BABY

Yesterday I saw Baby. Initially, she ignored me. Surprisingly, she did not get her nose under my shirt. She complained when I arrived but then she calmed down.

All right. I´ll rewind since I never told you about my relationship with Baby.

Baby is Gabby´s dog. Gabby is the daughter of my BFF Zazá (Maya just taught me what BFF stands for ;)). Baby hates me, or so I thought. To no avail I have tried to pet her in the last four years. I grew up with dogs. Dogs always liked me. Why is this cute Maltichon (cross between Maltese and Bichon) agitated when I am nearby?

In June, a few weeks before my June surgery I was even tearful when I told Zazá, that I was beginning to think that dogs didn´t like me anymore (one of those moments when I want to return to my life Before Cancer -B.C.). It wasn´t just Baby. My neighbors dogs bark every time I pass by. They do not bark at my parents, my aunts, my daughters, my husband. Just me at me.

Fifteen days after my last surgery I visited Zazá. I found a different dog. There was no barking, no agitation, hardly any sniffing. Baby even slept with her head on top of my belly (where is the camera when we need it?). She napped on top of my recently cut/super-glued abdomen for the entire afternoon.

That´s when we realized that she probably could detect my tumors. Since Dr. Bertagnolli had just debulked me, she did not have anything substantial to sniff and bark at. Instead she was sleeping on top of my belly. She liked me after all. It was the tumors she hated.

After that Zazá and I started putting the pieces together. My friend recalled other instances when other people came to her house and Baby was restless. We searched for cases of dogs detecting tumors and found out that there are cases where dogs smelled cancer in their owners before the exams. Some dogs are being trained to detect cancer. The net is full of these stories.

So yesterday, I was curious to see how Baby my other "radiologist" would react when I went to Zazá's for dinner.

Exam Report: She barked, but not as much as usual (good sign). She sniffed me and then left me alone (great sign). I tried to get her to sleep next to me but she did not go for that (oh, no tumor collapse yet).

Zé took this photo of my visit to Dr. Baby, yesterday. Even though she is not napping on my lap, this is a special moment. She is relatively calm next to me.

Hey Baby, this one is for you (Gabby told me she jumps when this song is played).