3 Times a Hero

     This blog is a tribute to Spud, a tiny hero who saved us from a fire not once, but twice.  The third time his heroic actions were quite astounding and most likely saved my life.   

Scene #1 
     It was winter and our family had gone to bed.  A ceiling tile in a room we were remodeling fell on our wood stove.  My husband awoke to Spud whining and tugging on his arm.  He quickly realized the house was filled with black smoke and managed to throw the tile outside where it promptly burst into flames.

Scene #2 
     Again, we were all asleep, and Jacob, my son, was sleeping on the couch downstairs because of a violent storm.  Lightning struck our house and Spud noticed that a fire was quickly climbing the wall behind the television and woke Jacob up.  Jacob started yelling which woke me up and I was able to grab the fire extinguisher and put out the fire. 
     (A funny side note.....I ran to the livingroom to find my teen-age son blowing on the fire.  We have to tease him about that!)

Scene #3 
     Sitting on the chair with Spudy by my side, I noticed he was not in his normal relaxed position.  Clearly agitated, he began climbing on me and sniffed near my right arm.  Curious, I touched the area and noticed a hard lump.  Remembering a story about dogs that were trained to sniff out cancer, I made an appointment for some tests.  The tests proved positive and I underwent chemotherapy, surgeries, and radiation.  I was at stage 3 out of 4 and had the most aggressive form of breast cancer. 
     When I told my oncologist about Spud finding my cancer, he said "that's one good doggie!"  I have to agree.

~Spudy's human.....Mom

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