Summer 2010 - PAWS Chicago

To find out more about becomingVolunteer, call (773) 687-4715 orScott Summerville & SueVan Winkle continuedthey agree one experience in Chicagotransformed their lives forever: the fourmonths they spent caring for Diedra,a terminally ill, five-year-old blackLabradoodle from PAWS Chicago.Scott and Sue met Diedra in February2009. She was diagnosed with stage threecancer and her prognosis was not good.“The problem was finding a home for suchan ill dog,” Scott says. “Based on the grimpossibilities with her type of cancer, anargument could be made to put her down,and that might have been a fair decision.”However, Scott and Sue believed, andveterinarians confirmed, Diedra still hadtime to enjoy life. “She wagged her tail alot, had a huge appetite and was outwardlyvery healthy,” Scott says.Scott and Sue took her in because theyfelt strongly Diedra deserved to spend theremainder of her life in a loving home. “Itwasn’t about us, it was about Diedra,” Suesays. “It hurt to know we’d lose her, butwe had to take care of her. We had to pushaway the pain because the day-to-day wasso wonderful.”Diedra loved car rides and plentyof walks. She chased geese, played atMontrose beach and made a lot offriends. “In a short time, everybody knewDiedra. She came into our lives shortlyafter we’d moved to Chicago,” he says.“We didn’t know too many people in theneighborhood, but now we’re on a firstname basis with most of them.”As predicted, Diedra’s cancer eventuallyreturned. She died last summer and isfondly remembered. Her portrait hangsprominently in Sue and Scott’s LincolnPark home. “Because we spent so muchtime with her and she changed our livesin so many positive ways, it could havebeen four years,” Scott says. “Peopleoften want to adopt a puppy or a youngdog so they can have more time,” he adds.“But from experience, believe me, even afew months with a dog can be incrediblyrewarding.”