Hello everyone my name is Noelle I am starting this fundraiser for my friends.Hello everyone! On November 3rd, Cindi and Lexi brought home a beautiful and sweet-tempered Great Dane named Gypsy. After a week of being home, they noticed two small lumps on Gypsy’s right side. Shortly after, she had her first veterinarian visit in which they were measured and documented to monitor growth.

Upon her second visit, the Veterinarian measured the lumps again and they had nearly doubled in size almost combining into one large mass. This was both concerning and baffling given that Gypsy was only 9 weeks old. They decided to have a needle biopsy done which revealed abnormal cells indicative of sarcoma. The first sentence on the pathology report was “This is an interesting case”.

After a recommendation from an Oncologist, they then had X-rays, and bloodwork done. The X-ray revealed no bone involvement thankfully! Shocking the veterinary community, the breeder, and just about everyone they turned to, the next step was a referral to a boarded surgeon to have a CT scan. Problem is, as was explained to them, there is a “shortage of boarded surgeons in the area.” What is a boarded surgeon? It refers to a veterinarian who is board certified in veterinary surgery. Board certified surgeons commonly have 4-8 years of additional training after veterinary school including a 3-year surgery residency. “The closest is Orchard Park, but they are booked out 3-4 months.” Bad news after bad news, the next closest recommendation was the VMCCNY in Syracuse (2.5hrs), or Cornell in Ithaca (3hrs) away. They decided to go to VMCCNY and had the CT done. This confirmed the sarcoma, and they proceeded to have the mass removed. This also involved removing most of her latissimus dorsi muscle that it was attached to. Gypsy has been recovering well but the biopsy results concluded that she has an aggressive rare muscle cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. Her next step will be to be seen by the Oncologist to determine her long-term treatment options.

It's not the end of the road for them, so we are looking for your help to continue fighting for Gypsy as much of their annual limits on pet insurance have been maxed out. Cindi, Lexi, Gypsy, and their two other dogs Roman and Bella, all thank you in advance for the outpouring of support, and prayers.