This week’s story comes to us from Glen. Glen is a survivor, diagnosed in 2002, with a hypothalamic hamartoma and a condition known as polymicrogyria. He describes his experiences below.

Tell us a little bit about your diagnosis and experience with a brain tumor?
As a result of a car accident, I spent many months in and out of the hospital being treated for my back injury. During one such visit, my doctor decided to take MRIs of my back and brain and spotted a hypothalamic hamartoma. A hypothalamic hamartoma is rare benign brain tumor or lesion of the hypothalamus. At about the same time, I was also diagnosed with polymicrogyria, a condition characterized by abnormal brain development before birth. I receive yearly MRI scans and take medications to control adrenal insufficiency.

How have your cats, Boo Boo and Mew Mew, helped you cope with your brain tumor diagnosis?
I’ve had Boo Boo and Mew Mew for 9 years! After I was initially diagnosed with a brain tumor, I got Boo Boo as a therapy cat but she soon became lonely. A few months later, I went back to get her sister, from the second litter, Mew Mew. My cats are everything to me and they keep me going. They are always following me around and over the years they have learned how to take care of me. When I am sick, they lie on top of me and put their paws on my carotid artery to check my pulse. After I’ve had a seizure, they have patted me on the cheek and gently bitten my nose to help wake me up. Boo Boo and Mew Mew are smart cats and have helped me cope with my diagnosis in so many different ways!

How have your cats been involved in pet therapy?
Although I am currently working on having Boo Boo and Mew Mew officially registered as therapeutic animals, they have not yet been involved in pet therapy (other than being my therapeutic cats of course!) I recently had my neurologist give me documentation to recognize Boo Boo and Mew Mew as “Seizure Therapeutic Cats” and this has allowed me to have them in my home.

What kinds of reactions do other people have to your therapeutic cats?
When I tell people about the many things that Boo Boo and Mew Mew are able to do, and the many things they help me with, people are always amazed. They often want to meet them.

What is one piece of advice you would have for a patient who is interested in pet therapy?
Get your pet as a young animal and give them all the love you can as they grow. Boo Boo and Mew Mew have been with me since they were kittens and have supported me through my diagnosis. I have learned to live one day at a time and wake up every morning thankful for the time that I have, regardless of everything else that has happened in my life.

What kinds of support do Boo Boo and Mew Mew need most from you?
Like any pet, Boo Boo and Mew Mew need all my love and a safe place to live and call home.

What other stories, about your cats, would you like to share with others in the brain tumor community? Do they have any special talents?
As I mentioned earlier, Boo Boo and Mew Mew are tremendously intelligent cats. A few years ago, my home was involved in a four alarm fire and I was devastated because I thought I had lost my cats. I was taken away to the hospital and tried to get somebody to save them! The next morning, just when I thought it was the end, a nurse came to me with good news. My clever cats had hidden under the bed during the fire and were safe!

Boo Boo and Mew Mew have many special talents. They can “talk” to you and are often meowing on the phone. Mew Mew is still a little shy but is getting better. When I am away at work, Boo Boo and Mew Mew are arranging their toys in the living room and I come home to find them all in a straight line or in a circle!