Hello everyone—

Most of you know my dog, River. Since finding him at my doorstep at 10 weeks old, he’s been the surprise of my life and a gift that has lit up my world for the past 3 years. He has been with me through every step of my own personal health struggles, which has taken me across the country and back, providing constant comfort, joy and love, and I believe is the sole reason why I was meant to have him.

Earlier this year, River developed a mass in his shoulder that seemed to intermittently grow and shrink throughout the first couple of months, leading us to believe it was something random and not a cause of concern given his young age, until it began to increase and stay. In March, it was the size of a kidney bean and became visually noticeable. It was biopsied and results were benign. However, as weeks went on, the mass grew significantly. By the end of May, it was nearly the size of a golf ball protruding from his shoulder, and due to the rapid growth, I pushed to have it surgically removed immediately. On June 11th, the mass was removed and sent off to be tested. Unfortunately, results weren’t what we had hoped for.

River has a rare form of cancer, apocrine ductular carcinoma, that is in his sweat glands. So rare and aggressive that his vet had never experienced it and recommended an oncologist for further treatment. On July 10th, River was seen at an oncology veterinarian for additional bloodwork, x-rays and lymph node biopsies—which all appeared to be clear, and I am incredibly grateful for that bit of good news. Now moving forward, he will be put on chemo for 4 months, x-rayed and tested again in 2 months, then again at 4 months. We are one week into his chemotherapy, and he’s not responding well to it. So his doctors are trying to decide which additional medications may counteract the side effects or to take him off of chemo completely. The cost of his surgery, sedation, chemotherapy, x-rays and continuous vet and oncology trips is extensive, and I am humbly asking for any help that can be given to us at this time.

This dog is the love of my life, and you never know how deeply you love something until you see it hurt. It’s been another strenuous challenge in a year full of them—we’ve been through it—but we will have better days ahead. He’s the most resilient, soulful and eternally loving creature that I’ve been blessed with, and I need him to be here for a lot longer.

So if you can help, or share his story, from the bottom of my heart, I am deeply thankful for any contribution, prayer or kind word. It matters more than you can imagine. Thank you for reading, for thinking of us, and for helping River.

With gratitude,

Kevin