[Rainbow Bridge] Help Paisley fight canine cancer
This is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to write. This week, my sweet golden baby, Paisley, was diagnosed with canine cancer at the young age of 5.
What I thought would be a quick trip to the vet to tend to a few days of doggy indigestion ended up resulting in three visits trying to determine what was actually going on. Paisley’s stool sample was negative for parasites - great news. Her blood work was completely normal - even more great news. It was until we did an ultrasound thinking there may be a small blockage when it turned out Pais has masses on her spleen, bladder and colon, and her lymph nodes are enlarged. All clear signs that she has one or multiple kinds of canine cancer. Both the veterinary staff and I were shocked...this was not what we expected to find, at all. I was in disbelief. How could such a sweet, healthy, beautiful young girl have cancer? I’ve always sworn off the “c” word, telling her that she wasn’t allowed to ever have this nasty disease cross her path.I’ve been down this road before with golden retrievers growing up — it never gets any easier, especially when this time it’s MY fur baby.
Today, Pais had a chest x-ray to check her lungs and heart to make sure the cancer hadn’t spread, which would allow her to be admitted to the oncology department at the animal hospital. Her scans came back clear - perfect lungs and heart...such a relief. When we got home, she was immediately extremely nauseous and wasn’t keeping anything down. I went back to the vet to get anti-nausea medication that will tide her over until her oncology appointment on Wednesday.
Paisley’s oncologist appointment will include a guided ultrasound to take biopsies of the masses to determine what kind of cancer we’re dealing with. From there, it will allow us to be presented with various treatment options, including chemotherapy and radiation (yes, dogs can go through it, too!)
I was very reluctant to go through the process of raising funds for this, but for any of you who have met Paisley before, I don’t even need to explain how much she is loved by everyone she meets...and she’s worth every bit of this fight, so long as her body allows it. The process to get to where we are now, without even starting treatments, has cost >$4,000. She is unable to get coverage from pet insurance as this is considered a pre-existing condition, so therefore all vet bills are straight out-of-pocket expenses.
I’m not one to ask for help often, but I’m making an exception here to do it for Paisley. She’s brought 5.5 years of golden smiles to my life and everywhere she goes, and I would love to do everything in my power to help her fight this wicked disease.
If you are able to donate in ANY capacity, you’ll help with veterinary bills, medication and chemotherapy. I am so, so grateful for the love and support we’ve received thus far, and I’d like to extend the most heartfelt, sincere thank you to every single one of you. It means so, so much.
Please help Paisley get through these tough times - she’ll paw-transfer you some golden puppy kisses! Xoxox 