Max's Journey Begins Here....

This fur baby right here is my Max. He is a pure bred French Brittany that is the sweetest boy you could ever meet. Max is who made me a mom for the first time and he came bursting into our lives in the most unexpected way (I will save that story for another time).

Max is an older brother to another French Brittany of ours that we have affectionately named Sammy Lammington. Sammy is half the size of our Maxie and they both have such different personalities that compliment each other paw-fectly.

Max is an energetic & playful dog that has always had such a fun-loving spirit. From his almond shaped eyes, to his silly goofy personality - Max has a very special place in our hearts. There is not one person that has met this boy that hasn't fallen in sweet love.

He's been my shadow for 10 years this month, following me from room to room. If he can't find me, he will search. On the occassion that he's locked out of the bathroom (usually he shoves his way in), I find him waiting for me right outside the door. The only time I am home and he's not around me is when him and his brother, Sammy, are off getting groomed. My husband and I hate not having them home because we feel like something is missing. They are a part of our pack just as much as we are a part of theirs.

Max has been my comforter through tough times, my confidant, my secret keeper, and my heart and soul. He thinks he's a lap dog although he weighs 56lbs. When I sit down he jumps right up on my lap like he's an extension of me. I would swear to it that he knows more words than the average 5 year old and he understands all my tones and manurisms.

Max is one special dog and him and his brother Sammy Lammington are our fur kids. We would do anything for these two and just adore them.

I have always wanted to start a page for Max and Sammy just to record their sillyness and how happy they make us. I have wanted to do it for years but have never pulled the plug. There is something about a diagnosis that puts things into perspective and gets us off our booties to do the things we've always wanted to do.

I come by this honestly, from my Max, but also from a scary diagnosis in the past for myself. I have been there when your heart stops and your life zooms right past your eyes and you have immediate fear of the future. I have worn concrete shoes before when my feet literally couldn't take another step as I walked through the parking lot of the Ellen Thompson's Women's Health Center in Ypsilanti to find out my diagnosis. I have been so dazed and numb while walking through a grocery store to buy items off a list that my doctor gave me so that I could go and deliver the baby we had lost. It's scary and it's heartbreaking. But it's also enlightening to finally have answers and we've been through all of this on our journey with our Max.

I am starting this blog for my Maxie, certainly to document his silly personality and to upload pictures like crazy but also to document the season we are in with him. My Maxie was recently diagnosed with TCC (Transitional Cell Carcinoma), which is a very aggressive type of cancer and it's in a very bad place.... his prostate. We never thought we'd be here. This news honestly shook us and we were not expecting it. It's like a nightmare that I wish desperately to wake up from.

We know we can't have these fur babies forever and that we will out live these little fur balls of love at some point. But, I have always prayed to have my Max be "the oldest and healthiest Brittany that has ever lived". Truly. That has been my prayer for years. I always knew that it would be devastating when the time came for Max to take the voyage over the Rainbow Bridge but I was hoping it would be after he had lived a full life. God had other plans.

I am creating this blog, not so I have something extra to do, because my plate is extremely full with everything Max is going to need and the care we will be giving him. I am creating this blog so that I can turn our pain into purpose. I am doing this so that Max's cancer diagnosis gives him more to live for beyond being our sweet fur kid that we love so much.

I don't believe in wasting a hurt. I don't believe we are given painful experiences so we can just hide in a corner. I believe all of the tough things we experience in life, and there will be so so many things for all of us - but I believe if we don't GROW through those tough times, those losses, those hurts... I feel like those experiences are wasted then.

I would rather know there is something good coming from my pain, and so this blog is going to be for my Max. It's going to give him a higher purpose where we can share our triumphs, our joys, our tears, and our pain as we go through this cancer journey with him. It's my hope, that although every dog is different and every cancer is personalized, I am hoping some of this info can at least help someone else that travels down this difficult road.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for loving our Maxie and thank you for any prayers you can send our way.

This is Max's Adventures.