Help Save Chloe Bear
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My name is Sarah and I am trying to raise money for Chloe's medical care after a recent diagnosis of very rapidly growing oral melanoma.
Chloe is a 10 year old yorkie and I adopted her only 7 short months ago. She did not receive adequate medical care in her 10 years before joining my family - especially dental care. The first week I had Chloe I spent more than $2,000 on oral surgery. She had all but 5 of her teeth removed and many infected deep pockets in her gums that required extensive washout with antibiotics. Since then Chloe has been a new girl! She is
no longer in pain and she is a very happy, healthy, and chubby little girl! Her nickname is Sausage because of her disproportionately big belly! :)
Chloe and Mia (My 8 year old yorkie) became best friends very quickly. The girls are together 24/7 and snuggle on the same dog bed all day long. Chloe is obsessed with her "big" sister Mia and follows her around the house constantly.
Chloe had a dental cleaning under general anesthesia one week ago and the vet found a large, pigmented mass under her tongue. He excised the mass as completely as he could and sent it to the lab for pathological diagnosis.
On Mother's Day I received word from my vet that the pathology of the mass was back and it was indeed the worst case scenario -- malignant oral melanoma. My heart sank. The pathology report also said the tumor had a very high mitotic rate - in other words - a very fast growing tumor. And while most of the cancer was removed - the margins of the specimen were not clear - meaning there is still cancer in Chloe's sweet little mouth.
Oral melanoma is a VERY aggressive cancer in dogs and is usually not diagosed until late in the disease process. It is very locally destructive and metastasizes most frequently to the lymph nodes and the lungs. The next steps were dependent on our visit with the oncologist today.
It turns out that we MIGHT have caught the tumor reatively early. The tumor was approxiately 1.5 cm, which is relatively small. Chloe had no symptoms whatsoever and is not sick in any way. The oncologist said that we are lucky that Chloe was having a routine dental cleaning and the mass was detected incidentally, because otherwise we likely would not have found it until it much later. Today we did a chest x-ray which does not show any mets (that is great). They also did needle biopsies of her lymph nodes under her jaw and we will get the final results of that soon. Chloe's normal physical exam, bloodwork, and the relatively small size of the tumor allow us to be hopeful that we caught it before it metastasized.
We will see the surgeon on Wednesday to discuss a Hemimandibulectomy - or a surgery to remove part of the lower part of Chloe's jaw - the part where the cancer is. Dogs actually do very well after this surgery, much to my own surprise. Chloe is a good candidate for the surgery and the doctors are optimistic about the outcome of surgery. Additionally, today she received the first of a series of vaccines designed for canine melanoma. She will get the vaccine 5-6 times over the next few months. If we do not find any distant mets, the vaccine combined with the surgery offer Chloe the chance to experience many more happy and healthy years ahead of her - which she deserves!
This is where I have to ask y'all to please consider donating to help Chloe. The surgery alone is estimated to be about $3,000-$3,500. The vaccine is around $600-650 every time she receives it. The bill today for the chest x-ray, initial consultation, lymph node biopsy, and the first dose of the vaccine was $1,300. Her dental with the excisional biopsy last week was around $1,000! This is all adding up VERY quickly - especially to a graduating medical student preparing to move to a new city to begin residency! I would not put Chloe through invasive surgery if the doctors did not believe she was a good candidate or if it would not allow her to live the same quality of life she lives now. However, we might have caught this early enough to save my baby girl!
If a lot of people donate a small amount - even just $10 - that will add up and help tremendously in paying for Chloe's care. I appreciate every single penny of help you are willing to contribute to Chloe. This little girl was given a second chance in life and she deserves to remain happy and healthy as long as possible! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
Love,
Sarah, Chloe Bear, and Mir Ruth :)
Chloe is a 10 year old yorkie and I adopted her only 7 short months ago. She did not receive adequate medical care in her 10 years before joining my family - especially dental care. The first week I had Chloe I spent more than $2,000 on oral surgery. She had all but 5 of her teeth removed and many infected deep pockets in her gums that required extensive washout with antibiotics. Since then Chloe has been a new girl! She is
no longer in pain and she is a very happy, healthy, and chubby little girl! Her nickname is Sausage because of her disproportionately big belly! :)
Chloe and Mia (My 8 year old yorkie) became best friends very quickly. The girls are together 24/7 and snuggle on the same dog bed all day long. Chloe is obsessed with her "big" sister Mia and follows her around the house constantly.
Chloe had a dental cleaning under general anesthesia one week ago and the vet found a large, pigmented mass under her tongue. He excised the mass as completely as he could and sent it to the lab for pathological diagnosis.
On Mother's Day I received word from my vet that the pathology of the mass was back and it was indeed the worst case scenario -- malignant oral melanoma. My heart sank. The pathology report also said the tumor had a very high mitotic rate - in other words - a very fast growing tumor. And while most of the cancer was removed - the margins of the specimen were not clear - meaning there is still cancer in Chloe's sweet little mouth.
Oral melanoma is a VERY aggressive cancer in dogs and is usually not diagosed until late in the disease process. It is very locally destructive and metastasizes most frequently to the lymph nodes and the lungs. The next steps were dependent on our visit with the oncologist today.
It turns out that we MIGHT have caught the tumor reatively early. The tumor was approxiately 1.5 cm, which is relatively small. Chloe had no symptoms whatsoever and is not sick in any way. The oncologist said that we are lucky that Chloe was having a routine dental cleaning and the mass was detected incidentally, because otherwise we likely would not have found it until it much later. Today we did a chest x-ray which does not show any mets (that is great). They also did needle biopsies of her lymph nodes under her jaw and we will get the final results of that soon. Chloe's normal physical exam, bloodwork, and the relatively small size of the tumor allow us to be hopeful that we caught it before it metastasized.
We will see the surgeon on Wednesday to discuss a Hemimandibulectomy - or a surgery to remove part of the lower part of Chloe's jaw - the part where the cancer is. Dogs actually do very well after this surgery, much to my own surprise. Chloe is a good candidate for the surgery and the doctors are optimistic about the outcome of surgery. Additionally, today she received the first of a series of vaccines designed for canine melanoma. She will get the vaccine 5-6 times over the next few months. If we do not find any distant mets, the vaccine combined with the surgery offer Chloe the chance to experience many more happy and healthy years ahead of her - which she deserves!
This is where I have to ask y'all to please consider donating to help Chloe. The surgery alone is estimated to be about $3,000-$3,500. The vaccine is around $600-650 every time she receives it. The bill today for the chest x-ray, initial consultation, lymph node biopsy, and the first dose of the vaccine was $1,300. Her dental with the excisional biopsy last week was around $1,000! This is all adding up VERY quickly - especially to a graduating medical student preparing to move to a new city to begin residency! I would not put Chloe through invasive surgery if the doctors did not believe she was a good candidate or if it would not allow her to live the same quality of life she lives now. However, we might have caught this early enough to save my baby girl!
If a lot of people donate a small amount - even just $10 - that will add up and help tremendously in paying for Chloe's care. I appreciate every single penny of help you are willing to contribute to Chloe. This little girl was given a second chance in life and she deserves to remain happy and healthy as long as possible! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
Love,
Sarah, Chloe Bear, and Mir Ruth :)
Organisator
Sarah Sternlieb
Organisator
New Orleans, LA