Hannah's Story

In the Summer of 2001, IL-MO Rescue received a call about two dogs in the St. Louis City Pound. Both dogs were about 2 y/o and had been living on the mean streets of the city. The caller felt they were pug mixes from the same litter. We had room, and took both ladies sight unseen.

Gloria, a sweet yellow girl, was adopted quickly. Hannah, a brindle girl who looked more chow than pug, was not. She was a medium-sized, dark girl with a "junkyard dog" look that seemed to make people uncomfortable. At home, Hannah was extremely smart. She housetrained and crate-trained quickly. She walked to the car sans leash, children could hug her, pugs sat on her. On the other hand, if another dog was rude or foolish enough to start an argument, Hannah would finish it. That was the Chow in her. She was not easily intimidated, but could be embarrassed. If she did something wrong, just my tone of voice ("Hannaaaaahhhh......") would elicit a drop of her ears, an "I've Been Caught" expression and sheepish, low wag of her tail. She was a very loyal and  likeable dog.

After Hannah's spay, I began to notice smear of blood where she'd been sitting. We took her back to our vet, where the entire staff had fallen in love with her, and she had exploratory surgery. Our vet removed part of the stump from her spay, suspecting infection had occurred. After her surgery, one of the vet techs called me. Her sister had been wanting a dog, she said, and Hannah would be perfect. She described an idyllic situation where Hannah would sleep on the bed with her new folks, enjoy the companionship of other family members and their pets, and live out her days as a permanent member of a large and loving family. To my surprise, I burst into tears! I later apologized, believing I had simply been unprepared for the separation. Now, I wonder if there wasn't more to it.

In February of 2002, I got a call about Hannah. "We're going to have to return her," said the voice on the phone. "We can't put up with this bleeding." I listened in utter horror as the caller described a second, fruitless exploratory surgery to find the source of Hannah's bleeding. Whenever I had asked about Hannah, I was told she was "Fine", or "They love her. My sister says she's the best dog she ever had." No one had ever mentioned her continued bleeding. An hour later, they were at the door. Hannah wore a blood-soaked diaper. On her back was a four-inch wide scab from an untreated dog bite. The woman who'd brought her thought they might "bring her back and get a different dog".  I was so horrified by Hannah's condition, I didn't trust myself to speak. I stared at them, dumbfounded, until they became uncomfortable and left. Afterward, I rolled Hannah over and found a bellyfull of staples that had been in at least two weeks too long. They hadn't even bothered to mention it.

Hannah's spotty blood loss had become far worse, and I worried about anemia. I realized she must have been kept outdoors for such significant blood loss to have been ignored for all these months. The only thing that softened my anger at Hannah's ordeal was her obvious joy at being back with her old foster mom. She was deliriously happy, and I was glad to see her, despite everything!

I polled some professionals, weighed their advice and decided to take Hannah to Veterinary Specialty Services, a group of board-certified specialists in St. Louis. They performed a vaginoscopy which uncovered a tumor buried far too deeply to have been detected by conventional methods. It was malignant. Surgical removal was not an option, but chemotherapy had produced excellent results in the past.

Unhesitatingly, I made an appointment for her first treatment only a few days away. Hannah-Banana was a special dog who'd endured many hardships already. It wasn't fair for her to die before she ever had a chance for a decent life. She would be treated with a drug called Vincristine which had an 87% success rate with Hannah's type of tumor. Four to seven treatments was the standard, then another vaginoscopy to determine whether or not the tumor had been dissolved. I would pay for the first treatment; after that, we'd have to take it one week at a time. Our empty bank account would not prevent Hannah from getting the care she needed.

Hannah's second treatment is scheduled for Friday, March 1st.

PART II: Hannah's second treatment went very well. By Thursday, her bleeding had stopped completely. No more diaper - Hallelujah! Dr. Buss says her response to chemo is EXCELLENT! This means we will not have to change drugs - good news, since other chemo drugs are more prone to side effects that Vincristine. Hannah is obviously feeling better, too. We had some snow early in the week, and she ran and played in it with two of the other young dogs here. Thanks to the generosity of our fellow rescuers, we have enough funds for her next two treatments. The wound on her back is healing beautifully now, the pigment is returning and I can see a few sprouts of hair popping up. We are very optimistic, and Hannah is so happy!

The Best News Yet!

After her initial diagnosis and a series of five chemotherapy treatments, Hannah is doing very well. We'll need to keep an eye on her for the next six months, in case there should be a recurrence. But the incidence of recidivism for this type of tumor is very low. And now, for the icing on the cake: Hannah has been adopted by a staff member of Veterinary Specialty Services! She is reportedly getting along well with her new brother (a Labrador Retriever named Murray) and her terrific new Mom & Dad!

We're keeping our fingers crossed, but this appears to be a storybook ending. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to give this great dog the life she deserves!