Please help with Muneca's Cancer recovery

Aloha Friends, Family, and anyone who is reading this.

My name is Muneca, aka Moon.

I am writing this with some sad news to share and to ask for a favor for my parents.

This past week, I was diagnosed with a "Grade 1" Soft Tissue Sarcoma tumor on my front left paw.

Unfortunately, this means I will need to have my front left leg amputated pretty soon to prevent this cancer from spreading further.

My Mom and Dad are, as one would expect, in shock and devastated.

We are posting this fundraising campaign to ask for assistance as our family has endured a lot so far in 2025, and this unexpected turn of events comes at a time we are under severe financial strain.

First of all, I should start by saying one thing, I am a lucky little B*tch.

My story starts in 2017, when I was found, as a puppy, living underneath a car in South Central Los Angeles at 25th and Main St.

Two very caring LA transplants, Max and Lottie, who lived on the street I was found on, kept me well-fed and opened their doors to me when I wanted to come hang with them. Shortly after I was found, they had to move out of that house and couldn't take me with them, so they asked a friend of theirs to meet me, as they didn't want to bring me to a shelter or leave me behind.

My adopted human dad, Rafa, took me in and has provided me a wonderful life. We traveled a lot together and eventually I also got an adopted Mom, Elisa & and an adopted brother, Sprocket.

I chose her. My dad and her had been dating, but I knew she was right for him, so I made it known. One day, early in their dating life, I heard her voice while Dad and I were out on a walk. She was across the street, so I yanked the leash out of my dad's hands and sprinted across incoming traffic to the other side of the street to jump in her arms. Dad didn't know it yet, but I knew then that she would one day be my full-time mom.

During the pandemic, Dad and I moved to Hawaii and I became a certified professional Chicken Terrorist on the island of Kauai. We moved back to CA in 2023 to be with my new mom. While living in Ventura, CA, Dad had me trained to be a certified Service Animal. I passed the class with such enthusiasm, my trainer also recommended me to become certified as a therapy animal.

Late last year, my mom was offered a new job on Oahu. We relocated back to the islands, on Oahu, full-time as of March this year for the long term. We love it here.

At the same time our family was planning to move back to Hawaii in Jan of 2025, our family suffered a devastating loss at the hands of the LA wildfires, where my grandparents lost their home. Nana and Papa moved in with us on Oahu a few months ago. My mom and dad are caretakers to Nana and Papa. At least I get to hang with my Papa every day; he takes me on long walks while my dad is at work and he gives me lots of baguettes and cheese all day long.

The timing of this cancer is pretty unfortunate. At a time our family is trying to recover from a hard year; the fires, a recent big move, my parents getting officially married in a few weeks, along with my parents using everything they had in their savings to purchase our first fixer-upper home here in Honolulu, we are under a lot of financial strain to afford my medical care.

We are so fortunate, grateful and happy to finally have a yard to be able to run around in, and now this. I will become a tripod.

The unexpected timing of this diagnosis, biopsy, expert veterinarian oncology consultation, required amputation surgery & future prosthetic is really unexpected.

Our family has a lot to be happy for, but we are also struggling a bit right now.

It is with a heavy heart and request for your kindness and generosity that we ask for anyone to contribute to a modest fund to help our family get me the medical help I need.

My Papa said it best, I have a very special "Joie de vivre" and feel confident losing a leg won't keep me down. I still have well over 10 years left of life, and our family thinks that if I can get a prosthetic leg, and complete my therapy animal training, I would be an inspiring therapy animal at the hospital my mom works in.

Our family is very grateful for any support anyone is willing to offer and thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

With all of our gratitude,

Muneca, (aka Moon)