HELP Fund Isabel's Big Spleen Sendoff!

CALLING ALL ANIMAL LOVERS!

 

The Bad News: My amazing sister Brette's adorable rescue poodle mix Isabel has been diagnosed with a tumor in her spleen!

 

The Good News: Through a series of extensive (and yes, expensive) tests, imaging, some really stressful waiting, truly thorough examination of multiple data points, and upon recommendation from specialists, it would appear that we have lucked out to a certain extent and likely are dealing with a benign or at least an early stage, slower growing cancer than is typical and one that shows no indication of having spread. (more detail on this below for those interested). All we have to do is Marie Kondo her spleen, thank it for it's usefulness and send it on it's way! Bye, Felicia! Did you know you can live a long life without a spleen? Now you do!

 

The Challenge YOU KNOW you want to ACCEPT!: This surgery will cost between $5,100-$6,000 and must be done in the next month to give her superbly huggy puppy the best chance at quality time and a "normal" lifespan, however long that could be - (we assume years as she is only about 9 or 10 years old.) This is cost prohibitive for my sister who has gone through some huge personal challenges - especially over the last four years, compounded exponentially by the ongoing pandemic. She is humble and hurting and I told her I would help. So we are going to. YEAH - LET'S DO THIS!

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP: I know everyone is struggling and life is an uphill slog for lots of you at present. I get that and I hear you, but if we got 500 folks to chip in just $10 we can pay for this thing and by doing so set an unbelievable hopeful tone for 2022 and beyond. I expect you will not miss your $10, but to Brette and Isabel (and me) that support would mean so much. Time. Faith restored. Momentary peace of mind.... all the things. Small gestures, just like small puppy hugs, are some of the most magical and healing things known to humankind.

 

We won't be raising this goal, we aim to raise as much as we can to cover the majority of the procedure's lowest estimate which I will be able to front for her using my CareCredit in combination with the very limited available funds Brette still has left after the extensive testing and some emergency home repairs. I've pledged to cover all the GoFundMe fees (2.9% of the total raised plus 30 cents per transaction) and work on a payment plan for anything beyond what we receive in donations. All that to say, this is a solid investment, you won't be sorry. Every bit helps and if you can't donate we would really appreciate sharing as we know this could resonate with those with the means to contribute.

 

SO ASK YOURSELF: Have you ever had a sick pet, lost a pet, had to make a difficult decision regarding your pet, spent more money than you had on your pet, put your pet before yourself, wished you had more time with a pet, had a pet rescue you?! THEN YOU KNOW...

 

Having spent thousands of dollars just this past year on my own cat Lincoln (and having to accept help to cover some of that), I know how much this can weigh on your soul and you wonder if you are doing the right thing. This is not a decision entered into lightly by any means. If the best thing for Isabel was letting her go, Brette would make that difficult decision. But that's not what the doctors are saying at this point. While losing Isabel so soon and in such a traumatic way would be heartbreaking, wondering if surgery would have given her more time and a better quality of life would be something that would haunt Brette (and anyone really) forever. This is a decision arrived at objectively and responsibly. It IS the right thing to do.

 

More Detail about the Diagnosis and timeline:

 

In August of 2020 Isabel had some odd discoloring on her belly. Due to COVID, telehealth appointment suspected maybe allergies, or Cushings. Blood tests were inconclusive for anything seriously wrong (but not likely Cushing's). In July of 2021 she did standard blood work prior to annual dental exam/cleaning. Results raised concerns, so a retest was done. Retests showed the same anomalies, but the Dr. was unable to diagnose anything at the time, so we moved forward with the dental. Annual wellness check abdominal and chest x-rays were done prior to beginning the dental exam and cleaning. It was at that time that a mass was found on her spleen. Our normal Dr. did not have the ability to officially diagnose or treat, so was referred to a specialist.

