Help Miss Margo Beat Cancer

We adopted Margo in August from a pit bull rescue who wanted to save her from a kill shelter in California but was too full to take her in themselves.  They posted a photo on Facebook and asked if anyone would commit to adopting her. They estimated her age at 3 years old and knew very little about her.  We immediately fell in love with these big ‘bat’ ears and brown eyes. 


We drove to Oregon to pick her up and found out she had a suspected case of Ringworm. (Many kill shelters put animals down for ringworm because it spreads quickly from animal to animal and is hard to control). It turned out she didn’t have ringworm, but instead was suffering from severe environmental and food allergies. Her poor little feet were raw/red and she was just miserable!

We spent thousands of dollars getting her healthy and happy. At the time, I had contemplated getting pet insurance but was discouraged when I realized everything she was dealing with was now a pre-existing condition.  (Really kicking myself for that now!)

Margo was quick to adjust to her new surroundings and made our house feel like a home. She's one of the most loving and affectionate dogs we've ever had. She loves playing tug of war, going on walks or car rides, and hogging the bed. Margo is a very active and happy dog. She's been called a 'little go-getter' and that's about the best description I can think of to accurately describe her personality. With the crazy of 2020, Margo has given us some much-needed joy. 

Fast forward to December and we found a lump on her right front elbow. We made an appointment with our vet and she was finally seen on February 3rd. They biopsied the lump and found out it was a Soft Tissue Sarcoma. This type of tumor has little tendrils that spread out up to 3cm into the surrounding tissue. Because it's an aggressive cancer that spreads, they recommend taking the tumor and 3cm of surrounding tissue. Since Margo's tumor is on her elbow they would have to amputate her leg and scapula. Tumor pictured below:


The concern with doing amputation is that Miss Margo has such short little legs being a 'Hippo Pitty' it could lead to some pretty severe joint issues/arthritis later on. (60% of a dog's weight is on its front legs and that's a lot to put on 1 leg for such a short, stocky dog). With this in mind, we selected option #2, marginal incision of the tumor. In this scenario, they remove as much of the tumor and surrounding tissue as possible but leave a working leg and joint behind. Then we follow it up with Radiation Therapy. 

The surgery to remove the tumor is happening today (03/03/21). The surgery to remove the tumor is expensive, we were quoted at just under $5,000. We have the means to pay this amount. Where we are having some difficulty is in paying for the next step, Radiation Therapy. We won't be given a formal estimate until they receive the results from the tissue sample taken during surgery. But early estimates are between $4,000 - $8,000, plus travel expenses. 

This is where we could use some help. I applied for grants with nonprofits and was hoping we could offset some of the cost of the radiation therapy this way, but so far we've been turned down because they just don't have the funding to help out right now (funding has been difficult for many nonprofits with Covid affecting traditional fundraising efforts). 

We knew this was going to be expensive but didn't think we'd blow through our savings and credit so fast. We've spent over $2,000 on testing for the cancer diagnosis. Coupled with the surgery cost, this tumor has already taken almost $7,000 and Miss Margo is only halfway to beating cancer.

Margo is family to us. We adopted her knowing that she was coming to her forever home and that we would do anything to keep her happy and healthy.  I'm meeting with a realtor today to discuss selling our home and finding out if we have enough equity to cover Margo's medical expenses and the first, last, and deposit of moving into a rental. 

We greatly appreciate any help you can give.