Chemotherapy for Charlie

Hello everyone!

My name is Pauline. Many of you on the internet might know me as sleepygibbz (or if you’ve been around long enough, yummy bakura) and if you’ve ever interacted with me online you might know that I have a dog named Charlie.

I adopted Charlie when she was almost 2 years old from a dog sanctuary in Rosarito, Mexico in December of 2014. They found she had a broken leg due to being hit by a car, gave her surgery, rehabilitated her, and eventually she found her way to me. It’s been around 8.5 years now, and Charlie and I have shared many walks, adventures, snacks, cuddles, and nap times together.

While I was gone on vacation, Charlie started experiencing difficulty eating and difficulty keeping any food down that she was able to eat. On April 8, Charlie tested positive for cancer and a few days plus 2 different vets later was diagnosed with Lymphoma. She has been prescribed prednisone to manage her symptoms and while it is a powerful steroid, it is not used for treatment; only symptom management.

It is now April 17. Charlie has been on prednisone for 5 days and while her lymph nodes are still extremely swollen and visible, they have gotten slightly smaller since she started prednisone. My main concern though, is that she is exhibiting breathing problems such as shortness of breath and at times even panting at rest, though the temperature of the room is not hot. Seeing her struggle to breathe prompted me to call the vet this morning and we have decided to start Charlie’s chemotherapy tomorrow.

Under normal circumstances, I would never ask anyone to help me financially care for my pet. She is my responsibility and I completely understand if writing this or making a GoFundMe for my dog is off-putting for some. I also understand that asking for money after I’ve just gone on a vacation is a big and frankly shameless ask. People have made GoFundMe pages for more, but mine and Charlie’s problem is still valid and I know there are kind people out there always willing to help.

Being gone from work for an entire month means I’ve had absolutely zero income since I left town at the end of March. Financially I’m in a tough spot since Charlie’s lymphoma was completely unexpected and just at a really bad time. She must have had cancer for a while now considering how quickly her symptoms worsened once she started exhibiting them.

The vet quoted me on $200-$300 per week on chemotherapy treatment. The treatment will be 25 weeks. At its maximum, that’s a total of $7500 for chemo alone. I’m asking for $3000 just to cover the initial couple of months of chemotherapy treatment plus any other vet fees that are not chemo, including but not limited to lab fees and other medicine she might be prescribed. This should be enough for me to get me back on my feet financially while I work and I should be able to pay off the rest on my own.

If you’ve taken the time to read this, thank you so much. Charlie has been a significant part of my life and she’s the one I come home to after a hard day at work. It’s just me and her living together, so it’s difficult to think of her not being around for much longer. If you choose to donate, please only do so if you have the disposable income to. Chemotherapy will never guarantee getting rid of the cancer completely, but if she responds well to treatment it could add anywhere from 12-24 months of her life.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this. If you are unable or unwilling to donate please share this to get as many people

to help as possible. I know Charlie has a lot of life left in her as she is still excited to go on walks and very excited to eat delicious boiled chicken.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Love,

Pauline and Charlie