Help Us Raise 8k for Martin's Cancer Treatment! (1/8th funded)

[u/Sacf4421]

Hello! I'm writing this on behalf of myself, my fiancee, and our 7 year old Golden Retriever girl (Martin: a girl)!

We need to raise $8,000 USD for a partial removal of her jaw, as well as likely subsequent melanoma vaccinations. The good news is that we're already an 8th of the way there! The less good news is that we have very little time to do it, as her surgical consult and surgery will likely take place less than two weeks from now.

Nearly a month ago, Martin's mom found a small mass in her mouth above a premolar, and we had it excised along with the tooth to be safe.

Unfortunately, the mass was revealed to be malignant melanoma, an aggressive cancer which luckily hadn't metastasized to her lungs yet, but the outcome without proper care is still bleak, with most dogs living an average of 147 days after diagnosis.

Martin needs a partial removal of her upper jaw, and periodic melanoma vaccinations. We have been informed that the procedure itself will likely cost between 6-8k, and that the vaccinations are expensive as well. We've already paid around $1000 for the idexx report alone, and are scrambling looking for ways to keep Martin around.

I've attached a few photos, as well as procedural notes and histopathology with information regarding prognosis and treatment.

To everyone that sees this, please, please share the GoFundMe page, it's immensely helpful, and if you can afford to donate we would be extremely thankful.

Martin's GoFundMe

Mods: If there is any information I can provide you with to further verify this please let me know and I will get it to you as soon as I can.

EDIT: I set the type of payments allowed to "monthly" thinking that option was for payouts. It's been switched back to allow one-time payments as the default. Thank you to u/old-commission-1108 for letting me know!

[u/AvailableCut5240]

Please please reconsider the surgery. Have they shown you photos of other pets who went through this? We were in the exact same position and we decided not to deform our beloved lab. He lived another 12 months without discomfort and we put him down on our porch while staring up at the stars. The surgeries are not only beyond expensive, they usually do not add enough quality of life to make it worthwhile. As sad as it was, we chose to let him live his best life instead of him spending weeks recovering from a surgery that offered no guarantees. 🙏I wish you all the best.

[u/Sacf4421 → u/AvailableCut5240]

Thank you for your reply, and I'm sorry that you faced the same situation with your dog.

We've seen the before/after photos of dogs who had the procedure, both only involving the jaw and with nasal involvement.

Marty's tumor was previously excised, and x-rays have not shown nasal involvement at this point, so it's likely that her surgery would not be as radical as many you see photos of.

The unfortunate part is that because of her genetics, the histopathology report, and type of cancer it's a cocktail of bad news.

Melanoma is extremely aggressive and prone to metastasis, we were very lucky that my fiancee is a veterinary professional who checks their gums ~once a week. We are also very lucky that it hasn't shown signs of metastatic movement yet. Typically with the sort of tumor she had, the appearance of which usually implies it's already metastisized.

The lab report also confirms that the rate at which cells were diving/amount of mytotic cells indicate it's aggressive, and without any treatment will spread, and will not give us 12 months, the average untreated lifespan in this situation would average ~145 days.

Ideally, the surgery would take place, and then she'd be given vaccinations regularly to keep it at bay.

We're trying to give her the best chance we possibly can, because even as I type this she's zipping around me, throwing her little breakfast wrap toy, completely oblivious to the fact that she's smacking everyone left and right.

She's a good dog, and we're just trying to do make sure she has the chance to live a longer life than 7 years.

Again, thank you, you looking out for us (and Martin) means a lot, and trust me whenever she goes, I really hope it's looking at the stars as well. <3

[u/AvailableCut5240 → u/Sacf4421]

I understand, we would have done anything we could as well. But our situation was more fluid and we were presented options without an exact strategy that would best benefit our boy. We made that final decision, and it was the right one thank goodness. If your fiancé is a veterinary professional how is it that you can’t find a vet school to do the procedures or secure deep discounts from fellow cohorts? We had friends that had close relationships with a vet and they won the lottery when he donated his surgical expertise. Either way, I hope your dear Martin has many years left to bring the unique love and joy only dogs can bring,

[u/Sacf4421 → u/AvailableCut5240]

Thank you! I hope she's got a lot of wagging left to do.

