Percy’s Battle With Cancer
Donation protected
As you all know, my family has had a heartbreaking last 2 years with our dogs. In 2018, we lost our girl, Bailey, to a tumour that had ruptured through her nasal septum. A few months later, we suddenly lost the love of our lives and the leader of our pack, Loki, to stomach cancer. We did not know that either of them were sick as they were strong right up until the very end. A year later in late 2019 we saw ourselves saying goodbye to sweet old Micky, another loss we were not anticipating. At this point, it all had to be done right? All of the bad news and all of the devastation... 6 months later just as the pandemic hit, our hearts were shattered once again with the sudden loss of our sweet baby boy, Niam. The final member of the original husky pack crossed over the Rainbow bridge to reunite with his fur family. The pain is still fresh, and I often go to sleep feeling hollow thinking about the dogs who were taken from us too early.
We sit here in 2020, already having lost 4 beautiful fur babies in the last 2 years, fighting to save yet another member of the pack... Percy. Percy had a lump appear on his chest that looked a little suspicious. Because we’ve lost so many dogs, I could not risk my pug’s health and wait it out. I got it biopsied. I sat in a parking lot days after the biopsy listening to the worst possible news from our vet: the tumour came back as a mast cell tumour (cancer), which can be dangerous if not treated correctly. It’s a grade 2 mast cell tumour (on a scale of 1 to 3, 1 being most benign and 3 being the most aggressive). When caught early, the prognosis can be quite good, and with aggressive treatment, it can be cured. In Percy’s short years, he has already battled bouts of pneumonia that were scary and dangerous, has had hip surgery, palate surgery, and several gastro infections. Now we are in the biggest battle yet and we are hopeful, but still afraid. It’s time this little man has something good happen to him.
We are now patients at the OVC Cancer Centre in Guelph thanks to Dr. Erv at Stone Church Animal Clinic who worked tirelessly to run tests and get them sent over to Guelph ASAP so that Percy could receive care sooner rather than later. As a lot of you know, this is the last resort for many... it is very expensive, but it is the best place to go when you need help for your fur babies. Percy has been passed into the best possible hands here at Guelph with an oncology team who is optimistic and ready to help him via surgery, possible radiation, and whatever else is needed. With that being said, my bills for Percy have started to pile up and it is getting harder to afford this treatment for him, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. I am willing to do whatever it takes and I am asking for some help from our community, from the people who know and love our dogs, as we have lost far too many fur babies and I can’t stand the thought of losing another one. If you are able to donate anything towards Percy’s medical bills, my entire family would appreciate it more than you know. We’re going to fight this and hopefully give Percy a chance at a long and happy life.
So far, Percy has already undergone one surgery, has had bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasounds, and other staging done at our regular vet clinic and at Guelph. (Approximately $600+ in bills thus far, plus waiting on another bill for the staging)
The Oncologist estimates that Percy’s surgery (August 26) will cost $3000, but could be more depending on how long they have to keep him and any other measures they need to take while revising his original surgical site and taking out as much of the cancer cells as possible. Because the tumour is right where his pectoral muscles meet, they think removing ALL of the leftover disease might be harder because they want to preserve as much of his muscle as possible. Because Dr. Erv did such an amazing job with the initial surgery and with marking the incision, the oncologist team can put their focus on the deeper tissue and worry less about the margins around where the first tumour was extracted.
I will be posting all bills and estimates as they come in. Thank you.
- The Simons Family
We sit here in 2020, already having lost 4 beautiful fur babies in the last 2 years, fighting to save yet another member of the pack... Percy. Percy had a lump appear on his chest that looked a little suspicious. Because we’ve lost so many dogs, I could not risk my pug’s health and wait it out. I got it biopsied. I sat in a parking lot days after the biopsy listening to the worst possible news from our vet: the tumour came back as a mast cell tumour (cancer), which can be dangerous if not treated correctly. It’s a grade 2 mast cell tumour (on a scale of 1 to 3, 1 being most benign and 3 being the most aggressive). When caught early, the prognosis can be quite good, and with aggressive treatment, it can be cured. In Percy’s short years, he has already battled bouts of pneumonia that were scary and dangerous, has had hip surgery, palate surgery, and several gastro infections. Now we are in the biggest battle yet and we are hopeful, but still afraid. It’s time this little man has something good happen to him.
We are now patients at the OVC Cancer Centre in Guelph thanks to Dr. Erv at Stone Church Animal Clinic who worked tirelessly to run tests and get them sent over to Guelph ASAP so that Percy could receive care sooner rather than later. As a lot of you know, this is the last resort for many... it is very expensive, but it is the best place to go when you need help for your fur babies. Percy has been passed into the best possible hands here at Guelph with an oncology team who is optimistic and ready to help him via surgery, possible radiation, and whatever else is needed. With that being said, my bills for Percy have started to pile up and it is getting harder to afford this treatment for him, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. I am willing to do whatever it takes and I am asking for some help from our community, from the people who know and love our dogs, as we have lost far too many fur babies and I can’t stand the thought of losing another one. If you are able to donate anything towards Percy’s medical bills, my entire family would appreciate it more than you know. We’re going to fight this and hopefully give Percy a chance at a long and happy life.
So far, Percy has already undergone one surgery, has had bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasounds, and other staging done at our regular vet clinic and at Guelph. (Approximately $600+ in bills thus far, plus waiting on another bill for the staging)
The Oncologist estimates that Percy’s surgery (August 26) will cost $3000, but could be more depending on how long they have to keep him and any other measures they need to take while revising his original surgical site and taking out as much of the cancer cells as possible. Because the tumour is right where his pectoral muscles meet, they think removing ALL of the leftover disease might be harder because they want to preserve as much of his muscle as possible. Because Dr. Erv did such an amazing job with the initial surgery and with marking the incision, the oncologist team can put their focus on the deeper tissue and worry less about the margins around where the first tumour was extracted.
I will be posting all bills and estimates as they come in. Thank you.
- The Simons Family
Organizer
Taylor Simons
Organizer
Hamilton , ON