Our Greatest Fear This Halloween

Halloween, with its haunted woods and houses, eerily glowing jack o’ lanterns, and spooky “Thriller” sounds raising goosebumps on arms around the world, has nothing on most people’s greatest fear. No ghost, no witch, no scream in the night compares to our most brain-chilling fear: cancer.

Cancer is the scourge that haunts daily. It lurks; it hides; it waits. It grows in silence. And, then, when we least suspect it, it appears, its blanched incisors bared, its lips stretched into a sneer unlike any other. It catches us—helpless--in its Grendel-like clutches, and we believe ourselves helpless: cowering, pleading, praying the bite will only sting, that the apparition will flit--a nightmare--into the night. But once this ghost appears, it doesn’t disappear overnight. This fear is real. This is one horror that won’t leave without a fight.

Cancer has hurt everyone at one time or another. Not many of us have escaped its jaws, which clench, grind, and chew us up—physically and emotionally. Whether one of us has fought the monster off or has struggled to wrestle it from a relative or a pet, we have all known its hurt, its devastation, its oppression. In whatever way each one of us has been hurt by this torment, our only way to come away victorious is to fight until the pestilence is finally silenced.

That fight is being waged by a soldier of incredible courage and determination. His name is Luke Robinson, and he has sacrificed the last two and a half years of his life for his war against canine cancer. As a memorial to his Great Pyrenees, Malcolm, who died of bone cancer in 2006, Luke first began his sucker-punch to cancer during his 2,000 mile trek from Austin, Texas to Boston, Massachusetts. He and his two other Great Pyrenees, Murphy and Hudson, won the first battle against cancer finishing the walk on June 19, 2010. During that arduous trip in which they often stayed overnight in a tent alongside the road in hot and freezing temperatures, Luke remained staunch against his invisible adversary-- memories of his beloved Malcolm spurring him on. Luke’s trip was not only personally cathartic, but its mission sounded the bugle to others. Once he had peoples’ attention, he turned to the world of research. He awakened the veterinary world to renewed interest against this scourge in the form of the most powerful ally: charitable donations and sponsorships that would help make further studies and research possible.

This November 7, 2010 Luke, never one for a mere sneak attack, is launching an even more aggressive campaign in his 2 Million Dog walk. People across the United States are joining his war against cancer by walking by themselves or with their dogs in twelve cities across the nation: Atlanta, Auburn, WA; Boston; Cincinnati; Edinboro, PA; Fairborn, OH; Fort Collins, CO; New Milford, CT; Pittsburgh; Poughkeepsie, NY; Richmond, VA; and Seattle. And those not living near any of the participating cities are waging their personal battle in a virtual walk--walking those two miles around their neighborhoods and parks. And some, who are not able to walk at all are donating even as little as $5 for weapons or to boost morale for those walking soldiers.

Luke is asking everyone to donate or raise whatever monies he or she can to support research against canine cancer and for studies in comparative oncology so that, finally, people can drop this scourge to its knees. If one would like to participate at any of the twelve battleground cities around the U.S., he or she is encouraged to walk there, with or without a dog, for two miles. Registry is online for each particular city, and full instructions and contacts are at each site, as well. If one cannot walk in one of the cities on the list, he or she can still join the battle in the virtual walk by registering at http://www.2milliondogs.org/ and at that site creating his or her own fundraising page, which can then be posted to Facebook or MySpace.

People can also join the fight by donating a portion of the proceeds from any event: yard sales, wine-tasting parties, raffles, small auctions, or any profitable event. As well, businesses may send a percentage of profits from goods sold. Any monies collected from such events can be donated through the website, http://www.2milliondogs.org/ and clicking on the “Donations” tab or by contacting Ginger at Ginger@2milliondogs.org.

And here’s another way to get involved. If you buy your dog food at http://www.dogisgood.com/ and enter coupon code “FB#2”, you will get 10% off your order, and Dog Is Good will donate 15% of your total order to 2 Million Dogs (sale items and Never Walk Alone T’s not included). This offer is valid through November 15th, 2010.

Finally, next year’s goal at 2 Million Dogs is to stage walks against canine and pet cancers in EVERY state. If you are interested in organizing a walk in your city for November 6, 2011, please write to Ginger at Ginger@2milliondogs.orgor call her at 901-619-2286. Everyone’s efforts are needed to kill the scourge that is cancer.

www.2milliondogs.org
http://www.2dogs2000miles.org/
Ginger@2Milliondogs.org
901-619-2286

"Cancer Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" Calendar

Luke Robinson has only begun his fight against canine and other pet cancers. During his memorial trek from Austin to Boston, which I wrote about in a previous blog, Luke walked every mile wearing a memorial T-shirt bearing the names of dogs who had passed from this awful disease. No dog was forgotten; each dog who had died "walked" on those T-shirts too with Luke and Hudson and Murphy. What a wonderful tribute to these good pets.

Now that the walk is over, the aggressive work against pet cancer begins. In addition, all should know that this also benefits all pets and humans with cancer because comparative studies are being done as well.

If you have a dog with cancer, please get involved in the research I mentioned in my previous blog. For no cost, anyone can donate a sample of his or her dog's DNA to the Canine Hereditary Cancer Consortium. Luke's team is looking for at least 2,000 samples to be studied with the latest current medical and veterinary technology to develop genetic screens, diagnostic tests, and treatments for hereditary canine cancers. If a person would like to be involved with this important study, please see instructions for taking and submitting the DNA at http://www.2dogs2000miles.org/.

