Dog Lived (and So Will I) (28 page)

Chris and I sat on the beach with our arms around each other and toes sunk into the sand. We watched quietly as the sky turned yellow, orange, pink, and magenta. The sun lowered on the horizon and the palm trees were silhouetted black in the sky.

This time they didn’t resemble cancer at all.

One book alone can only begin to express the immense gratitude I feel for those who saved Seamus’s life and mine. The knowledge and kindness of Nancy Mount of Details Dog Grooming and the compassion and consummate skill of Dr. Autumn Dutelle each saved Seamus’s life (and quite possibly my mental health). Dr. Wayne Davis and the talented and devoted staff at Small Animal Hospital (particularly Angel Redfearn, Mardell Denney, and Dr. Laura Schrader), then and now, keep Seamus happy and healthy, as they have with all my dogs before. Thank you all. (And Seamus says,
AAAAAARRROOOOOOOOO!
)

Everyone facing cancer should be lucky enough to be a patient of Dr. Amer Karam’s, who single-handedly may well change the reputation of surgeons everywhere. His kindness, humor, and, most importantly, those skilled hands will never be forgotten. Dr. Good Karma— words could never express our gratitude (so we’ll keep sending wine). Dr. John Glaspy and the entire UCLA Medical Center are so good we no longer mind the 120-mile round-trip drive (though it will be nice when it’s no longer necessary). Thank you all for your compassionate care. Dr. Janet Hocko at Vantage Oncology and her entire talented staff made my radiation experience nearly enjoyable—and that’s saying a lot. Thank you, always. And while I was, perhaps, hard on a doctor or two in this memoir, it bears mentioning that the nurses and techs Seamus and I both encountered along the way were, to a person (okay, except Lurch…but you knew that), friendly, caring, and professional. Those and all nurses and techs (particularly in oncology) deserve many, many thanks for the difficult work they do, and I give mine here. And to my radiation “class” (mornings, spring/summer 2009 at Vantage Oncology), thank you for your companionship—you each made those mornings more bearable, and though some of you are now gone, I remember you all fondly. A special thank you goes to my blue-gown buddy, Melanie Pope.

To my parents, Jim McElhannon and Vivian Terbeek, who gave me my first dog (the much-loved Tippy), my sense of humor, my first library card, and a quirky childhood that left me no choice but to be a writer, thank you. To my stepparents, Ted Terbeek and Nancy McElhannon, thank you always for your support; stepparenting is a tough job (perhaps more so in our family, but that’s a whole other book), and you both do it well. To my brother Jay, thanks for letting me crash your trip to Ireland—who knew it would start all this? Many thanks also to my sister and brother-in-law Shawna and Eli Robertson—it’s great to be able to get medical help and home repairs from the same household, and goodness knows I’ve needed both these past few years. To my stepsister Laura Ballantine and my stepbrother Michael Wakefield (look, I’ve already explained the family is complicated!), thank you very much for your friendship and support when it really counted. And I must of course thank my cousins in Ireland—especially Seamus, the genius observer.

To Chris’s family—Jim, Trudi, Kati, and Courtney—thank you for your support and acceptance…and for Chris. I’m happy to be a part of your family (though I really want to make an “interloper” joke here!). And in fond memory of Chris’s aunt, Susan Michel Santos, who succumbed to breast cancer while I was writing this book but will always be remembered for her strength and ready smile and, of course, her “bling.”

Enormous thanks to my friends, some mentioned in this book by name and some not, who kept me laughing, who hugged me even though I don’t hug, who lined up to date Chris if I didn’t make it (you’re givers, you really are), who brought food and drink (both while I was in chemo and while I was writing this memoir), helped me figure out that tequila cuts through chemo better than wine, tried on my wigs, read the blog, watched Seamus, sent cards and flowers, and who worried about me (then and now, I’m sure), and then re-lived it all while I wrote this book: Corby Rhodes, Stacey Aldstadt, Valerie Zucker, Tom and Kris DeGrezia (and Mimi and Loren, too), Laureen Pittman, Michelle Pierce, Becky Whatley, Zee Beard, Sue Mitchell, Jane Carney, Amy Harrison, John Goodman, Gary Berg, Rich Gold, Barbara Ryan, Tera Harden, Brian Pearcy, Brein and Roryann Clements, Mitchell Edwards, Michelle Pepke, John and Carrie Schutz, and Bob and Helga Wolf. And to my hairstylist and friend Kelly Koerber, thank you for sticking with me through thick and thin (okay, right…that’s not even funny). A special thanks to creative genius Mike Easley, of Vital Excess, who took the cover photo and brought to life many clever marketing ideas for this book and so many other things in my life. A world of thanks also to my therapist, Joanne Simmons—I shudder to think where I’d be without your guidance.

