about cancer, we know too little, and cancer is an inherently complex illness. The stress generated by these two facts in our human brains is enormous. In this situation, delusional thinking is
very likely
to happen for any one of us. Delusion is a bad place from which to make decisions about cancer care. No matter how sane you may be, during times of unmanaged stress you and I and every other human are
likely
to make delusional decisions. Reducing your stress is critical.

Like it or not,
you
are the “X factor” in treating your dog’s cancer. Your mind and heart can be your best advisors or your worst enemies.

There are several exercises that can help you to decrease your emotional burden, reconnect to a clear-thinking mindset, and re-establish a clean, nurturing, compassionate relationship with your dog.

The emotional management exercises in the next chapter can be used at any time, and checking them out now is your first priority. Just as a Secret Service agent is always on the watch for trouble, a dog guardian is vigilant and keeps his mind and heart clear.

T
his chapter contains several emotional management exercises, which I consider “mission critical” for any guardian while dealing with dog cancer. Sound dramatic? It may be. Let me tell you a story about how upset emotions negatively influenced one dog’s cancer outcome.

Jake was still reeling from hearing about his dog Fluke’s cancer diagnosis. After a minute, he blurted, “He’s dying anyway. Let’s just put him down and get it over with.”

“Many of these exercises seem goofy or ridiculous, but I figured in desperate times ... so I tried all of them. Imagine my surprise when almost all of them had me noticing a significant change in my dog’s attitude. Even the smallest thing can help. Don’t we always say “attitude is everything?” In doing
Pledge of Thanks
on a regular basis throughout any given day I was amazed to find out just how much I underappreciated my best buddy. I now have an even more responsive and enthusiastic best friend. I truly believe a happy dog is a healthier one. Lucky for me it works for people too - my outlook has improved drastically.”

– Holly Rydman, Olympia, Washington