Hi everyone,

As some of you may know, my childhood dog Chubbs, who’s been with me for 11 years, was recently diagnosed with an aggressive oral melanoma.

Earlier this year in March, after he was recovering from a leg surgery, I noticed a pink growth on his left cheek while playing with him. My heart sank. After several vet visits, we had the lump partially removed, but the biopsy came back cancerous. Since our regular vet is a general practitioner, they weren’t able to get “full margins” when removing it — meaning not all of the tumor was taken out — and unfortunately, it grew back within weeks.

On September 5th, we saw a specialist for further testing to check if the cancer had spread. I’m really grateful to say that so far, there’s no visible spread to his lymph nodes or lungs, and his bloodwork is looking normal.

Right now, I’m looking into surgery to fully remove the tumor. It would greatly lower the risk of it spreading or coming back. The specialist believes the surgery would leave little to no permanent disability or cosmetic issues for Chubbs, which gives me a lot of hope.

That said, I need help. After multiple vet visits this year (along with Chubbs' earlier leg surgery and my own injury back in February), my finances are stretched thin — even with full-time work. The vets have been incredibly kind in trying to work with me on pricing, but the costs are still more than I can manage on my own. I was quoted me $6,010.33 which is unfortunately an huge price tag. All donations from here will be used solely for Chubbs’ surgery costs.

Chubbs is still his same happy, lazy, spoiled self at home, and my goal is to keep him comfortable and give him the best shot at a full and fulfilling life. One of my biggest wishes is to take him to the snow this January. He’s a Tibetan Mastiff and German Shepherd mix, and of all the places I’ve taken him, the snowy mountains are his favorite. Because of his surgery earlier this year and my injury, we weren’t able to go, but I’m hoping we can still make that trip happen.

Thank you so much for reading this. It really means a lot to me and my family. Anything helps, even just sharing this around.

Thank you again,

Kelly <3