Help Ellie: Cancer Treatment Fund

I have a hard time explaining to people without pets how much love you can have for a dog. I jokingly say I gave birth to Ellie but the truth is I see her as my kid. This is usually the part when people with kids will jump in and say that “having a kid is different,” but for me, it's all I've ever known...

When I got Ellie, I had just moved back home and was hoping for a good life with a stable job and hopefully a nice partner who I could start a family with. I got Ellie when I was few months into a new relationship. She showed up on a Facebook ad; a cry for help from a woman who was trying to give her a loving home. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was blessed that day.

A couple of months later COVID hit, followed by a breakup, then losing a job, then more loss and several years of trying to keep it together...While friends were hanging out with their significant others, I was planning Tinder dates and bringing Ellie along. She gave me an element of safety and companionship that I desperately craved and needed. Living alone has its perks - having human contact is not one of them. I can't begin to describe how devastatingly lonely and emotionally challenging COVID was as a single person living alone...

Over the years, while people around me were getting married/engaged and having baby showers/gender reveals, I was renting cars and taking Ellie to McDonald's so we could share french fries. Life had turned out differently then I had hoped, but Ellie made it so worth it. She was, and is, all I had.

Ellie became my companion and my reason to get up in the morning. We had our morning routine: walk to the coffee shop for an oat milk latte and a croissant and sit in the park while she’d look at squirrels and eat crumbs.

It’s been 6 years with her by my side. Unfortunately, one of the disadvantages of having a pet is that their life expectancy isn’t the same as that of a human’s. And so, as a childless, middle-aged woman, I like to say she’s my child because, to me, she is. The love I have for her is unconditional and without her I have nothing.

In honour of never having a baby shower, an engagement party nor a wedding celebration, I’d like to use this opportunity to celebrate Ellie’s life and raise money to help her get the treatment she needs for a chance at beating cancer. She’s been recently diagnosed with tongue cancer and will need X-rays, potential surgery and radiation treatments, which are a huge expense. This doesn’t include the tests and biopsy she had done (with part of her tongue removed) to confirm the diagnosis. This is scary to write and even more terrifying to think about.

Anything you can contribute is super appreciated. Having to make these decisions for a being that you love is stressful enough and with your contribution, some of the financial burden can be lifted.

On behalf of those of us who never had the opportunity to have kids, please consider our pets as our children. We sure do.

Much love,

K.