Chemo for a Kitty
Donation protected
This is Professor Minerva McGonagall, or just McGonagall for short, and in the six years I've spent with her by my side I don't think I've met another creature as compassionate or affectionate as her.
This week McGonagall was diagnosed with Small-Cell Lymphoma, a condition that is not only terminal if left unchecked, but will take it upon itself to make her suffer as much as possible. Things look grim, but hope exists. Not however, without a major caveat.
McGonagall's cancer can be treated with chemo, and it means a fighting chance at a full life free of symptoms. However, staying alive isn't free, or anything close to it. A full round of chemotherapy treatments can cost as much as $8000.00, and that amount isn't something an art teacher making a touch above minimum wage or her recently graduated son can afford.
I could try to tell you what McGonagall means to us, but I'm not sure I can show you depth of it. I can't show you how, in sophomore year, she found a tear-stained pillow beneath the face of a failing physics student, and took it upon herself to bear its distraught burden. I can't show you how, day after day, she welcomed home a woman too tired to move, and soothed the aches in her legs with a few gentle butts of her fluffy head. No, I can't show any of those memories to you, but I can show how McGonagall looks in my Mom's eyes.
As a rule, my Mom has never liked asking for handouts, so when our last cat, Sir Isaac Asimov Newton got sick she began painting portraits for our friends and family of animals who meant as much to them as our cats meant to us. With money tighter than it once was, we are now open to crowdfunding, but if you want a painting of your special little doggo, fur-gremlin or danger-noodle, please look for us at https://www.petportraitproject.com
This week McGonagall was diagnosed with Small-Cell Lymphoma, a condition that is not only terminal if left unchecked, but will take it upon itself to make her suffer as much as possible. Things look grim, but hope exists. Not however, without a major caveat.
McGonagall's cancer can be treated with chemo, and it means a fighting chance at a full life free of symptoms. However, staying alive isn't free, or anything close to it. A full round of chemotherapy treatments can cost as much as $8000.00, and that amount isn't something an art teacher making a touch above minimum wage or her recently graduated son can afford.
I could try to tell you what McGonagall means to us, but I'm not sure I can show you depth of it. I can't show you how, in sophomore year, she found a tear-stained pillow beneath the face of a failing physics student, and took it upon herself to bear its distraught burden. I can't show you how, day after day, she welcomed home a woman too tired to move, and soothed the aches in her legs with a few gentle butts of her fluffy head. No, I can't show any of those memories to you, but I can show how McGonagall looks in my Mom's eyes.
As a rule, my Mom has never liked asking for handouts, so when our last cat, Sir Isaac Asimov Newton got sick she began painting portraits for our friends and family of animals who meant as much to them as our cats meant to us. With money tighter than it once was, we are now open to crowdfunding, but if you want a painting of your special little doggo, fur-gremlin or danger-noodle, please look for us at https://www.petportraitproject.com
Organizer
David Wikler
Organizer
New York, NY
