The Dog Nobody Else Knows

Churchville, VA

“That dog is my whole life.”

Sherry Sheffer’s brain was going about a mile a minute as she listened to Donald Gordon. Donnie, as she calls him, had been a video customer of hers for eight years.

In the small town of Churchville, Virginia, population 3823, community runs deep. A neighbor is more than just a friendly wave, and an eight-year video customer is more than a dollar bill. He's a friend.

And that’s why Sherry was concerned. She knew how hard life had been for her friend. Over the last ten years, Donald had six operations for a recurring brain tumor. Six! She watched for eight of those ten years as his weight ballooned and his health declined.

Now with restricted vision due to the many surgeries, Donald was facing yet another round with the recurrent growth. But this time around, he could not have surgery. If he did, it would most likely take away his eyesight totally.  Now he had to have radiation to try and shrink the tumor.

But having lived with a life-threatening illness for a decade, Donald Gordon considered this just another step he had to take to save his life, a dreaded routine that leaves him weak, nauseated, but alive.

Donald shared with Sherry his many concerns about this latest round of radiation.  To get the treatment he needed, Donald would literally have to travel over a mountain, stay in a rooming house and eat out three times a day. “The treatments are 30 minutes a day for six weeks,” he told her. “I’m going to have to stay at the Ronald McDonald house while I’m there. What am I going to do with Rufus?”

For Donald, that was the real problem. Rufus, a hound mix  that was also a housedog, had been Donald’s devoted companion for 7 years of on again, off again bouts with the tumor.

And Rufus was the problem. Because so much of Donald’s time had been spent with surgeries to save his life, he had not devoted much time to socializing his dog. Now, without Donald by his side, Rufus’ behavior was unpredictably aggressive with unfamiliar people.

When he told Sherry that the best he could think of was to tie his dog outside in freezing weather for six weeks, she knew he was desperate. The dog might  not survive it,  and few people would risk trying to feed Rufus. Donald loved his dog; he just couldn’t see any other option.

“I thought about Donnie’s situation a long time, and I prayed about it,” Sherry said. “That’s when it came to me to call The Mosby Foundation.” We listened as Sherry explained her friend’s situation to us. Donald lived on a modest monthly disability check. Sherry knew that he could not afford to eat out all three meals every single day, even if he ate fast food.

Still, not knowing what else do, Sherry asked us if we could help with possibly boarding the dog. Aside from the cost, it simply wasn’t an option because of Rufus’ temperament. And we simply could not have volunteers go to Donald’s house to feed Rufus. His behavior around strangers was just too uncertain. That’s when one of our dedicated volunteers explored a practical, down-to-earth solution.

Why couldn’t Donald have treatments here in his home community? Augusta Health, the Fishersville, VA hospital in Donald’s area, could provide the same treatments as UVA, the Charlottesville hospital, which was a mountain away!

The volunteer made a call to Augusta Health and spoke with an oncology social worker, Leigh Anderson. Leigh offered to contact  Road To Recovery, The American Cancer Society's volunteer drivers for oncology patients, to help provide Donald’s transportation.  Leigh  made a call to the  group and put the ball in motion, and  their volunteers provided  almost half of the needed drivers.

We did the same thing on our end and found several  dog-loving volunteers willing to donate their time and their gas to get Donald to his treatment each day. The next step was to discuss this with Donald.

Sometimes when people are caught up in their own problems, their world shrinks. They forget that there really is a community of good people who want to help. That was the case with Donald. He simply could not believe that anyone would care about his health situation, much less the well-being of his dog.

With a grateful heart, Donald said yes. We did include one stipulation though. Once Donald had his treatments, we wanted to have Rufus neutered. We would, of course, help with the cost. Without any hesitation, Donald again said yes. He knew that his presence was the safest way to guard against unwanted aggression from his dog.

For almost six weeks, Donald was transported daily to treatments by total strangers, people who were concerned with the quality of his life and the life of his dog. Each person was willing to help a man battling a long history of ill health. And because of that dedication, Rufus remained in his home, his routine uninterrupted.

And it all started with one man’s love for his dog, a man who never even considered that his community would have such an open heart. Because Sherry Sheffer raised her hand and said we need to help this man with his dog, that one hand turned into a community of hands.

Rufus, that curmudgeonly hound mix, was the very reason Donald’s community stepped up to the plate. And no one was more surprised than Donald. But that’s kind of the fun of it, don’t you think? Giving a gift when someone least expects it.

For Donald, it’s a gift that walks with him and talks with him everyday. And Rufus, well, what he knows is that he is still at home with the person who loves him.