I just celebrated my first anniversary working at Bubbly Paws. Franklin and I are also celebrating being together for two years so I thought I would share his story for those who haven't heard it:
I first met Franklin when I fostered him through Secondhand Hounds. I didn’t really want to foster Frank, but I agreed to take him on a whim. I was out of a job and had about a month before I started school and I knew he would be easy as he had been in foster care a few weeks. I had agreed to take another dog already and just figured I had nothing better to do than to take care of a couple of dogs over Christmas. Frank was named in the shelter, PUPS, where he was brought as a stray. We know nothing of his history before this. He was weirdly over-weight, barrel-chested and vaguely lumpy. He was perfect and easy: quiet, low energy, house-trained, polite to people and other animals. It was pretty obvious that he had a lump in his belly. We took him to the vet, blood work and x-rays later and they tell me it is terminal splenetic cancer. He has five days to three weeks to live. I had had him a month or so at this point; he had potential adopters even. But with a death sentence he was no longer adoptable, I agreed to be his hospice nurse and care for him until he passed or was too sick and had to be put down.
Since he was mine indefinitely but had limited time I started to spoil him like crazy. I fed him the best food I could buy; cooked veggies and special meals for him and made sure he always had a treat or bone or some company. We took a lot of slow, easy walks and played fetch every day. I thought a lot about when he would turn, start to act really sick and the day we would have to say goodbye. I waited and watched. Other than pain medications for his arthritis we did not treat his cancer at all. It should kill him and quickly. But he just kept plugging along. He lost some weight and developed muscle tone. The lump in his belly looked less pronounced even. Summer rolled around and I expected the heat to bother him. But Frank was happy and spry as ever.
After we had been together for about a year I decided Franklin wasn't going anywhere soon and I officially adopted him. We made it through a few moves and starting to work at Bubbly Paws. He loves to come to work with me and has only gotten healthier and happier. I keep a close eye on him but I don’t worry that he is in any imminent danger of death anymore. Frank is my Steady Eddie always. So we cheers to misdiagnosis, a dire prognosis and beatified survival. Two years and counting, Frank pays me back for being his caregiver every day and I can’t thank him (and happenstance) enough.
