Samantha Casson and her dog Lily are two members of her family who came into her life virtually at the same time to become a part of her life. When Samantha began dating her husband, who was also her boyfriend at the time, Samantha’s parents purchased a puppy for Lily in order to give her with a permanent and loving home for the first time.
It was in this manner that their lives were connected for the first time, and they have been together ever since, through all periods and circumstances.
“She’s always been brave and full of life,” Samantha said in an interview with The Dodo. ” Since then, we’ve experienced a great deal!”
Even though they’ve been together since the beginning of their relationship, no one imagined them to be fighting cancer together.
Samantha was diagnosed with APL Leukemia (Acute Proliferative Leukemia) last summer, a kind of cancer that causes blood cells to grow and function improperly.
A month in the hospital followed by eight months of outpatient chemotherapy were necessary for her recovery. She was permitted to return home after a month in the hospital and begin treatment. Despite all of the inconveniences and difficulties, Lily remained at her mother’s side at all times, even on the most difficult of days.
Samantha discovered that she was undergoing cancer therapy in March, which indicated that the signs and symptoms of the disease had disappeared.
They discovered soon after that Lily, as well as another family dog, Buddy, had been diagnosed with cancer as well. Despite the fact that Buddy’s illness was too aggressive to survive, Lily persisted in her efforts to battle the disease and return to a normal life.
After that, Samantha made it a point to be there for Lily at all times, as it was the least she could do after being there for her for so long.
It was just a few weeks ago when the family got fantastic news. Two different operations were performed on Lily, and she was found to be cancer-free.
“She still has a long way to go before she’s totally healed, but she’s acting like herself and can’t wait to run around and play,” Samantha said of her daughter.
Samantha wanted to do something special to commemorate their victory after conquering all of the hurdles and hardships together, and she came up with a brilliant idea. It was Samantha who came up with the idea of designing matching jerseys for herself and Lily that proclaimed, “We Survived,” in order to illustrate how far they could go as a team.
Lilian and I both became members of the family at the same time, and we both conquered cancer only a few months apart. Since I can’t imagine going through anything like this and without being able to explain how I’m feeling or when I’m in anguish, this puts me even closer to her. “I opted to create the shirts so that we could all come together to celebrate and display our strength as a group.”
They’ve been through a lot over the years, and now that they’ve fought cancer, there’s nothing they can’t endure in the future.
Sam feels Buddy is always at their side and that they will be able to honor him for the rest of their life, even though she wishes she could have joined them in celebrating his birthday with Buddy.