Hello everyone,

(I have no idea what to write, so I am just writing everything I have found out and currently understand 36 hours after finding out and 5 hours after her first treatment. So please bare with me below. I am struggling a bit right now)

(Dirt and I cuddling in bed, which happens nearly every night)

I am heartbroken to find out that Dirty, my Newfi-Poodle mix who is 8 years old and best friend in the world, has Lymphoma. We noticed some glands in her neck seemed a bit larger than what we remember about 4 weeks ago. Then someone else said they noticed that they noticed her glands were enlarged as well, just a couple of weeks ago. That is when we decided to get her seen by the vet. This happened on May 8, only 5 days ago. As we were taking her camping yesterday, we got the call that the cells they did a biopsy on in the large growths in her throat and neck had some "highly irregular cells" within.

From that, they referred us immediately to Sage pet hospital in Campbell California. From getting the call yesterday that there were irregular cells, to today we were able to complete our first step in the Chemotherapy process. A HUGE thank you to Sage for getting us in so quickly (literally 12 hours after the call of abnormal cells, we were in treatment)

Hanging with her sisters

Couple of other things about Dirty

Cool things Dirty has done in her life

Some pics/videos of Ms. Dirty McGirty

Why did we choose to do Chemo?

1) I was VERY hesitant to do chemo at first because of my understanding of how awful the process can be on humans and assumed that this would be the same for Dirt, and she ain't goin out like that under my watch! But I found out that 80-90% of dogs that get chemo for Lymphoma has mild to zero side effects. Link to treatment success rates and other info

2) And this is important to understand. Without any chemo, we are looking at 4-6 weeks of life left. The next option would be to do high dose steroids. This would help with the forward motion of the cancer, but really only temporarily. By going this option, we would be looking at 1-3 months of her life (and probably lower quality in the last months). This is VERY inexpensive at only ~$60 for the supply to last her for a couple of months, which is all that she would need (as she would not survive longer that a couple of months. The final option, is chemo. This is the option that we chose to move forward with. By going this route, it is expected to see immediate results (we will find out in the next couple of day after her first treatment.) But if she reacts well to the treatment, then we will be riding this the whole way through and we expect my lady Dirt will be able to be with us up to additional 8-24 months post treatment Link for life expectancy info for Lymphoma dogs

Longevity of k9s after chemo

3) THERE IS NO CURE. There will for sure be shortened life span for Dirt. The difference essentially site between keeping her comfortable for the next couple of months without Chemo or try Chemo out and see if it works on her. If we see significant struggles in her during the initial rounds of chemo, we plan to stop it immediately and go with the steroid route, which is much less effective but will not do much to extend her life for much longer. The chemo treatment itself is more pills based and no shots are needed, so the process if well tolerated should be very easy. Just tons of monitoring and specialized diet (we are switching her to a anti-inflammatory diet to help prolong her opportunity to enjoy her time with our family and friends.

4) Lymphoma is more of a silent killer in dogs. Essentially there is little to no pain involved for Dirt. The large lumps on her neck are just kinda bothersome and uncomfortable (as my research has found.) But over time, essentially the White Blood cells are killed off due to the cancer. Then Dirt would pass on due to some other infection or illness, as her body would not be able to fight it any longer due to lack of White Blood cells. With chemo, this gives her a chance to fight back for a while longer and have a HIGH quality of life.

5) Chemo is a VERY expensive option that comes with a price tag of around $10,000-$15,000 for total cost (updated with total price quote of $11-14k, screenshot below) . She will undergo 8 weeks of chemo, then will do bi-weekly treatments for 16 weeks (essentially an additional 8 sessions for 16 total treatments.) Each session costs around $800+. We will also have expenses for blood tests and any additional hospital stay that is needed (if she becomes ill during the treatment process.) We were told by the vet that we could expect up to $16k in chemo costs alone. Within the past 4 days, the medical bills have come to $2240 already. So it comes quick and hard on the savings account. We also will have end of life expenses, hopefully more like 12+ months from now. We are asking for donations to get us up to $12k and we believe the rest will be able to be convered by our savings.

Whatever you can do to support, it would be MUCH appreciated. This $15k+ bill was slapped down on us in the span of 2 days. Fully aware we made the decision to move forward on going the chemo route, so it is on us. But any help you could give would be VERY much appreciated.

I am hoping to only take SMALL donations of $100 or less. I know how many people have been a part of Dirt's life (as she meets nearly everyone that walks by ) but I don't want ANYONE to over extend themselves. The whole point of this is to crowdfund. To take small donations from people across a WIDE network. Please, please do try to keep to what you CAN give and not what you want to give. Anything is VERY much appreciated and Dirt would GLADLY thank you herself in person if you are near us and want to visit (she looooooooves people and loooooooves getting attention, as most of you know that have met her.

Not everyone is able to give, and that is perfectly fine . . Please do not feel like this is something you have to do if you are not able to. Dirt loves you regardless and feel free to just stop by and say Hi anytime, as she looooves getting attention and times are going to be hard for a little while. Many of our friends, family, and co-workers will for sure make a dent in this for us and we feel confident that we will get through this even if we have to go deeper into debt.

Three things I learned through this process

1) Pet insurance is a near must IMO. As great of care that we will be getting at Sage Hospital in Campbell CA, health care of any kind is a HUGE joke in this country as it is related to cost. I don't know many people, even in the Bay Area, that could survive a random $15K+ bill dropped out of nowhere. And since she is literally me best friend, there is no way I can not do this if there is a 80-90% chance she will have another year where she lives a great life.

2) I blamed myself immediately. I thought: Should have done better food; Maybe if we lived in a less urban area there would be less carcinogens; maybe if I had done a million things differently. The doctor immediately pointed out to me that there is nothing that we did to create this, or anything we could have done to stop it. If there is anyone else out there that is struggling through this same affliction with their dog, PLEASE READ THIS. You did not do this. There is little if anything you could have done to prevent this. Cancer fucking sucks, that is all there is to it. I needed to hear this soooooo much when we went to see the oncologist today and wanted to share with anyone else that might be going through this with a k9 member of their family.

3) I had a beagle named Rza (also after Wu Tang) that passed away after 17 years of life. We put her to sleep at the vets office, which seemed VERY cold and transactional. THERE ARE BETTER options, especially in the Bay Area. Restfulpaws is a Bay Area company that will come to your house and help with seeing your pet off to the next stage. I WISHED that this is something that was available when we put Rza down. But I 100% for sure will be doing this for Dirt as I think is takes into consideration her dignity during her final moments. Would encouarage you to look for this in your area if you ever have to make the extremely hard decision to put a family pet friend to rest.

Lastly, if for any reason that the treatment is not effective or we have any other reason for stopping the treatment (maybe she is not handling it well, we see her massively struggling, etc) we will stop the treatment. I discovered that we can return funds to people that donate. Refunding donors in gofundme . If we stop treatment at any point, we will fully return the funds remaining to anyone that donates. I have ZERO interest in keeping anyone's money if this does not work out. I just want some more time with literally the best dog to ever walk the face of this Earth. Dirt McGirt 4 life!!!