About 3 weeks after Mack’s diagnosis, we lost our family dog Luna. It was sudden and unexpected and needless to say we were all devastated. 

In normal times this would’ve left a big dog-shaped hole in our hearts and lives. During these hard times for Mack and everyone, it’s been even more pronounced. 

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is home to a lot of therapy dogs. And as Mack has had clinic visits and hospital visits, every time we’re there he requests to see a dog. The dogs are so calming and lift his spirits so much. 

Since interacting with the therapy dogs Mack has been asking for one himself. While the pain from Luna’s passing is still fresh, I know that having a companion would make Mack’s life infinitely better. A friend to cuddle with all day, to go on walks with, to have short bursts of zoomies with…we all agree that a dog would be a great thing for Mack right now. 

We applied to a few different organizations and were accepted at one, but the structure of the organization wasn’t a good fit for our family. So we decided to look at some different options. 

After lots of family discussions and research, we felt it best to just adopt a golden retriever puppy and take it through the therapy training ourselves. 

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Heather, you’re going to deal with a puppy in the middle of all of this?!” And the short answer would be, yes. 

Is it ideal? Definitely not. Is it worth it? Absolutely! 

After Christmas break, while still deep in the winter months and siblings have gone back to school, we noticed Mack sort of hit a wall. He’s always been an emotionally intelligent kiddo and we’ve relied heavily on this during his first six months of battling cancer. But something shifted. He was just more sad most of the time, less likely to want to get up and engage in any activity. Needless to say, he was in an emotional slump. A very well deserved and valid slump. But a slump nonetheless. 

Mack had been asking for a dog for about 4 months at this point so we decided to just make the quick decision to secure a puppy. We knew this could be a potential game changer. 

Now I want to note here that the therapy dogs at CHOA - or at least the ones Mack has grown to love - all have one thing in common. They’re golden retrievers and they have names that all associate with food. And more specifically, foods that are similar in color to their fur. His favorite by far being Dumpling (she loves to hold hands with Mack!) 

And when the came time for Mack to name his puppy, the choice was obvious. Mack wanted his puppy to be named Waffles! 

So last week we had a 10 week old golden retriever puppy delivered. And I haven’t seen Mack smile and laugh this much in what feels like a long time. 

Mack likes getting out of bed to take Waffles outside, go on short walks, and play with him in the living room. And we’re working on Waffles hanging with Mack in his room and bed. (Though the mounds of endless stuffies Mack has is proving far too tempting for puppy teeth!). 

I wanted to share this very important update with everyone for two reasons: 

I think the training will be key here, too. Waffles will learn how to be calm and gentle in a way that’s supportive to Mack’s specific situation. He won’t be able to follow Mack everywhere like a service dog, but he’ll have specific commands while at home to best support Mack. 

We also plan for Waffles to follow Mack wherever he goes. Whether he’s at mom or dad’s house, Waffles will be there. Therapy training will put Waffles in the best position to succeed no matter where he is. With Mack always being his constant. 

If you have the ability to donate towards this special relationship between Mack and Waffles, we’d be forever grateful. It’s something we knew he needed anyway, but on top of all the other bills, a small boost towards this would be extremely helpful. 

We appreciate you following along and supporting Mack throughout his entire journey of battling cancer. We hope many more happy updates are to come!