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Hello
My name is Buster and I am the proud service dog of Jill Weber. That’s me on the cover.
My owner and I have been together for twelve years now and she has been struggling with Breast Cancer for fourteen years. But before I get into all of that please let me tell you a little about Jill, her remarkable journey and extraordinary spirit.
Jill was raised in San Diego though the story begins in San Francisco as she was a three months premature infant. You see, she was a fighter from the beginning!
As she grew up she was bullied, which led her to learn Karate at the young age of eight years old. She loved the Martial Arts of Tang Soo Do Soo Bahk Do, eventually traveling around the world teaching her art and competing, which allowed her to represent the California Region 9 Team competitively and she eventually achieved her 4th degree Black Belt and her Sa Bom Masters level ranking in the Moo Duk Kwan Federation.
Jill was busy with her successful dental practice, was remodeling her home, and taking care of her handicapped mother when the life changing detour of finding a bump in the middle of her chest happened.
After being ignored by six different doctors who dismissed the bump as minor, she was finally properly diagnosed with breast cancer. It was at one of her mother’s doctors’ appointments that she begged the doctor to take a chest x-ray when they discovered it wasn’t something simple but, in fact, breast cancer. That’s when her journey began. Unfortunately her journey began without me. It wasn’t until two years later that I came into the picture.
After successfully claiming her health back after her first cancer diagnoses there was a second diagnoses, again breast cancer after sustaining injures in a car accident. She was hit by a truck and needed emergency back surgery. When a full body scan was preformed to assess the damage it was discovered that the cancer had in fact returned. After three surgeries she started chemotherapy treatments for the second time.
When she was considered “clear” of Cancer she went to celebrate in Palm Springs with friends. While she was in the pool her chest literally opened up and one of her breast implants fell out in the pool. Luckily she was with other medical colleagues who were able to help her. Unfortunately she was infected with a flesh eating bacteria from the pool and had to go through grueling cauterizing surgeries to get rid of the bacteria for eight months and was forced into early retirement because of it. That’s when I came into the picture and to the rescue.
I helped take care of Jill and her mother Mumsie. I am trained to check breathing so I would go from bed to bed all night long checking on them and waking them up to take their medication. It was exhausting. Mumsie was very ill and soon passed away when I bonded to my beloved Jill.
On two separate occasions I found two separate tumors, which I’m trained to do. The first one was two days after she was dismissed from treatment after five years and cleared from all x-rays, scans, and exams and was considered “clear” of the Cancer. I found the tumor along her left backside resulting in her having to undergo a Mastectomy, Chemo and Radiation Therapy for a third time. To make things worse the bank who held the mortgage on her home claimed it wasn’t hers even though she had bought it and she wound up needing a lawyer and we had to go to court a lot together. Between the doctors’ bills and the court battle she was very stressed for quite a while.
Fast forward. She thought she had beaten her Cancer again but I found another Tumor, this time in her neck. It tested positive again. This time it had spread to her lungs, vertebrae, and liver.
So now we are in treatment again with Chemo and Radiation every week. Believe it or not, she has never shed a tear through this whole journey. She keeps a positive attitude and keeps fighting and understandably I am afraid it is taking its toll.
You see when someone gets Cancer their friends eventually disappear. It’s hard to watch someone you care about going through something like this so they eventually stop coming by and it can be a lonely journey. She has me but I need help. I’m just a dog and I can’t do it all.
I have watched her loose her career, not be able to practice her Martial Arts, which was her life’s passion, she has lost many friends and loved ones, and is now facing mounting doctor bills.
In a BreastCancer.org forum report chemotherapy costs of $7,000-$40,000 per treatment. Depending on the individual case and the type and number of treatments needed, the total cost of breast cancer treatment, on average, can reach $100,000 - - or, in advanced cases, $300,000 or more. In a BreastCancer.org forum patients discuss total costs of their breast cancer treatment. For example, a study published in BMC Cancer found that the average total cost of care over a mean follow-up of 532 days was about $128,500 for women with metastatic breast cancer receiving chemotherapy as their primary treatment. This includes the cost of the chemotherapy drugs, additional drugs to help manage side effects, administration of the drugs and medical care for chemotherapy-related complications.
If a mastectomy is required, the patient might choose to get breast reconstruction. This typically costs $5,000-$15,000 or more per breast for implants or from $25,000-$50,000 or more per breast for "flap" techniques using tissue from the patient's own body.
We need your help. My master can’t do this without you. Won’t you please help me help her? I will be forever grateful, she is a fighter, be a part of my team for this special lady.