A special shout-out to my Maui girls—Jane Gideon and Lori Lacefield—who have traveled this writing road with me since we first met at the Maui Writers Conference more than a decade ago. It’s good to have friends willing to join me putting in the hard work of writing in Maui, Paso Robles, La Jolla, Ocean Isle Beach, France, Breckenridge, and San Francisco. You constantly encourage and inspire me—and you’re a lot of fun to vacation with, too. Cheers, ladies.

And speaking of writing, I’m lucky enough (see how I’m getting the hang of this optimist thing?) to have two writers groups who went through countless drafts of this manuscript (mostly the first chapter, 642 times, because that’s how writers groups work). Many thanks and undying gratitude to my LA group: Trai Cartwright, David Del Bourgo, Julia Elrick, Eileen Austen, Lorna Freeman, and Chris Kern (yes, him!). And the same to my 951 Writers: Barbara Abel, Barbara Shackelton, Michelle Ouellette, Kristin Tillquist, Dulce Pena, Patti Cotton McNeily, Susan Knock, and Chris Kern (again!). Special thanks to Nancy Hinchliff, who I met on SheWrites online and gave me excellent critique notes the whole way through this manuscript—I hope to meet you in person one day. I also had the good fortune of meeting fellow dog lover and writer Sara J. Henry through our blogs (and then in person at the LA Times Festival of Books) and cannot thank her enough for her encouragement, advice, and sage notes on this manuscript. Every writer should have a mentor like Sara. I cannot thank my writer friends without also specially thanking my writing instructor, Tod Goldberg, who not only got me back to writing after a long, long hiatus (also known as my marriages), but also is responsible for Chris and me meeting (it’s okay, Tod—that’s a good thing).

And speaking of traveling (well, two paragraphs up; there’s no editor for acknowledgments), a writer does not get to retreat to places like those mentioned above without having some pretty fantastic friends with awesome vacation homes. Many thanks to Susan Medel and Norm Martin for making my La Jolla retreats possible, and to Bill and Willy Richman and Ted and Sandy Williamson (Maui), fellow Maui alum Tim Smith (Breckenridge), and Rachel and Raphael Pommier (France). You’re all welcome to stay in Riverside anytime.

And speaking of editing (only one paragraph up!), even I can clearly see the good fortune I had in landing Sarah Jane Freymann of the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency as my agent. Her tireless work, gentle pressure, and good advice (without her, there’d be no love story in this book…and hence, probably no book) was invaluable. And it was Sarah Jane who got me to editor Shana Drehs at Sourcebooks. Shana has been such fun to work with that no part of the editing process has felt like work. (This is helped greatly by my having been in Maui sipping a mai tai when the edits started.) This has been a joy. Many thanks, Shana, for your deft and subtle hand in guiding this memoir and your enthusiasm in bringing this book to life. Thank you also to the Sourcebooks team—you are a fantastic group of devoted professionals (and dog lovers, which really helps).

Seamus would like to thank his best buds Will and Nellie Ouellette (Boxer/Great Dane/maybe pitbull mixes of great beauty…especially that bo-hunk Will…and brains…especially that faux-nemesis Nellie). Can he come over and play again soon? And we both want to thank the many fine folks—staff, board, and volunteers—at the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center in Riverside, California. On behalf of all of the animals, thank you for all that you do. Seamus gives an extra tail wag and
AAAAAARRROOOOOOOOO
to Denise Perry, the executive director and substitute mom, and Destiny Glass and Shawna Dowd, who’ve brilliantly cared for him in their homes and hearts.

And finally, Seamus and I both give our thanks and love in massive amounts to the pack leader (we’re even going to let him think that, such is our love) and most important part of our family of “Chree”—Chris. Chris’s zodiac sign is Cancer—he had no idea that meant he’d become the consummate caretaker of not just one but two cancer patients before his thirty-fourth birthday. But nobody has done it better. Thank you, baby. We love you.

Photo by Mike Easley

Teresa J. Rhyne is an animal advocate and breast cancer survivor. Eleven months after opening her own law office, she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. On January 28, 2009, she underwent a lumpectomy, followed by four rounds of chemotherapy and thirty-six rounds of radiation. She is pleased to note she has been “NED” (no evidence of disease) ever since. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her boyfriend Chris in a home completely controlled by their super-beagle, Seamus (the Famous).