Toni DiGiallonardo

My Dearest Toni,
I know exactly how you are feeling and I cried reading your message, My tears still come many times a day and I don't know when they will stop. This disease robs us of our dearest friends in the whole world and the pain is unbearable. I will be lighting a candle for Rusty tomorrow and thinking of you and Matthew.
Love You Much,
Joanne

Dear Toni and Matthew, I am so sorry you have to go thru this. No words can describe the pain I know I felt. You are not alone and I as well as everyone else will be there for you. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Jim

My Dear Friend,
I KNOW your pain. I will be lighting a candle for your Rusty. Hang in there and tell Matthew how sorry I am that "Rust's time has come to cross the BRIDGE. You will get through this but it is BEYOND DIFFICULT
Prayers & Love go out to you ALL,
Love, Joanne

Dear Toni,
I was sad to read that one of Rusty's tumours is growing again. This is such a difficult time, perhaps the MOST difficult, waiting and wondering if the time is right to say goodbye. I spent a terrible day on Sunday thinking that perhaps I had "pulled the plug" on my Benny before he was ready but, I prayed and prayed and cried and cried and I do feel it was the right time. I hope Rusty makes it to the 30th and maybe a lot longer. Hope is a wonderful thing. Take care of yourself and God will take care of everything else.
Love & Prayers,
Your friend,
Joanne

Hi Toni
Thanks for the note asking about Maximus. He's happy but not healthy... we are quite possibly facing our last days this weeks. It's so hard isn't it? Why do we love these crazy animals sooo much? I just don't know what I'll do without him....
Big hugs to Rusty - cherish each day with him.
All the best to you both!
Trish

Hi Toni

Thanking you your message on Goobie's pictures. Yes we sure loved and enjoyed him. I do have more pictures that I will post later. How is Rusty doing? I re-read your first post and wanted to say how important the immune system is. I didn’t know that and for Goobie is was too late. We didn’t have enough time to build up his immune system and 3 months after his diagnosis he got IMHA. This is where the immune system turned on his red blood cells and starting destroying them. So I am a firm believer in getting the immune system strong to be able to fight the cancer. Take care
(((Hugs))) to you & Rusty

My Dear Toni,
Tomorrow at noon we are saying goodbye to our precious furball Benny. It is with greatest sadness that I write this note. Good luck with what you are doing for your Rusty. Benny's tumour is just beyond control now and opening and bleeding and we want him to leave this earthly home with some dignity left. My heart is breaking.
No I didn't listen to Dr. Fox and my friend Suzi said the treatment can be very unpleasant and it is too late for Benny. Neoplasene is also called Black Salve.

I tried to send you a link to Black Salve (Neoplasene) but the page was out of print fro some reason. Sorry.

My Love and Prayers are with you and Rusty
Joanne & Benny

Hi Toni,
I just sent a private message but it ended up somewhere in cyber space. Glad Rusty is doing better. Hope it stays that way for a long time. Yesterday I made Benny a mixture of crushed garlic, olive oil, diced red pepper, diced tomatoes, cumin, pepper and turmeric and sauteed it all and added it to his dinner. He loved it. The mixture is anti-inflammatory and hopefully will help shrink the tumours. I'll try anything. This is a nasty and stressful disease. We give Benny Essiac capsules every day. He weighs 35 poounds so perhaps Rusty would need more.
God Bless you and give Rusty a big hug for me.

Dear Toni,
Thanks for your kind words. I first noticed a small bump on Benny's side just prior to his 4th birthday. It was May 2006 We took him to the vet but got our vet's partner who said it was "nothing" but check if it got bigger. It did, we took him back and still nothing was done. Finally in November 2007 our vet saw him and the next day he had surgery and they didn't get it all. He is not on pain medication but takes benadryl for the itch. Otherwise he seems pretty content so we'll just take one moment at a time.
Please think about having your knee operation. I'm sure your husband would not have Rusty "put to sleep" while you are away. Rusty needs you to feel well also.
Take care and give the little guy a hug from me & Benny.

Love,Joanne

My Dear Toni,
Thank you for your note. If Rusty does better after this injection why not consider leaving him with your husband and son and go in for your surgery. I think he would do okay and you would have your surgery which is very important. I KNOW exactly how you are feeling. When I go out for just an hour, Benny waits by the door until I return and then his little world is "happy again." We get so connected to our dogs and they become like "children" to us. I was the same way with our 3 sons and they each grew up self-sufficient and are not needing me too much anymore.
Think about yourself and I really think Rusty will be okay. God is watching over both of you and maybe a prayer will bring you an answer.
I care deeply about you and certainly understand your "heart" right now with Rusty's illness.
Depression sometimes overtakes me and it is difficult to get up and face the day.
Have a good night and know you are in my heart always.

Love, Joanne XOXOX