I'm In the Newspaper!

Yes friends

I am in the newspaper.

On Monday I was in the Orange County Register

cause I am a

miracle boy.

I am a Tiny Super Hero.

 

The article is below in case you can not open the link.

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Your support means a lot

Benny & Lily

 

 

 

Meet Benny, the Tiny Superhero

 

Dana Point French bulldog receives recognition for his fight against lymphoma.

 

 

By ERIKA I. RITCHIE
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

 

JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Benny is the first dog to receive a cape from Tiny Superheroes, an organization that typically honors children who show strength while overcoming an illness or disability.

JOSH MORGAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Animal oncologist Océane Aubrey, right, and nurse Maggie Price give Benny a treat before his chemotherapy treatment at Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital.

Benny recently received a one-of-a-kind national distinction by being named a Tiny Superhero.

The 6-year-old French bulldog is fighting liver lymphoma and recently became the first dog to be awarded the Tiny Superhero cape – a distinction until now given only to children fighting cancer and other debilitating diseases.

Benny got the cape from Robyn Rosenberger, founder of Seattle-based TinySuperheroes. He is the 1,500th this year to receive the custom-fitted red cape. His is decorated with a capital B for Benny.

Children – and now Benny – get capes after being selected by friends or family. They get them for bravery, for staying in the fight and for living with joy. Rosenberger gave her first cape to a girl fighting a rare skin disorder. The girl was called a “Tiny Super Girl” by her parents, and that’s what inspired Rosenberger to come up with the name “Tiny-Superheroes.”

Rosenberger witnessed the joy the child and her parents got and decided to do more capes. In six months, she’s put out so many that she quit her information technology job. Now she gets 10-20 requests a day. She hopes her clan of Tiny Superheroes will help raise awareness for their diseases that will result in more funding for more research – and, ultimately, cures.

“With the capes, I want to tell them to know they’re not alone,” Rosenberger said. “Everyone needs encouragement. They need to know how amazing their children are. They need to know others see it, too. The idea of the superhero cape isn’t that they are beyond normal, it’s that they are accomplishing things that go beyond normal.”

Rosenberger began her nonprofit group in January. More than 250 are waiting for capes. Capes have been sent to 12 countries, including England, Japan, South Africa, Tasmania and Australia.

Many of Rosenberger’s nominations come from social networking sites such as Facebook, where support communities have found a home and a fan base. Benny is one of those.

Benny was thrust into the public eye a few years ago when his owner, Andrea Cavallo of Dana Point, started a blog featuring Benny and his sister, Lily. The two Frenchies

talked about their lives from the canine perspective. They made fun of their lives and chronicled their daily adventures living across from the multimillion-dollar homes at Strand Beach. The duo have 3,400 followers.

When Benny turned yellow and nearly died from liver failure in June, blog followers became alarmed. A blood-plasma donation and three days in intensive care at Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Irvine saved his life. Then, days later, when he was diagnosed with cancer, donations from people who followed his blog came in. So far Cavallo has received $8,000. The bill Cavallo faces is still double that and rising. Benny is undergoing treatment for an unusual kind of lymphoma. His liver is full of cancer. Each day he takes a cocktail of pills. He receives intravenous chemotherapy treatments once a week. He will do that for a total of eight weeks, then go every other week for six months. Ninety-seven percent of the time Benny is himself, Cavallo said.

“Most lymphoma involves multiple locations,” said Dr. Océane Aubry, his oncologist. “Usually dogs that are yellow in liver failure don’t get over it. The fact he bounced back, he’s responding better than expected.”

Aubry said most lymphoma patients live about a year with chemotherapy. Those with liver lymphoma usually live only a few months. Benny appears to be in remission.

Before Cavallo made her decision to treat, she read everything she could about dogs and cancer treatments. Her main concern was how treatment would affect his quality of life. When she found out chemotherapy would be less burdensome on him then it was on people, she was in.

“Benny’s a character; he makes me laugh,” Cavallo said. “I could picture him with a cigar and a glass of scotch. If he wants something, he just pushes you with his paw. I take it one day at a time; I can’t think about what will happen.”

CONTACT THE WRITER:

eritchie@ocregister.com