Our little family needs a miracle.

Our beloved dog, Dahlia, is 9.5 years old and has been my heart and soul for the 7 years since I adopted her. She is my everything. She saved me as much as I've saved her, and has brought an unbelievable amount of love, joy, and peace to my life.

Today, while my husband and I were traveling and she was being pet-sit by my sister in law, we were told she suddenly had a seizure. She has been in almost perfect health her whole life, so this was a shock. After rushing her to the vet, we received devastating news.

She has a tumor on her spleen (likely cancerous), a slow-growing mass that has been undetectable and completely symptomless until now... until it ruptured and bled out. Her abdomen filled with more than a liter of blood, but they have gotten her stable, setting up a transfusion to capture her own lost blood and return it to her body. This entire nightmare unfolded over the course of 2 hours.

Her vet has told us there are only two paths forward:

1) surgery to remove the tumor (which was quoted at $10,000, in addition to the $4,000 we've paid for her care so far) which will give her 3-6 more months of life, until the cancer (very likely) comes back again. The vet assured us these would be good, happy months with a high quality of life. They wouldn't recommend such a surgery unless it would be a good outcome for the pet.

2) Or, if we do not go through with the surgery, they recommend euthenasia in the next few days.

I am heartbroken beyond words. I have spent the last day trying to weigh the impossible decision of whether to buy a few more precious, happy months with my little angel, or say goodbye within days.

My husband and I cut our trip short and are on our way home first thing tomorrow. When we get back, we will need to make our decision.

We are newlyweds, married only last October, and trying to save up for our new life together. Paying for this surgery would cost nearly ever dollar of our savings. It would set us back from having kids, buying a house, and moving forward on all the goals we envision for ourselves. And yet... This is my heart and soul. It's an impossible decision, and I am in complete anguish.

I just can't fathom giving up on my angel when there's any possibility for more life, more love, and more joy, however small...

Please, please... give me more time with my baby.

Thank you.

UPDATE 8/19 #1: I just spoke with Dahlia's vet after her additional ultrasound imaging. While the worst case scenario remains an aggressive blood cancer that will only give Dahlia 3-4 more months even if the surgery is successful, there's a possibility that the tumor hasn't metastasized yet. In that case, removing her spleen would be curative. She would be completely fine after recovery, and would live out her normal life with (potentially) many healthy years. They have no way of knowing for sure until they do the surgery, but it's a bet we're willing to take if there's even a chance she will be saved. The total cost for her care (including the surgery and her hospital stay) will be closer to $11,000, another boon vs. the $14,000 we were originally quoted. There's a real glimmer of hope that we can actually save her.

UPDATE 8/19 #2: Dahlia is currently being prepped for surgery. She is in good spirits, and the vet tells us she is sitting at the front of her kennel, wagging her tail, and shamelessly begging passerbys for pets. They anticipate she will handle the surgery well, and we will have to await the biopsy results to find out her longer term prognosis. We could not have made the decision to move forward with her surgery without everyone's support, so truly from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for giving our girl a fighting chance.

UPDATE 8/19 #3: Dahlia is out of surgery!!!!! They removed her spleen, it went super well, and she's already awake and recovering. They will monitor her overnight but things are looking very good. We are still waiting on the biopsy which will take 1-2 weeks, but the surgeon's impression was that things looked promising in there, and her prognosis may be closer to the good one (e.g. years rather than months). We are absolutely staggered by the outpouring of love, support, and generosity from so many. We're both beyond grateful, and after a day of relentless crying from fear and grief, it feels pretty good to be crying from love and relief. We're not entirely out of the woods yet, please keep us in your thoughts and keep all your fingers and toes crossed. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

NOTE: GoFundMe's system defaults to showing the fundraising goal as a portion of the actual goal ($11,000 total at this time), and slowly reflects more of the actual goal over time. I just want to be transparent in case anyone as confused by the system as me. Thank you for your understanding and your support. <3