Help Save Ember's Life

For those who don't know me, my name is Anna Gremminger. Brandon Painter and I were in school together from 4th grade through senior year of high school. I'm creating this GoFundMe for him because I went through something similar last year with my dog and I understand the financial stress he's under. This GFM aims to help Brandon focus on giving Ember the best life possible instead of stressing about the financial piece of it. Here's what Brandon wanted to share with you about his journey with Ember:

"In March of 2020 when the world was shutting down, I decided to foster a puppy who showed up on the back steps of Unleashed here in KC. As the pandemic wore on, our bond grew, and there was no way I was giving away the four-legged bright spot in every one of my lonely days. On July 29, 2020 we officially celebrated Ember’s Gotcha Day.

Through ups and downs, societal turmoil, and 3 or 4 new jobs… Little Miss has been my rock. The one constant in a really weird period of my life.

At the end of August we went in for her annual check up. A near flawless bill of health in her first few years led me into a false sense of security until we found a bump. The vet shrugged it off, but three weeks later there were two more bumps. I tried to limit the panic while we made an emergency appointment to have her looked at.

Mast Cell Tumors. Fairly common, it turns out. Some breeds are predisposed to them. Huskies and German Shepherds are not. The biopsies came back and while the doc avoided using the “c” word, Ember had Mast Cell Cancer. The cells had started to spread, and spread fast. The initial surgery didn’t allow for clean margins which meant that some cells remained in her hindquarters while I took her to KState’s Vet Health Center in order to have a proper diagnostic completed.

Within a few weeks it was already in her lymph nodes.

I made an appointment with a local soft tissue surgeon to see if there was anything we could do before going to chemo. After our appointment yesterday, I was given a glimpse of hope. It turns out that this particular group was confident that we could, and should, still aggressively attack the tumors in her back legs while also removing the lymph nodes behind her knees and near the groin. While intense, it was an option still on the table only because the cancer had remained so localized.

The issue? Price. If this hadn’t appeared out of almost nowhere, I would have been able to save. I’ll be able to afford the monthly chemo treatments on the other side of the surgery but this is where I need each and every one of you. They quoted me at $5500 for a procedure that we need to get scheduled ASAP in order to prevent any more spread. No payment plan. I have to hand over the money when she’s discharged after what might be 2 or 3 nights at the hospital.

If you can give, whatever you can give, I would be eternally grateful."