Support Tank's Fight for Life

**Quick note before the original explanation: I know we've raised a lot, but the truth is we need the help now more than ever BECAUSE OF HOW FAR WE'VE COME. Tank has Cushing's Disease! Unfortunately, there's still something else hiding. A lot of this fundraiser is front loaded, so most of the money came in early and got us to the first diagnosis. It's helped us rule out a lot of scary stuff, but each day he gets worse without better information. One or two of the possibilities still involves surgery. I'll likely never be able to swing the surgery, but medication STILL gives him quality years left combined with reasonable lifestyle management and supplements. There's a good chance his case is unique enough for academic consideration, but I need to get him in front of the right people.

Where your money has gone:

What's NEXT (why I'm trying to get apx. $1,200 ready before next visit):

Why I can't do this on my own: My ability to work is limited (but I do Uber/Lyft as much as I can) but I am still also putting my own money into his care. I got two big infections a year ago that destroyed my immune system. I'm way better now but I have chronically activated Epstein Barr Virus as a result keeping me in an AIDS "like" immune status because the virus hits the same cells HIV does. I've had to hack my own way back to health with the support of my PCP, but it went into my brain and I still have symptoms flares. When I can work I'm always on the road, but Tank has flare ups too. Lately they're getting worse and sometimes I can't leave him when he's going through moaning fits or panic episodes because he doesn't understand what's happening.**

I don't know how to write this. I'm almost 40 and never even considered making a GoFundMe and still wouldn't if it were just me, but it's not. It's my boy, and he's all I got left. --Quick note: since new people are still finding out about this and I've done a ton of updates, my Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/james.pearson.3139 I just want to be as transparent about who is asking and for why. Feel free to look through my page, or let me know if you have any questions!--

This is Tank. Tank is 12, and still a ball of energy and enthusiasm. Tank is not doing well though and I don't have the money to keep investigating... But I'll spend what I have through being evicted if I have to.

I'm medically inclined but struggled to pay for regular vet visits for two dogs. My other one just had to be put down two months ago. We never figured out the exact cause, but he was a boxer mix and aging much faster than Tank is anyway. I kept him comfortable, vibrant and happy for as long as I could until the pain was just too much for him. I've never put an animal down before, don't hunt, never "took" a life. I am struggling to live with myself. I loved my dog, but I didn't realize how much until now, and I can't bear the burden a second time in case it's treatable.

What's going on with Tank: He started moaning just a little when laying down about two months ago. It was very minor, figured it was just him aging. The moaning got louder, and more frequent. Then he started throwing up yellowish bile. I switched him to whole food and added Pepcid, which helped for a little while. Then he would moan louder, and sometimes twice. Then he would start getting restless. Before while he was up and moving he was fine, but now sometimes you can hear a little moan as he gets going too. He now starts shaking randomly, and has random crashout days where the littlest things get him winded or start making him cough or sneeze (followed by a day or block of high energy). He is now far beyond normal dog hungry all of the time. Sheds constantly when he might have shed a single hair a month for basically all of his life.

It's not arthritis. His limbs move fine, he still hops and runs and is motivated to do things. His heat tolerance is getting worse, and his energy comes and goes. His eyes and gums look good. He hasn't vomited in weeks. He still wants to eat. The vet worked with me a little and did some X-rays at no cost, but she's not a radiologist although she did think his spleen was possibly enlarged. No masses found but with their imaging that doesn't mean there aren't any-- they'd have to be quite large to pop up. They did a little bit of ultrasound work but he needs to go back for a full ultrasound. He's getting worse. More uncomfortable, and harder to control. He's not crying in pain but when he does, I don't even know what I would do.

I'm not trying to raise money to chase a lost cause. I'm trying to see if he has a fighting chance. Obviously, I couldn't raise $10k for cancer treatments that might not work and just decline his quality of life, but there's still so many possibilities in-between of things that can be managed. I can make accommodations to float higher monthly costs to support him, but I don't have anything to pursue the tests he still needs to figure this out here and now. I already had to put one dog down without knowing why. I can't do it again... Not him. Not so soon after. He deserves a shot.

Please, if you can, help me do right by him. I don't have a wide social circle, and most of my family is gone. This is a boy that just loves to love and still has so much life left in him. I didn't want to make this post, but I can't leave any stone unturned.

How I got here: The timing of two dogs having issues at the same time isn't lost on me. I regret not saving more for this, but I never would have anticipated this kind of process or expense. While I originally got my dogs, they've been with my mom for 7+ years. I took them back when she couldn't care for them anymore, but being so health compromised, I was worried surrendering them would quite possibly kill her from the grief. I wasn't ready then, but I had to do it for her.

This time around, I'm doing it for them. They changed me. They became the closest thing to kids I will likely ever have. Grady was a bit more of a slower decline, but as at least one factor started creeping up I had my own battle with Epstein Barr Encephalitis, and I lived in Chicago alone. Something I thought was superficial, combined with his arthritis, quickly turned into a catastrophic event I don't think many could have been able to dodge. It was a wake up call... a call that told me I have to do everything I possibly can to do right by Tank. For him, for Grady, and to make sure Grady's passing wasn't in vain. It haunts me still that I don't know what exactly got him. That's a mistake I can't repeat again.