Stand with the Sheltons: Acer's Critical Need

Hi all, today is the day I swallow my pride and create this post to do what's best for my family. I appreciate everyone who takes time out of their day to read this. I know how important time is now more than ever, and I am grateful you are giving me some of yours.

The purpose of this GoFundMe is to help me fund our support dog Acer's emergency life-saving surgery. Late November of 2024, we noticed Acer's abdomen area was swelling. Though he didn't act to be in pain, he almost looked pregnant. I gave it a few days as there was no pain, no blood vessels showing, no discoloration, etc., but after nearly a week, I decided we needed to get him into the vet. After receiving him, his local vet was sure something was wrong in just a couple of minutes and proceeded to perform an X-ray of his abdominal area, where it was discovered he had a large mass in the abdomen (about the size of a football). The vet advised with his age (11 years old) and how this mass is looking, this is a situation where the best option was likely going to be to let him live out his remaining good days, but he would soon become backed up in his abdomen, either being unable to get food into his stomach or unable to pass stool, and he would rapidly decline, and it'd be his day to cross the rainbow bridge. I wasn't satisfied with that answer and wanted a second opinion, to which they referred me to oncology so I could get a consult and see what they think, get us a timeline, and ultimately be able to prepare accordingly for what seemed to be a lose/lose situation. After getting him in, they performed an ultrasound and confirmed the mass and said this was likely upwards of 10 lbs—one of the largest they had seen. But, it was not bleeding or leaking fluids, which was a good sign this was not cancer after all. A few days later, we met with the surgery team, who took the oncologist's recommendations and did their own head-to-toe CT scans to see if there was anything further they could see, to confirm nothing was metastasizing in his lungs, ensure they don't see a growth elsewhere, etc. I went into all of this expecting no good news, only a confirmation and expected timeline. To my disbelief, they came back to tell me that he had abnormally healthy blood work for his age, and they found no other concerns or reason to believe this surgery was not worthwhile to perform. I was told he should be around for another several years if this mass was removed. At the time of the call, he was under anesthetic, and they said the easiest and cheapest option for me to treat this is to let them prep for surgery right then while he was under and just get this done rather than waking him up and doing it all over a couple of days later. I knew the financials of the situation were not favorable, but I was forced into a game-time decision, and I knew in my heart that I could not allow him to not be treated knowing the only barrier to him living YEARS longer was financial. We said yes, let's get him help, and he underwent surgery. Later that night, I got a call that he was awake, he was doing amazing, the surgery went nearly flawlessly, and we avoided many of the worst-case scenarios. The only added concern was a discolored and irritated lymph node, but it was assumed that was due to the mass sitting on it for as long as it did. The mass ended up being an 8.5 lbs splenic mass—the entire spleen was removed, and the lymph node of concern as well, to be sent to testing to see if any further concerns exist. A week later, we received that information, and it was news we could have never expected. It was a benign tumor, and the lymph node had no signs of a problem, just irritation. Our boy is now recovered and in amazing health for his age. I was told there is nothing apparent that will inevitably take him from us, and he should be a case of old age, the best way we could hope for our companion to go one day.

While all of this is great news and we have begun to move forward with our lives, I have been reminded as the bills came in, of the financial impact a surgery of this magnitude had—as well as the pile of diagnostic expenses before we even got into the surgery itself. Throughout it all, we are over $12,500 into this, but I am only seeking a goal to cover the direct vet expenses paid as I maxed out the CareCredit and two credit cards to make this happen. I pride myself on independence and taking care of my family, but this burden has been too much to realistically handle alone.

Acer is a support animal for our family (Please respect the privacy of those details), so him being around has been extremely important for me to ensure, as I said, the well-being of my family will always be my #1 priority, and he is included in that family in the sense of getting him treated, but also his support animal functions for members of my family are equally important.

About a year ago, our family took two of my siblings into our home after an emergency situation. My sister went to be with her other parent in the summer, and my brother will be with us until after high school. This has caused significant financial hardships to find a larger home, support them, and get them the care they needed, as well as I have not received a penny of support for their care. Although this is not a part of this request, I felt it was important supporting information into how we landed in this situation to begin with. Life has hit us hard, as it has many, but my intentions have always been to care for my family, and I've made things work and dealt with the challenges as they arose. Unfortunately, I have now reached my limit, leading me here to humbly ask for your help, not for myself, but for my family who deserves a good life and to receive the care and support they need.

If you made it this far, thank you, truthfully. This was hard to write out, but it needed to be done. I hope you will help me in whatever way you are able. A simple sharing of my message or well wishes would mean the world to my family.

Very respectfully,

The Shelton family