Luca’s Cancer Fundraiser

Azura A is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Total amount paid so far:

$14927. At-home euthanasia will run between 850 and 950. Just added on the 850 to the final amount, so total is:

$15,777

May have missed a medication cost or two in there but at this point I don’t even care anymore.

Setting up a GoFundMe for anyone who’d like to help me out with the costs of Luca’s medical procedures for his cancer.

Luca is my teeny, tiny ESA (Emotional Support Animal, legally recognized & certified by my psychiatrist). He is my heart and soul - a small child’s stuffed animal brought to life; *even* sweeter than he looks, made of sugar and spice and everything nice. He has gotten me through dangerous and abusive partners, multiple emergency moves associated with said experiences, as well as a slew of other unfortunately very bad and unavoidable situations I wouldn’t wish on anyone over the past few years. I have diagnosed cPTSD as well as depression and severe anxiety from said trauma, and he has been my constant through all of this.

A bit about him:

Luca loves everyone and everything: people, dogs, cats, lizards, birds, rabbits, rodents, etc., and is the sweetest, most tolerant, soft and gentle, loving little thing I’ve ever known.

Friends of mine say: “No hunting instincts whatsoever”, “He absolutely would not survive in the wild”, and “I’m pretty sure he’s just a little British schoolboy who says, “Mummy!”, trapped in a tiny cat body”, and, “I don’t like cats but I LOVE him, so I guess I’m at least a ‘Luca person’”. 10/10 reviews, 0/10 spicy.

He’s a Stage 5 Clinger, adores tummy rubs, gives kisses and wants to socialize with everyone all the time, and has never hissed at or bitten/clawed a single person in his entire life. He allows anyone to do whatever they want to him - swinging him around, making him play “air drums”, dress him up…anything. He knows tricks and will do anything for attention because he is convinced he is “dying from neglect”, and is all around the best behaved “dog-in-a-cat’s-body”. He’s my world.

Diagnosis:

Luca got diagnosed with lymphoma of the small intestine this morning by his GI specialist after an endoscopy last week. I’ve been going through numerous vet visits and procedures with him since August and we finally have answers. He’s going to be put on chemo as soon as the lab is able to give me an invoice and prep it for me to administer, as well as a supplementing corticosteroid that we got him on last week. I have prior veterinary experience as a tech so had started having a feeling a while ago as we ruled out other possibilities that this would be his diagnosis, so at least am not surprised at the confirmation of the cancer, and thankful that we know how to proceed.

I’ve missed many days of work and have done some substantial driving around accommodate vet visits and medication pick-ups, so it’s already a lot to deal with, time-wise and financially. But he has no idea he is sick, and even with his symptoms, is eating and drinking normally, begging for attention, cuddles, and wants to play, and while the financial weight of it is progressively heavier and heavier, I’m going to keep doing whatever it takes for him to stick around for as long as he’s happy. When quality of life deteriorates, I’ll do what he needs, but I’m grateful that shouldn’t be for a while as long as we aggressively go after his cancer.

No matter what, I’m going to do right by him. Considering all the joy and unconditional love he has gifted me, he deserves whatever I can possibly do for him in return.

Prognosis:

Small-cell lymphoma in the GI track + unidentified and unrelated cancer in the lung

Medical procedures/etc thus far:

At least 10 vet visits (I’ve stopped counting). 2 with a regular vet, 1 with an ultrasound specialist, 4 with an oncologist, 3 with the oncologist at the cancer center (including both full exams & testing or drop-offs for testing)

At least 7 full blood panels

X-rays

2 Ultrasounds

2 UAs

Fecal

Dental + full anesthesia to to confirm symptoms are not unrelated to cancer

Multiple assorted medications (corticosteroids, anti-nausea medications, pain management, antacids)

Multiple prescription foods

Full endoscopy under anesthesia

Biopsy of the large & small intestine and stomach

T-Cell Parr Test (followup with same tissue sample to determine specific type of lymphoma, etc)

Several bouts of chemo, generally 2 doses every 2 weeks (originally was on chlorambucil, then on cyclophosphamide, now on whatever the hell the third and final one is called)

Current/Future Plan:

All options explored, with no positive outcome. End-of-life decision made to do at-home euthanasia.

Any help is greatly appreciated, but please don’t feel obligated to if you either don’t want to or don’t have the means to. If you’d be willing to at least share and get the word out, that would mean a lot to me.