Darlene Yancey holds her dachshund, Rubie, while standing outside on her deck at her Centralia apartment on Friday. Over the past two years Rubie has been slowly going blind in both of her eyes due to cataracts. Yancey, who uses Rubie to help with her anxiety and stress caused by medical problems stemming from childhood brain cancer, is hoping to raise over $4,000 for surgery for her furry companion.
Darlene Yancey has been knitting chapstick holder, scarves and dog sweaters to sell in order to raise money to pay for her dog's eye surgery.
Darlene Yancey holds her dachshund, Rubie, while at her Centralia apartment on Friday. Over the past two years Rubie has been slowly going blind in both of her eyes due to cataracts. Yancey, who uses Rubie to help with her anxiety and stress caused by medical problems stemming from childhood brain cancer, is hoping to raise over $4,000 for surgery for her furry companion.
Rubie, a pure-bred dachshund, sits on a chair in the living room of her owner, Darlene Yancey, on Friday afternoon. Over the past two years cataracts have caused Rubie to go blind.
Darlene Yancey holds her dachshund, Rubie, while sitting in her chair at her home in Centralia on Friday afternoon. Five years ago Yancey was given Rubie to help with her anxiety and stress caused by medical problems stemming from childhood brain cancer. In the past two years, Rubie has been steadily going blind due to cataracts in both eyes, but is still very attentive to Yancey's needs.
Darlene Yancey and her dog Rubie, a snuggly companion who helps her owner with anxiety and stress caused by medical problems stemming from childhood brain cancer, have been inseparable for the better part of five years.
“I think if she’s with me I’m not so … depressed,” Yancey said.
Rubie, a dachshund, was a breeder’s dog. The breeders rehome their dogs with disabled people after they retire, Yancey’s mother, Patricia Gregorich, said.
However, in the past two years, Rubie has been steadily going blind due to cataracts in both eyes. Rubie is attentive to Darlene’s needs, but can’t see her.
Yancey, disabled and on a fixed income due to her medical issues, has been crafting scarves, dog sweaters and other items and saving tin cans in an attempt to pay for the $4,500 surgery needed to remove a cataract in one of Rubie’s eyes to maintain her quality of life.
Yancey has also started a GoFundMe account, and Gregorich has an account set up at Columbia bank under the dog’s full name, Rubie Rose. If donations don’t reach the goal, they will be refunded.
Yancey started life with a brain tumor. The tumor itself, and radiation used to treat, it left her permanently disabled, Gregorich said.
When she was 3 years old, doctors told Gregorich to say goodbye.
“I brought her home on a ventilator,” she said. “She’s a Make-A-Wish baby.”
Today, Yancey is able to live alone in Centralia. She takes Rubie with her in a stroller when she attends a support group for people with traumatic brain injuries. When Yancey rides in her adult tricycle, Rubie comes along in a basket.
Rubie is well-loved and has a good life, Gregorich said, but would have a fuller life if she could see. To donate to Rubie’s eye surgery, go to https://www.gofundme.com/2f3y078
