Sometimes, the love of a good dog really is the best medicine.
For the past few weeks, Flavio Santos has been in a hospital in Brazil undergoing treatment for cancer. It’s been a trying time for him, no doubt, made worse by the fact he’d been missing someone dear to him back home.
That someone is his dog, named Agadir.
When nurses caring for Santos learned of this, they decided to arrange a special visit — not knowing, perhaps, just what a difference it would make.
The two friends were finally back together.
It was clearly an emotional experience for Santos, and Agadir too.
But, as it turns out, the impact of that visit ran deeper than meets the eye.
After Santos spent time with his dog, doctors noted a welcome change. Their patient’s overall outlook seemed to transform.
“I was surprised,” Dr. Rodrigo Tancredi told news outlet Globo. “He was conscious, oriented and talking.”
Tancredi went on to note that such visits from pets appear to have both psychological and physical benefits, resulting in an increased appetite and lower heart rate and blood pressure.
“We visibly noticed his improvement the other day,” Tancredi said. “The improvement occurred in a gradual way and remains.”
The improvement in Santos’ health has been so great, in fact, he and Agadir may be together again sooner than anyone would have guessed: “I talked about the possibility of him being discharged [from the hospital],” Tancredi said.
This is reportedly the first time a patient’s pet has been allowed to come in for a visit to this hospital, but given the proven positive effect, it hopefully won’t be the last.
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