In the spring of 2020, at 23 years old, I drove alone from western Kentucky to the tip of Wisconsin to pick Daisy up as a pup. A few months later, my dad passed away, and Daisy became one of the only reasons I was able to handle that grief. She has been my best friend since the day we met, and has been the best dog I could ever ask for.

This January, two weeks after her 6th birthday, the lymph nodes on her neck became swollen. After almost 2 months and around $6,000 worth of testing (many rounds of bloodwork, fine needle aspirates, PARR testing, tick disease panels, x-rays, ultrasounds, countless physical exams, etc), she was finally diagnosed with t-cell lymphoma. There are several different treatment options, with chemo affording her the best longevity and a normal quality of life, so I decided to go that route. Other treatments only offer her a few months at best, and I simply am not ready to part ways with her so soon. Now 5 weeks into her treatments, her body has handled them very well so far and many people say they’d never guess she has cancer. As much as it hurts to say, though, her cancer is incurable and will ultimately win. It being t-cell means it is even more aggressive than normal. Although I can’t give her the normal lifespan she deserves, I owe it to her to give her the best last year of her life that I possibly can.

Since everything started I have emptied my savings account and have begun taking out loans to afford her chemotherapy, and while it has greatly helped, her chemo costs ~1.5x more than I make per month and the bills are stacking up. My goal with this fundraiser is to continue affording her treatments, as well as affording gas for the 2-hour drive to her oncologist every week. Daisy was additionally diagnosed with pancreatitis during her cancer ultrasound, resulting in an expensive prescription diet for the rest of her life. We are about 1/4th of the way through her 19-week treatment protocol and each week costs anywhere from $550-$1,000. I am happy to provide pictures of her bills at any point.

It might seem silly to spend this much on a pet, but I genuinely don’t know where I’d be without her and can’t let her go out without a fight while she’s still feeling great. I cannot thank anyone enough just for reading this and would be incredibly grateful for any shares or donations. I’ll be happy to give updates to show all the hiking, camping, swimming and playing we plan to do this summer. Please do not take the time you have with your pets for granted - you are their whole world and I feel like the luckiest person alive to be Daisy’s.