Help Macie Win Her Battle Against Cancer

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this!

My dog, Macie, was recently diagnosed with cancer. She just got her first IV chemo treatment today (7/1/24), just three days shy of her 5th birthday. I’m creating this gofundme so we can continue treatments and hopefully win this fight against cancer!

In mid April, Macie and I were on a hike when she squatted to pee and I noticed a stream of bright red blood. Macie had been behaving totally normal and was unphased by the bloody urine. Her vet found a mass in her bladder, and we were sent to the specialist to remove it. There wasn’t immediate concern of cancer due to the mass being along the apex of her bladder (most bladder cancer develops where the ureters meet the urethra, or in the urethra itself). We were informed that cancer was a possibility but given her age it would be unusual.

She had the surgery 5/29 to resect a portion of her bladder and remove the mass. She spent two nights in the hospital. About a week after the surgery we were sent to our vet for repeat blood work and were informed that the biopsy results showed Transitional Cell Carcinoma (bladder cancer). Luckily, the surgeon got clean but narrow margins. Unluckily, the neoplastic cells were present in her lymphatics, with a very high mitotic count of 46. This means the cancer is dividing rapidly and has a high chance of spreading.

There is a clinical trial funded by Yale for a cancer vaccine that Macie was accepted into. It is a type of immunotherapy, it consists of two injections given three weeks apart. Macie received her first dose on 6/25. She receives her second dose mid July. At this appointment further testing was performed and her thoracic X-rays were clear!! And abdominal ultrasound did not show any other tumors on her organs at the time of her surgery, so this means that her cancer exists at a microscopic level! In order to prevent them from replicating I opted to try chemo, as this was recommended for her by each specialist I’ve spoken to. A lot of times with TCC, the cancer grows back or spreads, and most of the time surgery is not even an option due to the location of the tumor. So today (7/1) Macie received her first of 5 doses of IV chemotherapy. These will be done 3 weeks apart. There will be lots of bloodwork and testing along the way to see if she’s tolerating it well, and to make sure there’s no masses developing.

Making the decision to treat Macie with chemotherapy has been so tough on me. The specialists have all said dogs tolerate chemo much better than humans, as it’s a lot less aggressive doses. To do the surgery but not proceed with chemo felt like more of a bandaid than a “cure”, so I felt I owed it to her considering she is still so young and healthy otherwise. My main goal and priority is preserving her quality of life!! That will mean stopping treatments or opting for a less aggressive approach if she has major side effects from the drugs or if the cancer shows up again during chemo. For now we are looking at 5 doses, one every 3 weeks, and we will do testing along the way to see how she’s doing and adjust her treatment plan accordingly.

We are up to 9 visits (between bloodwork, surgery, multiple specialists, diagnostics) in 2 just and a half months. The surgery cost thousands. The consultations for specialists hundreds, the diagnostic images are hundreds-thousands, the antibiotics, nausea meds, pain control, and now chemo is thousands. I work full time so Macie has needed someone to come stay with/ check on her following the surgery and now with the chemo, so doggy-care is an additional expense. I am willing to do anything I can for Macie as long as it will not cause her harm and as long as we have a chance at extending her life with good quality. That being said, I’m open to accepting donations towards Macie’s treatment as I could really use the help financially. This is no pressure to anyone AT ALL!

Many of you have helped me out in ways these last couple of months, whether it be covering a work shift, taking my call hours, dog sitting her while I had to work, sending me thoughtful messages, checking on my wellbeing, I see you all and appreciate it so so much. It is more stressful than I’d like to admit navigating all of this. So thank you all from the entirety of my soul!

Macie and Me

I adopted Macie as a puppy for a rescue in WNC. I had just moved to the area and had no friends or family around for hundreds of miles, so I figured I could use the companion. I loved her immediately!!! I knew absolutely nothing about having a puppy, let alone one that would grow to be nearly the size of me. But I knew we’d figure it out together. And I knew she was special. I lost my mother about a month after adopting Macie. We spent 13 hours driving to NY to be with my mom that night, Macie was only about 4 months old. That was the beginning of our years of road tripping. Macie has traveled the entire country with me, minus around 10 states. We have lived in NC, NY, DC, VA, SC, ME, CO, OR. We have climbed so many mountain peaks and splashed in so many rivers, lakes, and two oceans. Her favorite thing is sniffing the breeze and greeting humans. She is a lover of anything and everything. I am blessed to have known her love, truly, and I hope I get to share life with her for longer. No amount of time will be enough.