Apollos Cancer Surgery

If you know me you know how inseparable Apollo and I are and how much joy he brings to the people around him. If you don’t know Apollo, he’s a 100 pound ball of fur who is always prepared to give anyone endless kisses. He turns 5 in just a few weeks and still has the energy of a puppy. He’s an Akita and his head is the size of a watermelon. He’s not so good at swimming but he’s an advanced mountain climber. He likes fetch (not the part where he brings it back though) and wrestling his friends. He likes blocking the mirrors when you drive and drooling in your lap. He is stubborn, more so by choice but folds the second a treat or scratches are involved. He is a winter dog and is the only thing I’ve seen comfortably (and happily) stand in negative temperatures. He’s my dog and my best friend and he’s sick and I am doing everything I can to help him get better.

Apollos health decline began on Wednesday as he became so lethargic and weak that he was unable to walk without struggling and began to not eat any food. Since his health has rapidly taken a spiral over the last few days as we’ve been taken through a culmination of tests and exams to try and figure out what exactly was wrong with him. Friday Apollos blood count and platelets got so low that he was hospitalized to monitor his vitals and to keep him stable. Late Friday I was notified growths had been found in his testicles and between the tubes in his spleen and liver. As the night progressed Apollos condition as fluid and growths have started to cause swelling requiring him to go into immediate surgery to prevent fluids from blocking vital organs and other parts of the body. The surgery should be able to remove these masses and help get Apollo back to a stable state where we can move towards him getting healthy again.

If you know me, you know this is not something I’d ask unless I truly was at my last straw. I have always been self reliant and my biggest struggle is asking for help. This is not about me, though, and I am willing to spare my humility for my boy.

The costs of this procedure and all of his tests and hospitalization have come out to over $12,000. I’ve already covered $6,000 of that in the last 2 days and I am spending another $3,000 today to begin surgery. My rainy day fund or emergency fund was gone about $4,000 ago and I’ve begun looking into financing and other options to spare enough money for necessities this coming month.

Apollo turns 5 in a few weeks and I’ve always grabbed him and told him “give me 6 more, give me 5 more” as the birthdays passed. I said I’d show him the world. Apollos been with me through my time in the Air Force in DC, moving to South Dakota up at Ellsworth, and eventually getting out to move down to Colorado. He’s been by me as we’ve climbed mountains, swam in rivers and lakes, played in the snow on the slopes, or on long road trips sitting right by me the whole way.

I’ve done my best to show him everything, but today I’m just asking for some help to see him through to tomorrow. He’s got so much more to see and do yet and I won’t stop fighting until he does.