The Service Dog Who Helped Me Keep Fighting

The Day Onyx Entered My Life

Years before Onyx entered my life, I lost my beloved dog Cotton to cancer. After some time passed, I kept feeling that I needed another dog. I had already decided that if I ever brought another dog home, I wanted a Goldendoodle.

One day, my husband, Eddie Floyd Jr., and I went to the Humane Society just to look. We did not think we were ready to bring a dog home that day, and we certainly did not expect to find the Goldendoodle I had imagined.

As we pulled into the parking lot, a family was bringing in a dog to surrender. I asked what kind of dog he was. They told me he was a Goldendoodle. That dog was Onyx.

From the beginning, I felt that Onyx had come into my life at exactly the right time.

A Service Dog and a Source of Comfort

I was already dealing with health challenges, so I decided to train Onyx as my service dog. Through online courses and continued hands-on training, he learned to alert me when I was experiencing heart-related problems, asthma issues and seizures.

What I did not know was how much more I was going to need him.

I later faced breast cancer, kidney cancer and ovarian cancer. At one point, I was placed on hospice and told that I had approximately four to eight months to live. Those words change the way you hear everything. They change how you think about time, family, fear and what it means to keep going when you do not know what is ahead.

Onyx stayed beside me through it all.

He helped me physically as a service dog, but the emotional support he gave me was just as important. There were days when I was tired, frightened and overwhelmed. Onyx gave me companionship, routine, comfort and a reason to keep moving forward. He did not understand medical reports or timelines. He simply knew I was his person, and he stayed.

I believe that kind of presence can make an enormous difference during illness. Sometimes strength does not arrive as a dramatic breakthrough. Sometimes it is a small dog lying beside you, watching you, reminding you that you are still here and still needed.

Together, Onyx and I defied the odds.

From Survival Story to Silver Screen

Today, our story has taken an unexpected turn. Onyx is now an actor, community ambassador and the official canine star of our upcoming family holiday film, Wishbone Christmas, being developed in St. Louis through FEG – Floyd Entertainment Group. I wrote and produce the film, and my husband directs and produces it.

The movie is exciting, but for me, the heart of Onyx's story will always be what came before the cameras. Before he became part of a film, he was already part of a survival story.

My cancer journey taught me that support can come from places you never expect. It can come from family, from medical professionals, from friends, and sometimes from an animal who becomes woven into your daily life in ways you could never have planned.

Onyx helped me through some of the most difficult moments I have ever faced. Now I get to watch him step into a joyful new chapter. That contrast means everything to me.

If there is one thing I would say to another person facing cancer, it is this: hold on to whatever gives you a reason to keep moving. It may be a person, a purpose, a pet, a promise, or simply the decision to make it through one more day. For me, one of those reasons had four paws and a name: Onyx.

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