Fidget vs Cancer: !!FIGHT!!

Alright, here we go, the whole reason why we are here.




While playing with Fidget, myself and my husband noticed an odd mass growing on Fidget's upper chest. We kept an eye on it but once it became apparent, that it wasn’t going away we went immediately to the vet to see if everything was okay.




The vet took a biopsy and sent it to an Oncologist for examination. We hoped it would be something small and simple and Fidget would be able to go back to playing string and laying on the couch without a care in the world. We received news from our vet with their findings. Our worst fear was now our reality. Fidget was diagnosed with an intermediate-grade mammary adenocarcinoma.




The vet offered to remove the mass and send it for further evaluation by an Oncologist

The Oncologist said that the vet got good margins on the masses that were removed, meaning they didn't leave any behind, but unfortunately there could be masses hiding in her mammary tissue elsewhere that they cannot feel or see at this time.




We have spoken to both her vet as well as the Oncologist at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine and they have determined that the best course of action is a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy.




To provide the best life for fidget that includes both quality of life as well as prolonged life, she needs to have the following steps performed.




1. The first step is to stage Fidget's cancer meaning we need to make sure it hasn't spread anywhere else. This means we at least need to check chest x-rays and an abdominal ultrasound. The oncologist may also do aspirates of lymph nodes and other diagnostics to help stage it.




2. The gold standard for treatment for this type of cancer would be a staged double chain mastectomy plus chemo. Since it is such an extensive surgery, this is usually done in two stages. This means one side would be done then we would wait to do the other side once the first side was healed. 




3. After surgery follows chemotherapy. It is usually 5 doses of chemo - 1 dose every 2-3 weeks apart. Now some may ask, CHEMOTHERAPY, why would you put your animal through that. We have asked ourselves the same question in regards to deciding between the best quality of life and prolonged life. 




Worry not. “The number one goal of chemotherapy is to maintain the quality of life for as long as possible. The chance of significant side effects of this treatment is less than 10% in most cases. If side effects do occur, they tend to be temporary, and they resolve within a few days.”

Source: https://www.accsvets.com/10-myths-of-pet-cancer-treatment.html




So trusting in science and in the people who live to save animals, we have decided to provide Fidget with the same care that we would if she were our baby. Because she is our fur baby. She is a tough nugget and we cannot imagine a world where we didn’t try to give her the best life possible. 




We are realistic and understand the risk, as well as the life expectancy that this diagnosis provides, even with surgery and chemotherapy. We understand the financial burden that something like this will take. 




Everyone who has ever met Fidget falls in love with her and wants to take her home. We live our lives by doing our best to support our friends, family, and our fur babies. We are asking those that have the means, to assist us in providing the care that Fidget deserves for a fighting chance. If you cannot donate, if you could please Share this Page on your social media and encourage your friends to do the same. 




If for any reason, the GoFundMe platform allows us to go over the goal, we will use it for what will surely be the continued care of our best friend. Anything beyond that will be paid forward.




Thanks for reading this far, we truly appreciate your support for Fidget and will keep this page updated with her status as we move forward regardless of what we raise. This means the world to us. She means the world to us. Thank you.