Help cover post-surgical cancer treatment

My name is Andrea. Some of you may know me as Piper’s Mum on Instagram (www.instagram.com/pipertomkins).

If you are reading this you probably already know that Piper was recently diagnosed with a large mass on her liver. It has to be biopsied and quickly removed. It's very specialized surgery and due to backlogs and staffing, there are no local vets in our hometown of Ottawa who are available to perform this procedure in a timely manner. Our own vet has recommended a clinic in Montreal, so that's where we're heading.

The initial consultation is scheduled for Monday, January 30. The surgery to remove it (plus a biopsy) is taking place the next day. We are looking at two or more nights in the hospital for poor Piper.

Of course, our hearts are breaking just thinking about how frightened she'll be during this time.

We don't have a lot of medical details to share at this time, unfortunately. There are a lot of question marks around the kind of mass it is, for example. We did have some chest x-rays done to see if the mass was part of a larger, cancerous spread, but they don't show any masses in the lungs (which is good news).

We've been told her surgery and care will cost between $6,000 to $8,000, but that's really a ballpark estimate because it all depends on a bunch of different things. We don't really want to be here, asking, but I am writing this today because so many of you have asked us how you can help. You've told us how much Piper means to you, and how much joy she has brought to your days. She is the light of our lives, and we've been so happy to share that light with the world for the past eight years on Instagram (she turned 13 in December)!

I will add this, Piper has been her usual cheerful self all week! She's been eating well and enjoying her treatos with the usual amount of gusto. Thank goodness we didn't skip the blood work at her last checkup. We wouldn't have known there was anything wrong.

A note to Piper's Instagram friends, my husband Mark (a.k.a Dad) and I are immensely grateful for your kind messages this past week. They have been rays of sunshine during a dark and worrisome time.

Thank you, friends. Thank you. I hope you know how much your support has meant to us... and of course, Piper too. We will read all of your messages to her and share noggin pats, gentle nose boops, and scritchies when/if directed. :)

Edited to add info (Feb 20/2023)

After much deliberation we have bumped up this fundraiser. When we started this journey we were quoted a range of $6-$8K. (!) At every turn, Piper’s medical costs have been going up and are now triple what we had originally been told. While the surgery is over we’re now looking at ongoing chemotherapy costs and diagnostic imaging. More updates to come.