Cancer Fighters Thrive

WINTER 2013

Cancer Fighters Thrive is a quarterly print and online magazine bringing readers practical, innovative and inspirational information about cancer treatment and survivorship.

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SPECIAL FEATURE Cody works the halls at CTCA in Newnan, Georgia. Cody also works as the front door greeter and makes appearances at special occasions, such as radiation graduations and photo ops. "Cody's become an instant part of the staff down here," Smith says. "He's an employee." PATIENT SAFETY COMES FIRST Patient safety needs to be a primary concern of any successful animal therapy program. Both CTCA programs have measures in place to protect the health of human and animal participants. To begin with, Tori and Cody are both registered as therapy dogs through Pet Partners. This involves a year of initial training, with fve classes, practical tests for the dogs and the handlers as well as written tests for handlers. To keep their registration current, dogs and handlers must retest every two years. Ingram says cfthrive.com that the testing process is strict, which means that any potential problems, such as an animal's becoming short tempered, are detected before they become issues. In addition, the Zion and Newnan hospitals allow only one dog to work at each hospital (Tori in Zion, Cody in Newnan). As a result, employees at both facilities know their dogs well—their behavior and how they are trained. They also monitor the dogs' health and care, making sure that they are regularly bathed, their nails are kept trimmed and all of their veterinary checkups and vaccinations are current. Even with careful precautions, animal therapy is not safe for all cancer patients. As mentioned previously, individuals with compromised immune systems may not be good candidates, and people with animal allergies or asthma often avoid MEET LICENSED THERAPY DOGS TORI AND CODY TORI (CTCA in Zion) was born in 2007. She is an Australian Labradoodle—a mix of Poodle, Labrador, Cocker Spaniel and Water Spaniel—a breed developed to be service dogs. She lives with Cynthia Ingram and enjoys daily morning runs. "She loves to run, to be outside and play," Ingram says. COLONEL CODY (CTCA in Newnan), or Cody as he is known around the hospital, is a nine-year-old Portuguese Water Dog. "He's a little spirited, very smart and makes friends easily," Elaine Smith says. A true family dog, Cody lives with Smith's sister (also a Stakeholder in Newnan) and works at the hospital with Smith's husband, Steve, who is his handler. winter 2013 | cancer fighters thrive 23

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