Therapy dog is back on the job

Who: Maggie and Jay (and Sadie)

Where things stood: Maggie, a therapy dog, visited sick children at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester until last summer, when she was diagnosed with cancer in her snout. She has resumed the visits and shares a special bond with Jay Davis, a 13-year-old boy in the intensive-care unit who has an inoperable form of cancer.

The latest word: Both Maggie and Jay are recovering from chemotherapy treatments to shrink their tumors. Maggie's visits were suspended for three months because of the treatment. Her owner, Mike Kewley, hopes to raise enough in donations to pay for a full body scan to check whether the cancer has spread. Moving a little slower -- but with tail wagging -- she returned to the hospital a few weeks ago, in time to celebrate Jay's 13th birthday. Jay also has struggled with chemotherapy, but has been able to spend only one day out of intensive care. While the average stay for a child in the ICU is two days, Jay has been there for six months. On a recent visit, Jay rested on his bed, motionless after a chemo treatment. His eyelids fluttered as he struggled to see the dog. Kewley lifted Maggie onto the bed next to him and guided Jay's hand to help him pet her. A nurse noted that Jay's blood pressure and heart rate dropped at the same time. Jay's mother, Felicia Davis, said she doesn't know if he will ever live free of a ventilator, or be able to walk or talk. She said she had little money to buy him Christmas gifts. "My son is a fighter," she said. "We just go up and down." Kewley has adopted a 4-month-old golden retriever named Sadie. He is training her to become a therapy dog, just like Maggie.

MEGAN WOOLHOUSE