 

In August 2021 we had an appointment at Sunstone Veterinary Specialists in Portland. They confirmed that there was a large mass on her spleen, and no indication that the mass had spread to any organs. Splenic masses in dogs are typically either very aggressive and fatal within weeks of diagnosis or benign. At the time, the ultrasound was inconclusive to precisely determine if the mass was benign or not. She felt there was not enough of the classic indications that it was the very aggressive type of cancer, but beyond that couldn't say, and at that time was not recommending surgery. The only way to definitely tell what type of cancer would be to do surgery to remove her spleen and biopsy the tumor. Given Isabel's age (about 9 or 10) and the likelihood that surgery would not save her life, it was a question of quality of life - if she only had a few more months, it would not make sense to put her through the stress of surgery. So we made a plan to recheck in 3-4 months and see if more could be determined at that time.

 

In mid-December we went back to Sunstone for the recheck. The mass had grown by about 30%, but there still were no indications that it had spread. The fact that she was not only still alive, but that there was still no sign of spreading was proof that it was not the most common type of aggressive cancer- though it could still be malignant. This led the Dr. to determine it was possibly benign, or was a slow growing/spreading form of cancer, making surgery a good option.

 

Without surgery, at the rate the tumor is growing, the Dr. estimates Isabel would have about 6 months before having a massive bleeding event or until the tumor would rupture the spleen and she would likely die from blood loss. (TRAUMAITC FOR ALL!!!)

 

The lack of availability of any 24-hour emergency Vet within 20 miles of Brette's home in Vancouver, WA, means that if she did have a critical bleeding event in the evening/overnight/on the weekend, she would more than likely be unable to get her the help she needs to save her life (and at twice the cost of any already costly scheduled surgery). Removing the tumor/her entire spleen removes this risk.

 

At this point we feel that surgery will provide one of two things - either it will completely save her life as the tumor will indeed turn out to be benign, or it will significantly prolong her life if the cancer is malignant and slow growing/spreading. In either case, it will also increase her quality of life and reduce stress for all as the risk of a massive bleeding event will be eliminated. Obviously nothing is guaranteed - they could do the surgery and the cancer could come back faster than anticipated and not give us the long life we are hoping for, but given the information we have, we are optimistic that we will have a very good outcome.

 

More about Dame Isabel Hugs a Lot :

 

Isabel was rescued by Underdogs Rock Rescue in 2013 - pulled from high kill shelter in So. Cal where she was "red listed" - deemed too aggressive to adopt, could only be saved by a rescue. Transported from So Cal to foster with us December 2013.

 

She arrived in a crate 2x too big for her as she was "too aggressive" to handle on transport. Within 20 minutes of arriving at Brette's house, and having gotten a little food and water in her, she leapt up in her lap and put her front paws around her shoulders. And thus was born Dame Hugs a Lot. Brette officially adopted her in June of 2014. She knew she belonged with us from day one, we were slow to realize she was right.

 

She has a lot of fear of strangers and strange noises, but she is incredibly loving. She desperately WANTS to make friends with nearly everyone and treats go a long way towards this endeavor. She is very food motivated and a little vacuum at meal time. She is also super smart. She understands so much. It took less than a day to teach her "sit" and "shake hands". If she takes a treat too greedily you can tell her "gentle" and she will take the next treat very nicely.

 

She loves snuggle time. Backward hugs are her favorite, but she also likes getting up on the back of the couch so her face can be in my face, or just inviting herself up on my lap. She does not mind being picked up and hugged. She loves car rides and going on walks. She also enjoys water - she occasionally plays in the kiddie pool we set up for her, or in water/creek/puddles on walks. She used to not mind rain, but that seems to have changed of late. She enjoys the snow!

 

More about Brette:

 

Brette is good people! I'm not just saying this because she is my sister - and let's face it, plenty of people would NOT say nice things about their family members. She's a really spectacularly smart, fun, loyal, and sensitive soul. She's been a volunteer, advocate and board member for many animal and environmental non-profits, is deeply committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and is a better friend than most. She donates blood regularly. She's a vegetarian. She has the best laugh. She is married to a Veteran. She is a private person and even though this exposure and request on her behalf challenges her intensely, she has agreed to put her own comfort on the line to eliminate the discomfort Isabel is going through. Growing up, she had to share a room with me for many years... hasn't she suffered enough?