It is said “never treat a stranger as a stranger because you never know when you might be one”. Thank you for caring, Buster
My name is Buster and I am the proud service dog of Jill Weber. That’s me on the cover.
My owner and I have been together for twelve years now and she has been struggling with Breast Cancer for fourteen years. But before I get into all of that please let me tell you a little about Jill, her remarkable journey and extraordinary spirit.
Jill was raised in San Diego though the story begins in San Francisco as she was a three months premature infant. You see, she was a fighter from the beginning!
As she grew up she was bullied, which led her to learn Karate at the young age of eight years old. She loved the Martial Arts of Tang Soo Do Soo Bahk Do, eventually traveling around the world teaching her art and competing, which allowed her to represent the California Region 9 Team competitively and she eventually achieved her 4th degree Black Belt and her Sa Bom Masters level ranking in the Moo Duk Kwan Federation.
Jill was busy with her successful dental practice, was remodeling her home, and taking care of her handicapped mother when the life changing detour of finding a bump in the middle of her chest happened.
After being ignored by six different doctors who dismissed the bump as minor, she was finally properly diagnosed with breast cancer. It was at one of her mother’s doctors’ appointments that she begged the doctor to take a chest x-ray when they discovered it wasn’t something simple but, in fact, breast cancer. That’s when her journey began. Unfortunately her journey began without me. It wasn’t until two years later that I came into the picture.
After successfully claiming her health back after her first cancer diagnoses there was a second diagnoses, again breast cancer after sustaining injures in a car accident. She was hit by a truck and needed emergency back surgery. When a full body scan was preformed to assess the damage it was discovered that the cancer had in fact returned. After three surgeries she started chemotherapy treatments for the second time.
When she was considered “clear” of Cancer she went to celebrate in Palm Springs with friends. While she was in the pool her chest literally opened up and one of her breast implants fell out in the pool. Luckily she was with other medical colleagues who were able to help her. Unfortunately she was infected with a flesh eating bacteria from the pool and had to go through grueling cauterizing surgeries to get rid of the bacteria for eight months and was forced into early retirement because of it. That’s when I came into the picture and to the rescue.
I helped take care of Jill and her mother Mumsie. I am trained to check breathing so I would go from bed to bed all night long checking on them and waking them up to take their medication. It was exhausting. Mumsie was very ill and soon passed away when I bonded to my beloved Jill.
On two separate occasions I found two separate tumors, which I’m trained to do. The first one was two days after she was dismissed from treatment after five years and cleared from all x-rays, scans, and exams and was considered “clear” of the Cancer. I found the tumor along her left backside resulting in her having to undergo a Mastectomy, Chemo and Radiation Therapy for a third time. To make things worse the bank who held the mortgage on her home claimed it wasn’t hers even though she had bought it and she wound up needing a lawyer and we had to go to court a lot together. Between the doctors’ bills and the court battle she was very stressed for quite a while.
Fast forward. She thought she had beaten her Cancer again but I found another Tumor, this time in her neck. It tested positive again. This time it had spread to her lungs, vertebrae, and liver.
So now we are in treatment again with Chemo and Radiation every week. Believe it or not, she has never shed a tear through this whole journey. She keeps a positive attitude and keeps fighting and understandably I am afraid it is taking its toll.
You see when someone gets Cancer their friends eventually disappear. It’s hard to watch someone you care about going through something like this so they eventually stop coming by and it can be a lonely journey. She has me but I need help. I’m just a dog and I can’t do it all.
I have watched her loose her career, not be able to practice her Martial Arts, which was her life’s passion, she has lost many friends and loved ones, and is now facing mounting doctor bills.
In a BreastCancer.org forum report chemotherapy costs of $7,000-$40,000 per treatment. Depending on the individual case and the type and number of treatments needed, the total cost of breast cancer treatment, on average, can reach $100,000 - - or, in advanced cases, $300,000 or more. In a BreastCancer.org forum patients discuss total costs of their breast cancer treatment. For example, a study published in BMC Cancer found that the average total cost of care over a mean follow-up of 532 days was about $128,500 for women with metastatic breast cancer receiving chemotherapy as their primary treatment. This includes the cost of the chemotherapy drugs, additional drugs to help manage side effects, administration of the drugs and medical care for chemotherapy-related complications.
If a mastectomy is required, the patient might choose to get breast reconstruction. This typically costs $5,000-$15,000 or more per breast for implants or from $25,000-$50,000 or more per breast for "flap" techniques using tissue from the patient's own body.
We need your help. My master can’t do this without you. Won’t you please help me help her? I will be forever grateful, she is a fighter, be a part of my team for this special lady.
It is said “never treat a stranger as a stranger because you never know when you might be one”. Thank you for caring, Buster