Raising Funds for Phoenix

This is Phoenix. He is an 11 year old Brittany Spaniel and the LOVE of my life. There is nothing I would not do for him because he makes me so happy. Unfortunately Phoenix has run into some health issues recently and the bills are racking up. In December he was injured leaving him with a really bad limp and almost not being able to walk. This lead to multiple vet visits, X-rays, pain medication and most recently some CT scans. He was booked for his CT scan on February 18th. He was later diagnosed with severe arthritis that was irritated by his injury and will now have to go through extensive hydro physiotherapy. This is using the underwater treadmill once to twice a week.

On February 13th I found a nasty lump on his ear. I had it tested right away and it came back a Mass Cell Tumor. It was cancer. They recommended having a CT scan to make sure it had not spread to his other organs. So as luck would have it they were able to add an additional CT scan as well as biopsies to our appointment. We had a call with the oncologist today ( March 6th ) and the cancer has NOT spread !! However the lump needs to be removed soon. Unfortunately this is a very tricky surgery because of the location of the lump. In order to get clean margins and get all the cancer they will have to removed a good part of the ear and possibly even a ear amputation. With this he would be cancer free. I owe it to Phoenix to do whatever I can to make this possible and so his surgery has been booked. Unfortunately due to the lack of special surgeons who can perform this surgery his surgery date has been set for April 2nd. While I do have pet insurance, unfortunately due to the amount of claims I have made for him over the years my coverage is only 50%. His total vet bills will be around $16,000 when this is all over. So that will leave me with $8000. We have so many amazing friends and family all over the world and on social media who we know but have never met and have suggest we set up this GoFundMe account. So here it is. If you would like to help donate to Phoenix's medical bills we would be forever grateful, but if all you can donate is your prayers, well wishes and to spread the word, then we are also grateful for that too.

Thank you everyone for your ongoing love and support.

Laura & Phoenix

Picture of the lump the night I found it. Feb 13th 2025

Picture of the lump after giving Phoenix Benadryl daily to help the size go down and from growing any more. Picture taken March 5th 2025

****** UPDATE ******

Phoenix had his surgery on April 2nd. They did a "Partial Removal" of his ear. They also removed a small lump from under his ear as well as some lumps from his chin. Today marks one week since his surgery and he is recovering so well. I picked him up the day after his surgery as he needed to stay overnight to be monitored. The day I picked him up he was full of energy and ready to go for walks around the block. We have to limit how long he goes for as he is still "healing" but he is ready and willing to go for as long as he can! Here are some pictures of him post surgery. As you can see he is very happy to have the surgery behind him and he is adjusting to his new shaped ear quite well.

The day after Surgery

Using a cold compress to help with any swelling

Despite loosing a good piece of his ear, Phoenix is all smiles. The ear looks much better from the front.

Happy Phoenix

Wearing his donut to prevent him from scratching the incision. He does not seem to mind.

This is where they removed the lumps on his chin

First 8 invoices

Next 7 Invoices

2 More Invoices

***** Update April 17th *****

Phoenix got his stitches out. The good news is that they got clear margins. The bad news is that the lump they removed was tested and came back as a grade 3 tumor. This is the highest grade. They have recommended more testing as well as chemotherapy. Here are the vets notes.

Recommendations: Phoenix’s mast cell tumour has been completely excised and no further local therapy is warranted. However, his tumour is at a high risk for metastasis and necessitates adjuvant chemotherapy with Vinblastine by an oncologist. 1. I would first recommend complete staging if not already performed: a. Three-view thoracic radiographs b. Abdominal ultrasound (including aspirates of liver/spleen regardless of appearance) c. Locoregional lymph node aspirate (left prescapular lymph node) 2. If staging is clear or not elected for, then pursue adjuvant chemotherapy with Vinblastine to be the most aggressive

******************************UPDATE ***************************

June 20th -

Phoenix has already had 3 chemotherapy treatments and doing very well. Yesterday the side effects kicked in and he was sick and had some diarrhea. The vets had given me some medication in case of this and only after one dose of each he is back to normal. The initial visit was $1355 and so far each treatment after has been $560. In total his chemo treatments will cost about $5275 we will get 50% 0f this back from our insurance. Once he is finished his treatment he will need more testing, this will be close to the cost of the initial visit.

Initial Visit June 4th Invoice

June 11th Visit Invoice

June 18th Visit Invoice

Each time Phoenix goes for chemotherapy he gets a different coloured bandage

June 4th

June 11th

June 18th

**************** UPDATE AUGUST 20th 2025 ****************

It's official !!! Phoenix has completed his chemotherapy treatments and is in remission. The vets and vet technicians lined the hallway as they announced his name. They said he had completed his chemotherapy and was now in remission. They asked for a round of applause and everyone in the clinic cheered for him. He made his way down to me and I greeted him with arms wide open and gave him lots of kisses while telling him how proud I was of him. I then got to ring the bell to make it official. We can't thank enough all of the amazing staff at MOVH who took such great care of him during his treatment. We would also like to thank everyone who donated to our gofund.me. We reach our goal and even went over. This will help for follow up visits. We are forever grateful to everyone. Your prayers, well wishes and words of encouragement have been so appreciated over these last few months. It's been a really rough ride but there was light at the end of the tunnel and he made it. We love you all and are so grateful for your support in every way you have shown it.

Thank you all so much Laura and Phoenix xoxox