Luna and her fight with cancer

As I start writing this, I am struggling to find the wording to articulate everything that I am feeling. Finding a lump on Luna was one thing, but hearing the words “cancer” and “aggressive tumor” all in one appointment are a lot to come to terms with, especially in the span of a few weeks. For those of you that know me, I rescued Luna back in 2018 (but who really rescued who?), and the moment we saw each other, I like to think that our souls recognized the other, and instantaneously we just knew that we were a package deal. And that’s how it’s always been, me and Luna, despite all the odds, against the world.

About a month ago, I found a lump on Luna that seemingly appeared overnight. We went and got it aspirated and got the cytology sent out. It came back as a mast cell tumor, which is considered malignant. The first vet that diagnosed this said that because of the tumor being located in her perineum, it was going to be a tricky surgical removal due to her urinary tract and all that lies within, and recommended a specialty surgeon to do the operation. Me being me, I wanted to talk to an oncologist about all of Luna’s options since we hadn’t even gotten a full diagnosis at this point. Today we had her initial oncology appointment, and in a span of a few weeks, it was seen that Luna’s tumor went from being coin-sized to now being the size of a small orange. The tumor now is being described as rapid and aggressive. Bloodwork and an ultrasound were done, and as of today, there is no involvement of the cancer in Luna’s organs or lymph nodes, which is great news and very promising! The bad news is, given the nature of this tumor, things can change in an instant. The oncologist wants to get this removed as fast as possible, and then figure out a chemo/radiation plan if needed. All of this has happened very quickly and hasn’t given me much time to prepare for this. Luna is in remarkable health otherwise, and with tumor removal, she is looking at many more years alongside me. Without removal, we fear it turns into a ticking time bomb.

I never purchased pet insurance for Luna, and payment plans or care credit are unfortunately not an option at this time. Given the time sensitivity of the matter, I wanted to make this GoFundMe in case anyone is able to help. I know to some, it may be silly to raise money for a dog, but she is not just a dog to me. She is my best friend, and the one that has seen the worst of me and loves me anyway. I most likely won’t be having children, but Luna is my child and my priority now. Everyone that meets my girl always says how she radiates love and sass, and I hope to be able to give her a much longer time to keep sassing back at me. In the meantime, I’ll be working all of the overtime I can manage so I can do the most to get my girl her surgery, but again, time is not on our side. I hope that even if donations can’t be made, that prayers and good thoughts be sent our way. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I appreciate any help we could get. God bless