Recent Article from
TTEAM® Connections Newsletter
TTouch, Canine Lymphosarcoma and My Sled Dogs
by Helen Corlew, North Dakota,
TTouch Practitioner 1
When I became involved in TTouch I had no idea how it would help my sled dogs and me cope with canine lymphosarcoma. I love dog sledding and have at present 21 dogs with only 11 at present able to work in harness. Five of my dogs are 4 months old or younger, two have never been sled dogs and two I have just retired from my team. I am most content, when out with my dogs whether training with the ATV or cart or skimming
across the snow on the sled.
My dogs are mainly Samoyeds (some are AKC champions) and I also have three Alaskan malamutes for harness work, plus we now have a Hedlund husky which is a trapline breed from the interior of Alaska. And of course there is Denver, my 15 plus year old Golden retriever who is a cancer survivor but also a retired brood bitch from Leader Dogs for the Blind. And I can not forget Jessie, who is a 10.5 years old mixed breed that guards the Prairie Isle (our homestead).
My husband, Bob, left for Alaska on May 1st for his field season and I stayed in North Dakota to work full time and tend to my dogs. No big deal since we had a routine and friends close by. Two days after my husband left I noticed my beloved malamute, Drifter (Black Ice’s Prairie Snow Drift), had a bump on his cheek. I figured an abscessed tooth so called the vet to see about antibiotics and set up to have the tooth removed. No big deal, just normal when you have lots of dogs. The next morning I noticed that now Drifter had another bump on his other cheek. So I called the vet and she said bring him in as soon as I could. Drifter had just turned 11 years old the week before and we had noticed he was slowing down. We were not concerned since he was a large breed and had worked 10 yrs. in harness for us. Our vet though found many of his lymph nodes swollen and samples were sent off to the pathologist. Drifter was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma. I could not reach Bob to tell him and I needed to decide what to do for this loyal dog.
This is where my Animal Companion TTouch training (at the time I had been through 3 sessions and my 4th was coming up) helped me cope. I remembered I needed to breathe, exhale, and not hold my breath. Also I talked with Drifter about what was happening and tried to be mindful of his needs and well being, not just of myself. I have to admit this was very difficult because I did not want Drifter to die. After a couple days I called our vet and told them I was not going to do chemotherapy with Drifter and as long as he seemed comfortable I would not euthanize him. My vet told me to call anytime when I needed anything for him. And they were there for me every time I called and brought Drifter in to their clinic. I sent an email out to my fellow TTouch friends, the ones I was going through training with, for their advice and support. I knew they would not judge me for my decision and would be there. What a comforting feeling and thought since I did not feel any of my fellow dog friends were like that, just a gut feeling.
Thanks to Elaine Garley, a fellow TTouch student, I realized Drifter was not ready to die and that he would let me know when it was okay to let him go. She also reminded me to breathe, to do TTouches on Drifter and just be there with him. This was easy to say but I had many other dogs to take care of not just Drifter, plus I was working full time with an hour commute each way. The guilt and anger I felt was tremendous: neglecting my other dogs, was it right to keep Drifter alive, also going to work when I felt I should be home, plus not being able to reach my husband to help me deal with this and then there was “why was it Drifter not Denver who was 15 years old and had lived a full life”.
I tried to set aside time daily, in the evenings, to do TTouches on Drifter. He had always loved being brushed and touched, and even though I knew he was in pain, he let me do what I needed for me. He was so patient with me and gave to me such unconditional love.
After four weeks, Drifter stopped eating. At first I was able to force food –slurries and frozen food slurries, but after a few days I realized the end was near. Drifter’s body was so swollen from the cancer he could not swallow anymore. I knew he would suffocate and I could not let him die that way. Again breathing and remembering to be mindful of Drifter, I called our vet to say it was time. I took Drifter for a walk and talked about this and he was okay with it. I ended up taking Drifter to the vet’s office to be euthanized rather than waiting till they closed and them able to come to our home. I was worried he would suffocate while we waited and I could not do that to him. Our vet(s) were wonderful! Drifter was released from pain five weeks after his diagnosis.
