Help Roxy beat glaucoma!

Hi, my name is Sanchia. I am a huge animal lover and help to manage a pet boarding and daycare facility. I have 3 lovely rescued pets of my own! I have 2 awesome black cats and my wonderful, intelligent, gentle velvet hippo (American pitbull terrier) named Roxy. I rescued Roxy about 8 years ago from the Humane Society. Roxy was extremely emaciated, afraid of people, had severe allergies and a terrible double ear infection. There was no doubt someone had used her as a backyard breeding dog and then dumped her when they were finished using her. Despite all of her ailments when I met her at the shelter I knew instantly she was my dog and needed me but it wasn't until later I realized how much I also needed her. It took us about 6 months to get her comfortable with living inside a home, playing with toys, meeting strangers without fear and living her best life with confidence! Roxy is such a loving girl and has the most resilient spirit! Although Roxy is resilient, sadly there was a major detour on the road to her living her best life back in 2019. In late 2018 there was a small mass in her throat that ended up growing to the size of a golf ball within a few short months. She also started growing a mass on her back that also tripled in size quickly. I took her to an oncologist to be looked at and after her surgery, where they removed the throat and back mass, we found out that she had vascular sarcoma. Sadly this is a cancer that spreads and kills quickly (even with the masses removed) so she was only given a few months to live. We considered all options and with her age in mind(9ish at this time) we opted out of traditional medicine cancer treatments and decided to go the route of holistic veterinary treatments. Roxy was doing very well with her new all raw diet, supplements and vitamins. She had done so well in fact that she had surpassed the amount of life expectancy each of her vets had given her!

 

Unfortunately, fast forward to today, December 2nd 2021. We have been going back and forth with her primary vet for 2 weeks with eye issues. At first they thought it was just conjunctivitis. We tried the medication for this and it made her eye turn completely blue in 48 hours! This was terribly frightening not to mention very upsetting because it was obvious she was in pain. Her primary vet decided to put her on 2 other medications that were providing temporary relief however things went down hill soon after receiving her new prescriptions. After being told "we can't help you anymore because we don't have the right tools" at her primary vet I decided to take her to a specialist for eye care in Chicago. We have found out that Roxy possibly has glaucoma in her right eye and will more than likely need it removed. I say possibly because we are still running diagnostic tests, which have so far cost me about $1,800 with medications, office visit fees etc. I was quoted at the specialist for an eye removal surgery which will run me about $3500 not to mention follow up costs. I was literally just put out of work for 2 weeks because I tested positive for covid and I don't receive covid pay. Needless to say I need the help. Every little bit counts. Thank you for reading all of this, I know it's long winded but I appreciate you taking the time. I don't have any human children only furry, four legged children so Roxy is undoubtedly like a daughter to me, she is also my right hand dog at work. Roxy helps to evaluate other dogs and make sure they are safe candidates for our daycare program. Anyone who has met Roxy can agree she is the sweetest, most loving and gentle soul. Roxy has always been there for me, loyalty never wavering. Roxy is an absolute ray of light and my best friend. I love her so much and would do anything in my power to get her healthy and pain free