Cancer Sucks! Help Duke the Yorkie

Hello,

My Name is Erica, and I am taking upon myself to start a campaign for a dear friend of mine, as I feel I want to be able to help as much as I can with their current ordeal. 

My friend and her husband have this beautiful pup-family of Yorkies, which they absolutely LOVE.  Unfortunately, one of them has been diagnosed with HemangioSarcoma, and has a tumor in it's mouth. 

My friends are wonderful people, who work hard and are trying to give this little Yorkie a wonderful quality of life. 
Duke is a happy and thriving puppy who loves to play and hike and run around people to make them smile.  Yet, this cancer keeps resurfacing and growing rapidly in it's mouth, however Duke doesn't let it phase him.

Here's a little bio on Duke from my friend:

"Duke has been a part of our family since 2010. We rescued him from a household across the street from our uncle's house in Feb 2010. He was being spanked and abused by his owner's daughter, who disliked him....
This young lady would spank Duke with her shoe, to the point that she broke the cartilage that supports his ears to look perky (a trait of the Yorkshire breed)
 We came to find this out one afternoon at our uncle's house during a BBQ. The owner expressed to us that she was getting ready to take Duke to a shelter to have him adopted or euthanized, as she couldn't handle this dillema with her daughter and she was afraid she may end up injuring him severely. 

Immediately, we knew we had to save this poor pup ! Duke came to live with us the following week , and since has been a joy in our lives! He loves to go on walks to greet the neighbors , swim at the beach and play fetch with his toys! Duke absolutely LOVES to hike! His fav hiking spot is Bishops Peak- If you have ever hiked out there, I'm certain you've met Duke. With his little camo backpack, and a rumbunctious attitude!! He sure loves his lil' doggie life!! He has gotten signatures in a little journal from hikers all over the world he's encountered up that hill!! 

we always say he's a Lab trapped in a Yorkie body . There's nothing this lil' guy thinks he can't do !"

"Sadly, when we went in for Dukes yearly check-up visit with his vet at the start of 2018,  they discovered a mass-like tumor between his lower jaw and frennulum. 
After Dr.  London,  our wonderful vet at Arroyo Grande Veterinary Hospital suggested a biopsy to excise this mass for examination/pathology, it was diagnosed as Hemangiosarcoma. 
This is an aggressive growing tumors in canines . "

"We are devastated. Of course, since Duke has no clue he's just been diagnosed with Cancer, he continues to wag his tail, and play, and pretty much go about his happy doggie life,  which makes it even more painful for us to think of what's in store ahead .
Putting Duke down is not an option.... who would consider such ?"

"This beautiful creature is not suffering or in any way impaired. Hes still as active and rambunctious as ever!! We just returned with him from a hike this morning!!! "

"This tumor regrows every 45-60 days, aggressively. 
To the point he can't close his mouth all the way and his tongue sticks out the opposite side, impairing his ability to chew his food effectively.  We have changed his diet to a soft food type, and every two months we have to return and excise this mass again, to provide him a good quality of life, while he's still hanging on!"

"He's had his first surgery in February and another on Friday, April 13th. 
He's been happy and thriving since April's surgery, however the tumor has resurfaced/regrown and Duke's in need of yet another surgery to continue to manage eating.... July is probably going to be the next excision time"

 


So there you are, folks. 
There's gotta be something we can all do to help Duke out!

I have seen that these surgeries are in no way cheap.... 

I decided to start this fundraiser for them and see if it would be possible to obtain some help with the worst problem they are encountering at this point... Duke's constant need to have surgery!

This fund would help them cover part of the costs for another 2 excision procedures to come, since they have to be scheduled so often due to this rapid growth ...

I see GoFundMe helping them with some of the future costs with Duke longitudinally...

if anyone who's  out there reading this story and if you are willing/able to help, we, on behalf of Duke, thank you for your kindness and generosity in advance! If you can't help financially, we completely understand, and hope that you would be so kind as to forward this story, so that we can share this wonderful doggie's personality and current struggle with the rest of the world's! Every little effort helps!! 
Thank you kindly !