TTouch helped me connect to him via the touches but also I found guidance and answers on how to deal with what was best for him. What was best for him ultimately was best for me too. It was not easy but it was easier because of TTouch and the support from my friends in TTouch. I attended my 4th session in July, and it was hard and I almost did not attend. But I also needed to get away and since Bob was flying home from Alaska to take care of the dogs, I knew they would be fine with me gone. Attending that July session gave me a chance to thank everyone in person for their support. Also, I grew as a person while at class.
To help me heal and cope with the loss of Drifter I decided to put together a fundraiser for the Animal Cancer Foundation. What a great way to heal and to help others that have or may go through canine cancer. So Paws Against Pet Cancer was scheduled and with help of local friends we got busy organizing a walk with your pet.
My life changed because of the loss of Drifter. I quit my full time job and decided promoting TTouch was more important and also being with my dogs and dog sledding was what I needed to do. I started talking with people about TTouch, doing demonstrations, and helping 2 people train their dogs to be their service dogs. And I became busy training/conditioning my dogs for a winter in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota giving dog sled rides and winter adventure trips, which is my new job! Again something about what I had learned and experienced in my four TTouch training sessions made it all seem right even though our income was drastically reduced. I can not put my finger on what it is or was, it is just there and now a part of me.
So life seemed great with a new job at Gunflint Lodge with my dogs, the fundraiser was coming along, then while grooming my 9 yr. old Samoyed, Naoisha (NEE-sha) and Drifter’s running partner in the team, I felt a lump under his jaw. I looked Neesh in the eyes and knew he had lymphosarcoma. I felt him all over and found nodes swollen everywhere. My husband was back from Alaska, he had come home early, and after grooming 3 of my sams I told him Neesh was sick. On Sept. 25th Neesh was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma. On Oct. 2nd, he started his weekly chemotherapy and I told Drifter he could NOT have Naoisha. I told him just because he ran with him here on earth, he could not have him where he was. Drifter has been present at our place in spirit, and he has been helping our 3 yr. mal, Logan (Drifter’s nephew) with the ropes of being a sled dog. And I am glad he is helping out but he was not taking Neesh. Again anger and sadness hit hard. Also I was trying to explain things to Bob because he was not here when Drifter became ill.
When you work with multiple dogs doing one task as a team, it is not just the physical strength that is needed but the mental strength that each dog gives that is so important. My dogs had been working together for 7+ years and they had already lost one team member plus I had 4 yearlings learning, so losing a trained team member was a big impact on the team and also for me—since I am part of the team. I knew I must get my head right or my dogs would feed off the negative energy. So I try to visualize what I want the team to do on a run plus with my young ones I talk to them hoping to communicate and connect with them. The experienced dogs I talk with them too, and I realize I am asking more of them with Drifter and Naoisha gone from the team.
My dogs are checked daily for swollen nodes and anything odd with them. When I remove harnesses I do TTouches to help them relax after the work out and also it gives me a chance to say thank you. And now it is a way to check for any thing odd. Neesh had worked five miles in harness the day before I found the swollen nodes and there was nothing wrong that Friday when I removed his harness—that is how fast the type of lymphoma he has can grow. In all of this though one of the happiest moments is Rose, one of my Samoyeds, who whelped a beautiful litter of 5 pups the end of July. The female puppy, Yepa, now lives in Sweden and the four boys are staying here to become sled dogs! And all of these pups have experienced TTouch before birth, during birth and every day! One puppy I even gave him a name to remind me of TTouch—Prairie Isle Touch O’Whisper, call name Whisper. And he is living up to his name: he is calm, quiet and everyone that has seen him says there is something “different” about him. He has a soothing affect on people.
With the help of my mentor, Stacy Lewis, I know Drifter’s totem is a bison and Naoisha’s is a white wolf and they will be with me this winter in spirit. I must thank Stacy for all she did for Bob when Drifter died. Thank you.
I wish to thank all that have been there for me—you know who you are.
Heart hugs to all and run dogs, run silent.
Helen Corlew