The next project Luke is undertaking is the third annual "Cancer Can't Keep a Good Dog Down" calendar. Those interested in having their dog's picture and story on the calendar can enter the on-line contest as follows: send to calendar2011@2dogs2000miles.org a digital picture of a minimum 500kb resolution in a .jpg or.gif format. Then, write a 1000 character, not words, paragraph about the dog. Include the name of the dog, the human companion's name, and email address.

All entrants' pictures and stories will be posted on-line at the 2dogs2000miles website. Everyone will be able to see and read about each dog. Then, after the deadline for submissions is over, voting begins. Each vote costs a $1.00. The voting lasts for several weeks after which the money is given to three veterinary oncology programs and to Luke's newest organization, 2 Million Dogs.

So, everyone whose has had a dog die of cancer, can memorialize him or her through this contest and, depending on the votes, on the calendar for 2011.

And, anyone with a dog that currently has cancer can get involved with oncological research by providing a DNA sample.

For the contest: calendar2011@2dogs2000miles.org. Submissions end July 31, 2010.

For the DNA instructions: http://www.2dogs2000miles.org/

For any questions : erich@2dogs2000miles.org

I'd like to personally thank all my readers for participating in these two very worthwhile events. Thanks a lot. We've got to go after cancer, fight it, and beat it.

Memorial walk for pet cancer research.

This is a pic of Luke Robinson walking his Great Pyrenees through Boston Commons during his last two miles of his memorial walk meant to bring awareness to and funds for pet cancer research. The walk, completed in honor of his dog, Malcolm, who died in 2006 of bone cancer, began on March 16, 2008 and ended in Boston, amid much media and public attention, on June 20. 2010.

Edgar, my agent, and I were just three of probably a hundred or so people whose lives have been permanently changed by cancer and who had walked those last miles. What a thrill it was to be a part of this cause that has re-interested, demanded that the veterinary community and its researchers pay more attention to cancer--not simply tolerate and mourn its presence.

I got involved with this cause during the research for my b0ok, THE CELEBRATED PET: HOW AMERICANS MEMORIALIZE THEIR ANIMAL FRIENDS. Early in 2008 I had learned of a guy who had lost his Great Pyrenees to cancer. He was embarking on a walk of over two thousand miles--in memory of him and to help eradicate the disease that took his life. I contacted him, interviewed him about a month before he was to set off on the walk with his other two Great Pyrenees, Hudson and Murphy, and wrote Malcolm's and Luke's story for my manuscript. And I became a follower of his cause, reading about his journey through the most long, grueling days, and, finally, walking the last two miles with him in Boston.

Many Americans have either read about or seen on TV this man devoted to the memory of Malcolm and his commitment to fighting this terrible disease that touches everyone of us during our lifetime. How noble a cause. I can't begin to understand the kind of determination it took to live through some of the trials he must have faced on the road. For someone lacking that degree of courage--someone such as myself, for example--such a feat is unimaginable: each day ending at a different location, friendly or not-so-friendly; safe or not-so-safe. Where would he be sleeping: by the side of a highway where, probability tells us, criminals and psychopaths have to be passing? How would he tend himself and his two big dogs on a daily basis? How would be carry all that food, his tent, his communications apparati, and products for hygiene? What problems along the road would threaten the walk, their lives, his sanity? What personal fears or obsessions would he have to face and overcome? I put myself in his place and shuddered. One thing alone would terrify me: bugs and ticks.

So much we all take for granted and would not be able or willing to do without on such an excursion: accessible, potable water for drinking and bathing, cooked food and lots of it, social gatherings with friends and family, leisure activities, simple acts like reading, snacking, sitting in a comfy chair, listening to favorite tunes, and just seeing to everyday comforts like cleanliness, temperature, general health, and ease of living. All of these became tentative, uncertain, undependable, and largely unexistent once Luke began his walk. Though he had a human support group via telephone keeping in touch and assisting him during life-threatening weather conditions, for the most part he sacrifced--for each day and hour of those two years--his own comfort and safety for the benefit of us all. That kind of selflessness probably none of us can imagine nor would be willing to tolerate even one-sixteenth of what Luke endured.

Had I undertaken such a trip, I would have had to lug such a large pack, or drag a sizeable wagon behind me--unable to do without my pillow, a personal toilet because I refuse to use the shoulder of a highway, my computer, a GPS, antacids, several changes of underwear and clothes, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, a first aid kit, complete with a few cosmetics, bug spray, and a week's supply of donuts--to name just a few indisensable items I couldn't live without. And I would have been too lonely to have made it much past a week, despite the company of my cats. The first skin infection from a tick bite would have had me crying home for assistance, and I can't even imagine how I could have existed for two weeks without all the water I'd have needed for myself and my feline companions. And how in the world would I have carried all that food and cans of cat food with me?

What Luke accomplished is just unfathomable to me. What he sacrificed--incomprehensible. What he has done--generous, selfless--nothing less than heroic, for he conquered the odds for the sake of helping humanity and animals. Luke has helped us all because we've all been a victim of cancer in some way. Because of Luke's determination and ability to endure, he just may be the catalyst that will allow scientists to discover cancer's cause and, therefore, cure. Such strength of character must be recognized and praised.

Luke is a unique individual who continues to demonstrate the will and determination it takes to win the battle against cancer in animals and people, too. Check out his website at www.2dogs2000miles.org and donate to the cause, either by contributing your dog's DNA to the organization mentioned or by giving a monetary donation.

Thank you, Luke, for being a braver, bigger person than what I am.