As members of the SurvivorNet community know, as they navigate cancer treatment, pets provide a profound source of comfort. For Taylor Swift’s mother, Andrea, that comfort comes from her enormous Great Dane, Kitty, who makes cameo appearances in Swift’s new Netflix documentary, “Taylor Swift: Miss Americana.”
View this post on InstagramRead More "She's actually my cancer dog" Andrea Swift explains in the documentary. "After I found that out, I decided to do something I'd always wanted to do — which is get a really big dog. I’m sorry — that’s really what it is."Good night to Taylor Swift & Kitty only ???? pic.twitter.com/TUZJBi2D8t
loveronica, taylena defense force (@soitfuckingoes) April 27, 2018
The conversation takes place aboard a private flight, with Kitty on board. “It’s like traveling with a pony,” Taylor says.
RELATED: Taylor Swift Honors Her Parents in Amazing Speech as Her Mom Deals with Cancer Recurrence
Andrea replies, “But I love her. But I love her.”
‘She’s My Favorite Person’
"She got cancer several years ago. That has been really hard for me because she's my favorite person,” Taylor also says of her mother in the documentary. “It woke me up from this life where I used to sweat all these things. But like, do you really care if the internet doesn't like you today, if your mom's sick from her chemo? You've got to be able to really prioritize what matters to you. For me it's my family and my friends.”
I love how Andrea speaks with pride strength like a warrior about Kitty being her cancer dog????????#MissAmericana pic.twitter.com/VsNxFkbdy9
Emilee K????/The Laughter Worth Wild (@SoDivineBunny) February 1, 2020
Therapy Dogs in Hospitals and Cancer Centers
A patient doesn't need to own a pet to enjoy the benefits of pet therapy. In fact, trained therapy dogs are turning up at chemo centers and hospitals, ready to give patients a furry distraction from chemotherapy and the anxiety of treatments. They can even help those patients not up for human visitors but who are feeling lonely.
RELATED: Pet Therapy Can Really Help During Cancer Treatment: "It Takes Me Out of My World"
At New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Caring Canine teams make bedside and lounge visits, even turning up on holidays, which can be the loneliest times for patients. Alison Snow, who works in cancer support services at Mount Sinai, told SurvivorNet that there's research to show that animal visits to hospitals can be extremely beneficial to people battling cancer, as well as other ailments.
"You can hear the excitement in the air when the dog is around and there is research to show that having animal-assisted visits is helpful to patients going through cancer in terms of lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety, decreasing depression, and overall, helping patients feel less isolated," she said.
While some may fear the germs these animals bring into hospitals, the Sloan Kettering website notes that "studies of animal-assisted therapy have shown that healthy and properly cared for dogs are not a health risk for hospitalized patients. … Handlers follow infection control procedures and wash their hands frequently. Dogs and handlers must follow strict hygiene standards."
Andrea Swift's Cancer Journey
Swift shared the news of her mom's first breast cancer diagnosis in an announcement posted to Tumblr in 2015.
"I'd like to keep the details of her condition and treatment plans private, but she wanted you to know," Swift wrote. "She wanted you to know because your parents may be too busy juggling everything they've got going on to go to the doctor, and maybe you reminding them to go get checked for cancer could possibly lead to an early diagnosis and an easier battle. Or peace of mind in knowing that they're healthy and there's nothing to worry about."
Swift announced that her mother was facing breast cancer yet again in 2019, and said the experience taught her not to sweat the small stuff. "Both of my parents have had cancer, and my mom is now fighting her battle with it again,” Swift wrote in Elle. “It's taught me that there are real problems and then there's everything else.”
While Swift had alluded to her mother being sick yet again, at the end of January she confirmed this to Variety, saying, “While she was going through treatment, they found a brain tumor. And the symptoms of what a person goes through when they have a brain tumor is nothing like what we've ever been through with her cancer before. So it's just been a really hard time for us as a family."
About Brain Tumors
Many different types of brain tumors exist, according to the Mayo Clinic. Brain tumors can begin in your brain (primary brain tumors), or cancer can begin in other parts of your body and spread to your brain (secondary, or metastatic, brain tumors).
How quickly a brain tumor grows can vary greatly. The growth rate as well as location of a brain tumor determines how it will affect the function of your nervous system.
Brain tumor treatment options depend on the type of brain tumor you have, as well as its size and location.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the number of new cases of brain and other nervous system cancer is approximately six per 100,000 men and women per year, based on 2012-2016 cases and deaths. Approximately 0.6% of people will be diagnosed with brain and other nervous system cancer at some point during their lifetime, based on 2014-2016 data.
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