Help Indy fight cancer!

Hi, my name is Rachel. Elise Weir is one of my closest friends and her daughter Indy is fighting cancer - a diagnosis that was completely unexpected. What started out with a limp has turned into Elise and Phil's worst nightmare. Please read below for what sweet Indy is going through.

Even with pet insurance, this all adds up so much and not everything may be covered by insurance. We all want to lessen this financial burden for El, Phil and Indy as they fight to have more precious time together.

From Elise on Monday 10/10:

Henlo everyone, El here (Indy’s here too grumpily snuggling). I wish I was giving a better update, though I certainly have some bits of hope to offer. I know how much everyone loves sweet Indy. As you all know, Indy is my whole world. She is the center of our little family, my little daughter. She’s a therapy dog, and has worked with kids for 4 years now. As you also may know, Indy’s been an Addison’s dog for four years. While it’s a scary sounding disease, Indy has thrived and we are so lucky for it. Now, to our story… a couple of weeks ago, Indy started with a mild limp. She had recently fallen during a run with her best buddy Buster. She was diagnosed with a mild sprain in her shoulder and given meds, we were told to help her rest. Over 6 weeks, we’ve seen the ER vet 6 times. It ultimately started to seem that Indy had also hurt her back, as well as was suffering from hypothyroidism, which isn’t unheard of for Addison’s dogs. Indy’s limp came and went, but always associated with something - a bad pick up at a therapy event, jumping off the couch before we could stop her- and heartbreakingly Indy never received X-rays. While walking Friday night, Indy yelped, fell, and didn’t want to put weight on her right leg. We were instructed by our friend @seymourtheopossum to make sure we got X-rays this time. The vet reluctantly agreed, but we got the X-rays. When she came back, we got the most devastating news of our lives. The vet pulled up Indy’s xrays and our hearts broke. She had a tumor in her bone, in the proximal humerus, which means her right shoulder. Further, we found out that the most likely reason is osteosarcoma- a highly malignant bone cancer that has a very low cure rate. We have been incredibly fortunate to have the wonderful staff at NorthStar Vets ensure Indy saw their oncologist the NEXT day. I also, through some luck, found a contact at @enddogcancer who has given me so much information about promising clinical trials potentially available to Indy.

The really terrible news is it is very very VERY likely Indy has osteosarcoma. The vet pulled up Indy’s xrays and our hearts broke. She had a tumor in her bone, in the proximal humerus, which means her right shoulder. Further, we found out that the most likely reason is osteosarcoma- a highly malignant bone cancer that has a very low cure rate. We have been incredibly fortunate to have the wonderful staff at NorthStar Vets ensure Indy saw their oncologist the NEXT day. I also, through some luck, found a contact at @enddogcancer who has given me so much information about promising clinical trials potentially available to Indy.

The really terrible news is it is very very VERY likely Indy has osteosarcoma. This cancer is a monster. Even with immediate treatment and chemo, prognosis is guarded. We have elected, with the guidance of Indy’s amazing oncologist and her Auntie Beth @seymourtheopossum - to not biopsy. Well, to not WAIT for a biopsy ONLY. Because no matter what is on Indy’s leggum, the answer is the same: amputation. And doing a biopsy means losing precious time when this could be spreading.

Indy is scheduled for amputation on Wednesday. We will drop her off Tuesday night, and she will first receive a CT scan (essential for staging) and then go into her surgery first thing Wednesday. Once we know what we are fighting, we will attack it with chemotherapy and hopefully immunotherapy too. I am sick as I write this. I have no words. Indy is my entire world.

Nothing matters now except getting Indy better. The good news is that after amputation, Indy should feel immeasurably better. The bad news is that if it’s osteosarcoma, our beautiful girl has a hard road ahead. We are going to do everything in our power to make sure Indy gets any treatment available to her. I have been researching and emailing and calling all weekend. Indy is, mentally, her happy go lucky self, and she is even frustrated that we haven’t let her do all her normal ACTIBITIES.

We have embraced that everyone has phases, and we are hoping with all our hearts that Indy is entering a very long, healthy phase: her PIRATE PHASE. i made a silly little graphic (swipe) to make me smile.

Some of you have asked if there’s anything you can do to help. And our answer is, yes. this year has been very hard on us. We have lost Ozzie, both ended up with significant medical bills due to COVID, and Indy had cataract surgery in June that was not covered by insurance. Luckily, we HAVE insurance, which we are so deeply grateful for. But, our insurance is $300+ a month, and we already pay for medical bills due to Indy’s addisons. Indy’s cataract surgery was $5k, which we took out care credit to pay for - this was not covered by insurance, because she had congenital cataracts. While we are so blessed that we have insurance, we have already spent almost $3k getting Indy to this near-diagnosis. Her amputation was quoted between $3.5-$6k, and she will have the costs of chemo, immunotherapy, bloodwork, etc, if the biopsy comes back as expected.

There are so many unknowns, but we do know that we could really use some help. Our hearts are hurting, and we just want our baby to be okay. I am starting a journal, Indy’s adventure journal, which I’m going to get up and running this week. I will use it as a sort of diary/information source, and of course there will be adorable Indy pics! Our wonderful friend Rachel @murphyownsus has also graciously offered to start and manage a go fund me to help us. Friends, it hurts to ask. I know that there is so much going on in this world, and everyone is suffering, but if you can spare even a little bit, it would help us carry this burden a little lighter. I’m also planning to make an Indy themed fundraiser, with Indy’s own pattern, stickers, and blankets! I am just so broken, and I just want to make her feel better.

We won’t know anything more until Wednesday. Please keep Indy in your prayers, vibes, thoughts, etc. she needs every well wish. Once we know what we are facing, I’ll be able to update with more treatment news and expectations. We are both devastated but also trying to look forward with hope. There IS hope, even with this potentially grim diagnosis.

From Elise on Wednesday 10/12:

So, terrible news. Turns out that Indy does not have osteosarcoma. Indy has metastases to her bones and lunch from a massive tumor on her adrenal gland. The vet said a neuroendocrine tumor, but it could also be carcinoma.

This has shattered our world. We went from years to plan with Indy, to months and/or years and promising treatment options, to months if we are lucky.

We managed to get a hold of an oncologist, though we plan to see several. The plan right now is for Indy to receive palladia (a chemo pill) every other day for 20 days, as well as palliative radiation for her bones. This is not a cure, but has real promise to extend her life a little while in good health so she can get her bucket list in.