Go Fund Me Story

As many of you know, my sister Danica and my brother-in-law Charlie’s beloved Dexter was recently diagnosed with B-Cell Lymphoma. They were given several options. The gold standard for treating this is a regimen called CHOP. It has an 80-90% response rate and 12-14 month prognosis. Unfortunately the cost of this treatment is $10-$15k, which they could not afford. They decided on the next best option, which was was Doxorubicin. It has a 60-70% response rate with a prognosis of 6-8 months and a total cost of $5k.

Dexter received two doses before having to stop. His lymph nodes shrunk a little after each dose but came right back days before the next dose was due. This time they grew so much that they were bigger than when he was first diagnosed and also causing breathing issues.

At the chemo appointment yesterday 7/22, they were given news no dog-parent wants to hear. Dexter was not responding to treatment. They were given 3 options. The first was a drug called Tanovia which had a 60-75% response rate and prognosis of 6 months with a cost of $8k. The second was a drug called Lomustine which is an oral chemo with a response rate of 60-70% and prognosis of 5-6 months. The third option was palliative care with prednisone which gives only 4-6 weeks.

They were forced to choose option #2 because of financial strain. Lomustine comes with its own problems. It can cause liver damage. Dexter’s labs from yesterday showed that he already has liver damage. So we will have to watch that closely to avoid causing liver failure. His lymph nodes should start shrinking in 3-4 days. If we don’t see any progress, we will have to stop treatment unless they can come up with the funds to try the other drug Tanovia

Dexter is their baby and means the world to them. They aren’t ready to give up! Let’s help them raise some money so that they can afford to continue treatment! Any extra money received will be donated to the Morris Animal Foundation’s

Golden Retriever Lifetime Study which helps find cures for not only lymphoma but all other ailments that affect goldens.

https://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/golden-retriever-lifetime-study