Aloha, Lia here.

As some of you know, my dog (AKA the love of my life) was recently diagnosed with a large internal tumor. It was initially thought to be a pheochromocytoma, which is a very rare type of adrenal tumor that not much is known about. A soft tissue veterinary surgeon recently reviewed the imaging and expressed doubt about this diagnosis, and believes it is some kind of abdominal tumor. She is conferring with the veterinary cardiologist who issued the first diagnosis as well as Nalu’s main vet to come to a cooperative conclusion and plan our next steps. Whatever it is, it is growing quickly, and will become fatal if it is not removed.

Given that we can address the source of her arrhythmia (which was the catalyst for diagnostic imaging that led to the discovery of the mass), the prognosis is good! Her blood work is normal and she is a healthy 11-year old dog otherwise, and I am not ready to give up on her.

I adopted Nalu as a puppy, after her mother and littermates were abandoned in the Nevada desert, some of whom were victims of fatal coyote attacks. She has been there for me during the most pivotal, traumatic, adventurous, funniest, devastating, and best times of my life. She has kept me warm when we were living in my truck and a pre-season blizzard blew through, protected our home on wheels from bears, staved off creepy men who have approached me with clear malicious intent, gotten between me and my ex/former abuser when he was on a violent tirade, quelled my panic attacks, licked my tears, and so much more.

Surgery is expensive, but allowing this tumor to progress would diminish her quality of life, and it’s much too soon to consider euthanasia, considering she is showing little to no symptoms of other health issues. Surgery would prolong our time together. Nalu is loved by so many and we appreciate any and all help and support!

Donations will first go to paying off the CareCredit that has been spent on diagnostics and testing, then to a credit card on which the surgery will be charged. The first step is getting a CT scan done to look for metastases, then scheduling surgery accordingly.

Mahalo!