Elliot's 3rd round of cancer treatment!

This is Elliot. Where do I even BEGIN on describing this dog? If you've ever had the pleasure of meeting him, you already know, this man has the biggest heart. He wants nothing more than to share his love with others and cuddle up on your chest like a little puppy. We jokingly call him a velcro dog because he would love nothing more than to be glued to my side. I’ll wake up sometimes to him just staring into my eyes with the most loving look I’ve ever seen. Sweet as pecan pie and about to kick cancer’s ass a third time!

Our cancer journey started in 2018. Elliot’s first cancer tumor was found when he was 4 years old. When I think about that period of time, I envision myself sobbing on the kitchen floor—too apathetic to even get a tissue and blowing my nose directly into my shirt. When the vet diagnosed the tumor as cancerous I sent myself into a google spiral (which I have since learned is NOT helpful) and was convinced I was losing the most precious thing in my life. But Elliot is a guy who is full of surprises, and he took the surgery like a champ. The first couple of days were rough. Bottling feeding an almost 100-pound dog, watching him struggle to get up to go pee, his yearning to play with his sister Maggie and just too weak to move. But within a week he was back to himself.

Then in 2020, a surge of tumors grew back. He had small tumors throughout his body, and one giant baseball-sized one in his armpit. In early 2021 he got them all removed in a swing, at 7 years old. I was having intrusive thoughts that he was too old to handle another surgery, I felt cruel making him go through it again. But as he is full of surprises, Elliot bounced back to himself a record 2 days after surgery!

Here we are in 2022 and Elliot is now 8 years old! He recently had swelling in his back leg, which turned out to be a dissecting tumor—essentially meaning that the tumor is growing between the two muscles in his back leg. This surgery is going to be more complicated than his last two which were surface tumors because they’ll need to peel back a layer of muscle, remove the tumor, and reattach the muscle after.

Over the years Elliot has had lots of medical bills, even outside of the cancer treatments. Broken toes, sprained tail, bone lodged in his esophagus, that time I thought he regrew a ball after he got fixed….anyway. The point being this dog has been full of expenses and each time I take on the debt then work to pay it off. I’m not one who is good at asking for help. I tend to take all the burdens of life on my back and forget that I do have a support system—and that sometimes it takes a village!

This round of surgery and treatment is going to be a lot more expensive than the last because of how complicated the area the tumor is growing. So here I am, against all instincts, asking for help for my guy! Even if that help is just moral support. I tend to isolate myself when these things happen and I am growing to realize how nice it feels to have people there to support you in times of hardship. I will keep everyone updated on vet visits and surgery plans! Right now aiming to have surgery done around late September/early October. Thanks for taking the time to read, donate, or send a nice thought for my Ellie—it means the world ♥️