Help Buster Battle Lymphoma and Live His Best Golden Years

Buster is 14 years and 4 months of Zuchon love, and has been a therapeutic companion and best friend for his whole life and my entire adulthood. He loves the beach, his 9 year old feline brother, his people, and even some of the neighborhood dogs (though he barks at almost all of them). He is an active, healthy pup who never looks or acts his age and has never presented a major medical problem or unmanageable cost--until now.

All at once, Buster's health took a significant turn. A few weeks ago and as a result of all of the love he receives, we noticed swelling in the lymph nodes under his neck. A visit to our vet left both the doctor and I even more concerned about the amount of swelling happening quickly across all lymph nodes in his body. While awaiting the results of cytology testing, an emergency vet visit for labored breathing and discomfort led us to the worst fear: a diagnosis of lymphoma, and all of the particular aggressiveness that comes with it. Even worse, the initial vet sampling of Buster's neck led to an abscess which has created an infection and altered the early stages of our cancer treatment.

The great news is that we caught the swollen lymph nodes early, which gives us an excellent opportunity for a successful treatment plan. Buster has mostly fought off his infection and his quality of life remains exceptionally high. I've been able to see his progress from our initial vet visit and can see that Buster has all of the fight in him to beat this cancer into remission. More than that, we are extremely fortunate to live in an area where we have access to exceptional immediate and regular vet and oncology care.

We have met with our oncologist and she is hopeful that a 20-week CHOP treatment will give Buster another year or more to survive this awful disease. But the cost is significant, with his chemotherapy consisting of 17 vet visits costing from $800-1000 per session. The total cost is hovering around an astronomical $15,000 and I cannot do this without help.

Money should not be the sole determinant of end of life, especially when deciding for your best friend, but that is the position that Buster's unexpected cancer diagnosis has placed me. More frustratingly, cancer aside, I never would have anticipated any kind of chronic illness being the reason for making end-of-life decisions for my dog. Now, knowing that we live mere minutes from the doctors and medications that will extend his life in a meaningful way, how can I consciously let him go without asking for help? I am grateful for the opportunity to extend the time I can share with my most constant support!