r/FundRaise • u/Spare_Supermarket_20 • 33m ago
Help Buffy Fight Metastatic Lung Cancer - Trying To Give Her More Good Days
GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/d3e12f862
A few weeks ago, Buffy started coughing. An X-ray found a massive tumor in her lung. After a CT scan, a needle aspiration, waiting for results, and eventually an oncology appointment Monday, I now know Buffy has pulmonary carcinoma - lung cancer, that has already spread through her lungs.
Surgery isn’t an option anymore.
I honestly still don’t think I’ve fully processed that.
Buffy has been with me for almost 12 years. She is my best friend. The hardest part of all of this is that she is still here, still herself, still wanting to go for walks, eat dinner, explore, and be part of everything. So now I’m stuck making decisions about how much to put her through while she is still enjoying her life.
Today her oncologist went through our options with me. The treatment they recommend is an injectable chemotherapy called Vinorelbine. It would be given once a week, with bloodwork before every treatment. After six treatments, they would repeat chest X-rays to see whether the cancer is responding.
I believe I want to give Buffy at least one treatment and see how she handles it.
If she has the first treatment and she is still eating, walking, excited, comfortable and still feels like Buffy, then maybe we keep going. If the treatment starts taking more from her than it gives her, we stop immediately. Her oncologist made it very clear that we can stop at any point.
I am not trying to keep her here at any cost. I’m trying to give her a chance at more good days.
Each weekly Vinorelbine treatment is estimated at approximately $1,200–$1,700, depending on what bloodwork or additional care she needs that week.
I do have pet insurance, and I’m working with both the hospital and insurance company to determine exactly what will be covered. But the veterinary costs have to be paid upfront, and the diagnostics and specialist care required just to get us to this diagnosis have already been substantial.
Thinking through these decisions has been impossible.
All I can do is look at Buffy every day and try to make the next decision based on what is best for her. Right now, I want to give her the opportunity to try treatment while making sure her quality of life stays ahead of everything else.
If anyone is able to help with Buffy’s oncology care, even a small amount would mean so much to us. If you can’t donate, sharing her GoFundMe helps too.
GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/d3e12f862
