At first I was debating on whether or not making such a request would be considered selfish due to others having their own situations as well. But after thinking about it further, helping save a life is a big deal.

My name is Reyna and I am the owner of a two year old Great Dane I rescued as a small (not really) puppy out of Clinton, OK. At the time, my husband and I were separated and I was responsible for taking care of my son (who is now 5) who suffers from misc. issues such as autism. Between working and tending to his therapy, life was stressful. I had wanted a puppy not only to help distracting me from heavy stress, but also to teach my son the importance of taking care of a living thing. So one day after I got off work and grabbed him from pre-school, we took the drive from Oklahoma City to Clinton to pick up My Jemma. 

I call her My Jemma because I took her everywhere w/me. She went to work w/me everyday. Drove my boss crazy in the process. She went w/me to pick my son up from school. The day after I got her, I even took her into Walmart w/me. I even taught her how to swim when she was just a baby. My son at the time was only 3 and they would explore new adventures everyday. She was the one I would talk to when no one else was around. Her being only two, she is such the puppy and still makes me laugh often. 

My husband and I reunited and now live in Kansas. She was also introduced to Bruno, our seven year old Boxer. I call them the odd couple because they're perfect w/one another. I watch her poke at him to play when he's in a grouchy mood; it'll put a smile on your face. 

Two weeks ago, I started to notice Jemma loosing a lot of weight even when nothing about her diet had changed. So, I then started feeding her more and even mixing in some wet food to entice her to eat more. A week goes by and nothing seemed to change. So I decided to take her to our vet to see if they could find out what was going on. It was her liver. Growing up w/animals my entire life, I knew what that meant. 

Unfortunately here in Wichita, they only have one location that performs the more extensive tests and they're not always available. So I ended up driving her to the nearest vet that could get us in sooner which happened to be an hour away. After doing an ultrasound on this sweet soul, there it was... a mass. 

That's what lead me here. On Wednesday, Jemma is going to be going through an exploratory surgery to see whether or not it's cancer. No animal lover wants to hear that word. Especially to an animal so young. I can't help but cry while typing this out because of what she means to me, and as I do so, she hears and comes to my aid. She helped me through some hard times when no one else was around. Before Jemma turned one, I was in a bad car accident and wound up having to have extensive back surgery, which left me bedridden for a few months. All Jemma had to do was walk up to my bedside, put her head on the bed right next to mine and she would stay there for hours. That's the best thing about Dogs. I don't even believe humans can compare to dogs when it comes to being so selfless. 

I know times can be hard, and this happens to be one of ours. Every kind of donation would help. And I greatly appreciate anything. And even simply sharing the story is an extreme help. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You.