Cancer Treatment (radiation) for Tonks

On 9/25, my beagle mix, Tonks, was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma (nasal cancer) after I started to notice some congestion in her left nostril.

The Radiology Oncologist is recommending we move forward with Full Course Radiation Therapy. This would give the medics more control over the cancer for 12 months, reduce the tumor size (which would allow her to breathe out of her left nostril again), increase her quality & quantity of life. Chances of the cancer going into complete remission are low, but it is possible. She will have 1 radiation treatment a day for 19 days. The following 3-4 weeks she will have minor side affects, but for the most part will not suffer any long term affects. 

Without this treatment, she has been given 3 months to live.

I will be on tour for 5 of those 12 weeks. Normally both of my dogs (Luna & Tonks) go on tour with my band and I, a lot of you may have met her at a show sometime over the past year. My Dad will be watching Tonks and taking her to her treatments while I am gone.

I've had Tonks since she was 4 weeks old. I got her from a lady who found her tied up in a potato sack in her yard one morning. She is not only a part of my family, but is hands down my best friend. She's been there for me when no one else has, and has helped me get through the most difficult times in my life. 

The total cost for the treatment is projected to be $11,377. I never thought I would set up a GoFundMe, not because I am opposed to it, but because I never planned on this kind of emergency developing so quickly in my life. I have an emergency fund that I am tapping into to cover as much of the cost as I can, but it will drain quickly, and I will need help.

The treatment begins next week (first week of October) and will be a daily radiation therapy treatment over about 3.5 weeks. 19 session in total. I have to pay the hospital weekly with the bills, so we are hoping to be able to keep up with those payments over this next month.

I'm typically not great at asking for help. I don't know if it's stubbornness or pride. But I will do anything to help my dog. She would do the same for me, and has in so many different ways throughout her life. She deserves the best treatment available in order to increase her quality of life. As the vet & radiologist said, "this dog has the engine of a 5-6 year old." She has a lot of life left to live, if we can get through this cancer first.

Any amount genuinely means a lot and helps more than you know. If you do send a donation, please message me your phone number so I can personally call you and thank you for helping us through this. You can message it to me here, on Instagram (@_davidpuckett) or email me- [email redacted]

I will be giving updates here over the next few weeks as we begin her treatment. Thank you so much for your help, your generosity, your prayers & support as we start to navigate through this. <3


Cost outline- 

Full Course Radiation Therapy - $6,800 
PreRT Dental -                                           $250 
CT Scan -                                                    $1,700
Side Effect Medications -                    $250
Feeding Tube-                                         $1,000
Ocular Exam -                                             $120 
Chest X-rays -                                             $287
CBC / Chemistry-                                     $250 
Urine-                                                                 $90 
Abdominal Ultrasound-                        $430 
Sample Lymph Node-                             $200 
____________________________________________
TOTAL --                                                   $11,377.00
Total paid so far -                                      -2,690.22
____________________________________________
Total Needed--                                         $8,686.78



This is the xray of the tumor- her left nasal passage is completely blocked off. There were no signs of the tumor at all until it completely blocked off her left nasal cavity a few weeks ago, which led to congestion. I took her to the vet immediately and they were hoping it was just a cold or some allergies due to the season change, but after putting her on antibiotics and seeing no results, they ran a histopathology test to gather tissue and see if there was a tumor and if it was cancerous. On Tuesday (9/24), it was confirmed that it was cancer.


Projected costs- the oncologist said that realistically these numbers will all be on the high end. 


What I have paid out of pocket so far (not including another $1,200 in vet visits before the diagnosis over the past month) 

Birthday pup! I don't know her exact birthday- but she was 4 weeks old when I got her, so we ballpark it to be July 7th. Her sister's birthday (Luna) is on July 11th. 


This is our Oncologist (Dr. Heather Lasher) walking us through the official diagnosis. 

Her favorite thing to do in the morning on tour is to put her head out of the bus window as we are pulling into the city :)


Tonks & Luna have been touring with my band and I for the past year- they LOOOVE getting to meet so many people, getting walks in new cities every day, and the constant love & attention they get from the band & crew. Realistically- the dogs helped us a lot. The band went through a massive tragedy last year, and the dogs brought so much love, support, morale and good energy to keep us all going when we felt like giving up.