Providing comfort
Mary Lou Boben pointed to a bright red bucket.
“Bucket.”
G.G., a 3-year-old black and white Maltese mix, jumped onto the bucket and sat and waited for the pats and smiles to follow.
Boben, a Butler resident who is undergoing aggressive cancer treatment, has taken G.G., her certified therapy dog, to the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in Butler for nearly a year to provide comfort for other cancer patients.
“I named her G.G. because she's God's Gift,” Boben said. “She's a gift for us going through chemo and all this.”
Boben is now a two-year survivor of peritoneal cancer. She has been undergoing treatment for 27 months.
According to the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, peritoneal cancer is a rare cancer that develops in the peritoneum, a thin, delicate tissue sheet that lines the inside wall of the abdomen, covers the uterus and extends over the bladder and rectum. The peritoneum is made of epithelial cells. By producing a lubricating fluid, the peritoneum helps the organs to move smoothly inside the abdomen.
“I wasn't given much time — four to six weeks,” Boben said.
Boben was given the option to try a specific chemotherapy that worked for some time until Boben had surgery. She was put on two other types of chemotherapy because of the toll it had on her platelets, she said.
“It wasn't fun,” she said.
In the midst of her treatment, Boben decided she wanted to do something to help others and became trained as a therapy dog handler.“I was scared to death the first time I was getting chemo ... people beside me said you'll get used to it and I thought I'd never get used to it,” she said. “I'm sitting there for seven hours because I had three different types ... I was sitting there with my eyes closed and all of a sudden, I felt something.”When she opened her eyes, she saw her friend, who is a member of the Butler Dog Training Association, and her friend's dog, Boben said.“It took my mind off my chemo for a good five minutes and I got to watch the dog and its handler the whole time,” she said. “My mind for a good half-hour wasn't focused on me or what I'm going through. “That's when Boben decided if God allowed her she was going to finish training her dog and use her to help patients. And she did.Boben, who has been a six-year member, went through the Butler Dog Training Association to certify her two dogs, including G.G., she said. Six months after she had gotten G.G., Boben was diagnosed with cancer.“I couldn't train her right away, so my neighbor took her, he is a member of the club, and started working with her,” she said. “If it wasn't for that organization, I wouldn't be here with my dog.”When Boben got her strength back, she finished G.G.'s training, she said.“It's what I get out of it — talking to the patients and seeing them smile,” she said. “This is rough.”Regularly she visits patients as they undergo treatment, and she has her blood work at the facility in Butler. She also visits Newhaven Court on Fridays with her other dog, Mandy.Her support system, including God, her husband, children, friends and staff at the facility, have helped her through the journey, she said.
Boben does not let her personal difficulties prevent her from helping others, she said.“Right now I'm just enjoying life and doing the best I can,” she said.Robert Fox, a Butler resident who has been coming to the facility for five years, patted G.G.'s head as the dog rested her front paws on his chair.The support is special to patients who might not have the help of family and friends, he said.Butler resident Kathy Miller felt G.G.'s energy as the dog sniffed her hands for the lingering scent of the cookie Miller had eaten before her treatment.The dog lover said goodbye to her own dog in October, so the visit from G.G. was comforting, Miller said.“It lifts your spirits,” she said.The air in the room becomes lighter when G.G. is around, said Beth Deller, a radiation therapist.“Having a dog is a big comfort, especially for the patients and us,” Deller said. “When you're dealing with cancer every day sometimes people get worse and sometimes people get better, and the dog lets you forget for one second.”