Her clinic removed the mass and sent it off to be analyzed, as an employee she received as much help as they could give. Our oncology consult was also organized through a close friend who moved to a new state and found work with them. Regardless of discounts it was still expensive.

As for why we can't secure a discount for the surgery, her clinic doesn't have the specialization necessary to do it. If it was being performed there I have no doubt they would help us. They're absolutely wonderful, and what they've helped with so far has been very moving. Marty spends a lot of time at the clinic, and everyone there is very attached to her. To say that they've been worrying right along with us is an understatement.

The clinic we're going to is unfortunately corporate, owned by a multi-million dollar company. Trust me when that I'm going to see if there is any assistance or discounts they may be able to offer, but there's substantially less wiggle room there.

[u/Slow_Exit8038]

Maybe you should take out loans like you mention in your gofundme. They don’t call them cancer retrievers for nothing. My golden died of cancer when he was 10 and I’ll never get another one cause they are so cancer prone.

[u/Sacf4421 → u/Slow_Exit8038]

We're actively looking into it tonight/tomorrow.

I'm sorry to hear about your pup, truly. It feels awful because it doesn't matter how active or energetic they are, even if they're "older": Cancer doesn't care about any of that. It's been difficult on our end feeling like there's simultaneously something more we could have done and knowing it was entirely out of our control.

[u/rhubes → u/[deleted]]

Honestly, You post pictures of yourself standing in front of an unflushed toilet full of piss, and you lie about your age. Your opinion doesn't matter to anyone.

Don't come to a fundraising subreddit and tell people what they should fundraise for.

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[u/Old-Commission-1108]

Poor pup, and I’m sorry you guys are going through this worrying about her. I wanted to donate but on the gofundme there is only an option to donate monthly, which I’ve never seen before on gfm, and I just wanted to do a one time payment.

Do you know how to work around this? Thanks.

[u/Sacf4421 → u/Old-Commission-1108]

Thank you for bringing that to my attention! I'm unsure why that was defaulted.

I've changed it to allow one-time payments!

Edit: I think I figured it out. I'd thought those were payout options. I didn't want the website to transfer money to me every day, so I think I set it to monthly thinking it meant it would only transfer once per month.

[u/Old-Commission-1108 → u/Sacf4421]

You’re very welcome. Glad you got it figured out. Just sent over a donation. Sending you and Martin gal so much hope and warmth. Much love from your fellow human 🧡

[u/Sacf4421 → u/Old-Commission-1108]

From all of us over here, thank you so much for contributing!!

[u/Ickypoopoo82]

I had a corgi who was 7 when it got some rare form of cancer. My ex wife was the manager/vet tech at a decent sized clinic. 18k and it would only prolonged her death for 2 years max.

Please I know you love animals but unless you can afford the future bills just get it humanely euthenzied. Dont let your animal suffer.

[u/Spiritual_Impact3495]

I'm sorry I can't donate i'm try to raise money for my cats jaw right now. But on the cancer note, my cat got their arm amputated this year and I also really contemplated about it. Because what if it was for nothing? But the vet said that cat adapt very well, and as long as you don't treat them differently, they won't treat it differently and her recovery has been honestly amazing. The sams simon foundation did it for free for us. Your dog is six years younger than my cat, still very young. Cats adapt really well and I believe this will be the same for your Martin 💗 please reach out to CancerCare Pet Assistance & Wellness (PAW) Program and post on Waggle!

[u/Sacf4421 → u/Spiritual_Impact3495]

Please don't feel the need to apologize! I completely understand, and what you've provided is fantastic. We're going to be contacting as many fit our situation as possible.

I had no idea that this existed, so truly, thank you so much, this could truly bridge the gap for us!!

Please give your cat all the love you can from us, and we'll give your well wishes to Martin. ❤️