Help Me in my service dogs fight for life!

Hello, my name is Tyler Pinkston, and I'm starting this fundraiser to help pay for my service dog/companion/best friend's surgery and the chemotherapy he is now going through. Boo is a 9-year-old German Shepard.

(Our first flight together)

I recently noticed a change in his attitude, energy, ball drive, and appetite, so I decided it was time to visit his vet.

They found a large mass in his abdomen from X-rays and referred him for an ultrasound.

Unfortunately, the ultrasound showed a 35 cm tumor on his spleen and some smaller masses in other areas of his abdomen. On the 15th of March 2022, Boo had the high-grade splenic stroma sarcoma, weighing 13 pounds, removed through a splenectomy. He has recovered from surgery exceptionally well and now has the staples out. I have the removed tumor pictures but don't want to disgust those that do not want to see it.

Unfortunately, the biopsy results showed the tumor as malignant. On April 4th, we started chemotherapy to help prevent this aggressive cancer from coming back for as long as possible.

Having Boo in my life as a companion and in his role as a service dog has helped me tremendously.

We are companions, friends, family. We do almost everything together. We are attached at the hip. Everything I do, and anywhere I go, he watches and follows.

During our time together, he has touched so many lives. Friends of the family who say they have feared Shepards now say they have a different view of them because of Boo. My daughter loves him, and Boo treats her as his own.

She can do no wrong. Even as a baby doing baby things, a fistful of fur here, a tug on the tail there, he’d just sigh and lick her in the face.

He doesn’t just help me. He has helped others in my family through tough times as well. He knows when someone’s sad, hurt, or angry. He’ll stick his big wet nose right in your business and take your mind elsewhere, putting a smile on your face.

For me, surgery and any other treatments weren’t even a question. As long as there is a chance, we will fight. This is the least I can do for all of his service, love, and friendship. I could afford everything until the surgery, which totaled around $1500.

When I found out the estimated cost of surgery ($4,500-$5,500), I opened a line of credit with care credit specifically for health care use for humans and animals. The surgery was $4676.70, and that price is because, thankfully, Blue Pearl Pet Hospital offers a 10% discount for veterans.

We have now completed the first chemotherapy treatment for $478, and the estimated total for an entire course is $3k-$3.5.

I will have six months to pay this off at 0% interest. If I do not, interest at an APR of 26.99% will be imposed from the purchase date. I am not good at asking for financial help, but I am now. After I got out of the Marines, I built up a large amount of debt and have been working hard at paying it back for over a decade. This will bury me again, but it is worth every penny. I am asking for help strictly for this debt, nothing else. Any money raised will go strictly towards paying back care credit. If there is any leftover once all of his treatment is complete, I will be donating the extra to either the SPCA or an animal cancer research organization. Those that cannot contribute, thank you for taking the time to read my story, and if you have any extra time, if you could please share this with your friends/family, it would be a great help and appreciated very much! I thank anyone who can help from the bottom of my heart; every bit helps!

Sincerely,

Tyler Pinkston