Help Tinley beat pancreatic cancer (insulinoma)

July 13, 2025 -- Tinley unexpectedly had her first grand mal seizure on June 25th. We rushed her to the emergency vet, where it was found that she was in hypoglycemic shock. Her glucose level was dangerously low. We admitted her overnight, and they administered a ton of IV meds, but her blood sugar remained the same. The initial assessment was that she could have an "insulinoma", an insulin producing tumor on the pancreas. They took additional blood samples and sent them out to the lab to test for this, and the results came back abnormal.

We scheduled an appointment with our internal medicine specialist, but there was limited availability and the appointment is not until July 23rd.

On July 12th, Tinley had two back-to-back violent grand mal seizures, lasting several minutes each in duration. Afterward, Tinley's breathing was erratic and difficult, and it took her a long time to return to "normal". We went back to the emergency vet in Manchester, NH, assuming they'd take her for the night and administer IV meds again... but they were very concerned and transferred us to emergency in Portland, ME.

We drove in the middle of the night to bring Tinley to Portland, where they admitted her and ran more tests. The official diagnosis is that she does indeed have an insulinoma.

Unfortunately, insulinomas are malignant 90% of the time in dogs, and if not caught and removed in stage I, the cancer will spread to other parts of the body.

The good news is, Tinley's x-rays are clear! There is no current sign of more cancer!

The bad news is, we do not have time to wait if we are going to ensure we can save her life. The options are surgery to remove the insulinoma tumor, or we put her on prednisone to manage her symptoms and let nature take its course.

Normally, we would immediately opt for surgery! BUT, the pet insurance that we've had since 2018 dropped our dogs from their plans because they "discontinued" it, and Tinley's coverage ended in March. We have never had to say No to any kind of treatment for our dogs, but now when Tinley needs our help the most, we cannot afford to give it to her.

With the severity of Tinley's seizures, we do not feel palliative care is a viable option. She will only continue to deteriorate due to the tumor secreting excess insulin and keeping her in a state of hypoglycemia, and it would be unfair to have her endure that.

Our only option right now to save Tinley is with surgery, but the quote for surgery on top of the bills we've already accrued for her are beyond our means. We can't save our sweet girl now without her pet insurance.

We are reaching out for help to get Tinley her surgery and save her life. She is currently hospitalized at Maine Veterinary Medical Center, and ideally, they want to operate tomorrow!

Our expenses are as follows:

• $2210 - Veterinary Emergency Center of Manchester, 6/25/25

• $554 - Veterinary Emergency Center of Manchester, 7/12/25

• $4447 - Maine Veterinary Medical Center, First 48 hour ESTIMATE (written) 7/13/25

• $6000-8000 - Maine Veterinary Medical Center, Insulinoma removal surgery and 2 days post-op hospitalization (verbal over phone) 7/13/25

Total: $15,211

I'm setting the goal of this GoFundMe at $16,000 to cover processing fees and a tiny bit of whatever else Tinley might need.

I initially got pet insurance for our dogs to make sure they were covered if they ever got cancer, so we'd never have to say NO to treatment... and now here we are, 4 months out from her plan ending, and Tinley has cancer. We've always tried to do everything right for our pets, and now when Tinley needs us the most, we are at a loss.

Please consider donating to help Tinley beat pancreatic cancer.

Thank you in advance for your support!