Ava's Fight Against Lymphoma

It is with a heavy heart that I write this as it is still difficult to grasp the news we were recently given. Ava, our beautiful 3 year old German Shepherd has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Ava had been lethargic for the past few weeks and with the presence of inflamed lymph nodes we took her to get testing done in order to determine what was causing the sudden swelling of all of her lymph nodes. Though we were hoping for a much different result the vet confirmed our worse fears. Even though Ava is just 3 years old, we were told that there has been an increase in incidences of this type of cancer when it comes to pure bred animals. We are at a complete loss, there is just no way to wrap our minds around the thought that our smart, goofy and lovable big fur baby has fallen victim to cancer. We are absolutely devastated and though we will be making every effort to keep her in our lives our first and most important concern is making sure that she is happy and pain free and that we are doing everything we can to ensure she lives a long and happy life chasing squirrels and tennis balls for as long as she can. We have already made an appointment with an oncologist in order to better understand how far along this disease has progressed and what our best options are in terms of treatment. This is not going to be an easy road, though we are comforted by the fact that Ava is still in high spirits and we are going to start this journey in order to continue to give Ava the life she deserves. With all of this being said, we are now facing an entirely new frontier, one that will inevitably come with high costs as lymphoma is most commonly treated with chemotherapy. We ask that if you have the means to do so, any amount of donation, even if it be $1 would be immensely appreciated. We welcome all positive thoughts and prayers as we go through this difficult time and ultimately we will be as optimistic as possible in order to support and love Ava as much as she deserves. To know that an animal that knows only unconditional love can become a victim of such a terrible disease will always pain us but hopefully with your support and the emotional support of our friends and family we can make it through this endeavor and hopefully find a happy ending.