Cash for Cashmere’s Chemotherapy

Cashmere

Cashmere is a very special dog. Yes, she's spoiled beyond belief but that's what moms do for their kids. I've been asked why I am putting every bit of my savings towards her treatments and all I can say is because she's family. She is not a pet that was forgotten. She's not a "typical" pit bull as many media outlets will portray her as. She's one of the most loving, sweet, funny, and genuinely happy dogs I have ever had. She has brought me joy in some of the hardest transitions in my life and has made me realize that I am stronger than I ever imagined. She made me want to get involved in the pit bull community in College Station and because of that my other pittie/boxer baby Casanova found his forever home.  Some of you may never understand the bond that I share with her, but all that matters to me is that she knows the bond that we have and knows that I will do anything to help her fight this horrible battle that she is facing too early in her life. Cashmere just celebrated her 4th birthday and I am determined to make sure she sees many more healthy years. Please read and share her story and help us raise the money we need to get her medical bills taken care of! For pics visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/114416038@N03/

                                                               Her Story
On November 11, 2013 Cashmere had her first surgery at Van Stavern Small Animal Hospital to remove what seemed to be a typical benign tumor on her leg and to get a biopsy done on another tumor that was located under her jaw. She came out of that surgery great and we were left waiting for the pathology results. The next Monday we received news that would change everything. Cash had 2 types of cancer. The spot on her leg was a very aggressive form of melanoma and the lump in her jaw was a tumor presenting itself as a neurofibrosarcoma.

We were referred to the oncology department at Texas A&M and went in for a consult 2 days later. During her consultation she received x-rays and an ultrasound to see whether or not the melanoma had spread to any of her organs. We received good news later that day that it had not spread from what they could tell and it was time to find her course of treatment. They had Cash undergo a CT scan the following Monday to see whether or not her neurofibrosarcoma would be able to be surgically removed. At this time she also received aspirates of her lymph nodes to see if there were any cancer cells that had spread there. The CT scan revealed that it would be able to be surgically removed although it was risky because her jugular vein ran right across the tumor. They also suggested that since the melanoma was such an aggressive type that it would be a good idea to go back and remove additional tissue to get as much, if not all, of the cancer cells that were there. After some contemplation, I decided to move forward with the surgery. Her aspirates came back negative later that week.

On December 6th Cash went to Texas A&M for her second surgery. She stayed under their care until she was able to be off of the strong pain meds on the 10th. She came home and was on continuous kennel rest and medication until she healed. Previous to her surgeries she was an extremely active dog so it was important to ensure she was completely healed before she resumed any type of physical activity. On the 13th A&M called with the pathology results and we had mixed news. The melanoma appeared to be completely removed from the area it was originally in but the neurofibrosarcoma was another story. It turns out that it was actually a hemangiopericytoma. Scientific terminology aside, this is a tumor that grows differently from the type of tumor that originally seemed to be. Because of the way that this tumor grows they believe that they may not have gotten all of the cancer cells during surgery. We scheduled a treatment consultation for January 9th to discuss the next steps.

During Cashmere's recovery from her surgery at A&M there was a severe fluid build up around her incision on her leg and she went in for a recheck on the 17th. Luckily with some hot compress treatments and continuous rest the fluid pocket went down. Cash's recovery was going very well and she began to be able to go outside for small amounts of time off leash and was acting like her normal self again. On December 31st Cash went outside for about 30 minutes and when I let her back in she was limping on her 'good' back leg. We went back to Van Stavern Small Animal Hospital on January 2nd and it was determined that she tore her ACL. The most effective way to treat a torn ACL is a surgical repair but due to the recent surgeries she has gone through we decided that the best thing for her right now is to limit her activity and have her on pain management medications.

On January 9th I went to A&M to discuss how to treat and manage everything that Cashmere is facing. I was presented with a few different types of treatments but 1 of them did not show significant results with melanoma in dogs and the other had conflicting studies on whether it was effective at all. Cost aside, the chemotherapy that would be the most aggressive treatment would be the one with the most side effects and it has only been effective in 20% of the patients with melanoma.

The treatment that seems to give her the best chance at a longer and comfortable life is the metronomic chemotherapy. With metronomic chemotherapy it has less side effects and has had some great success. Metronomic chemotherapy aims to slow cancer progression rather that curing the patient. It's a daily pill that will be given long term and has 2 other drugs that accompany it to offset some of the side effects. Due to her torn ACL Cash will also be on a 4th medication long term to manage the pain of her knee and the arthritis that will eventually set in. She will be receiving blood work analysis each month she is on the drugs and will be required to get x-rays and ultra sounds every 3 months to make sure that her body is handling the drugs well as well as looking to see what effect the drugs are having on the cancer.

I came home late from work yesterday, February 25th and Cash was limping on her rear left leg (the one she originally had surgery on) and when I was feeling around for an injury I found another lump near her surgery site. We had an appointment set up with our regular vet for her followup bloodwork after completing her first month of chemo so we had her look at her back leg. Dr. Bay decide to aspirate the lump that we found and will be sending the slides to A&M's oncologist. 

                                               Why do we need your help?
This journey from November to now has cost close to $6500 already. Chemotherapy and her support meds will cost around $250 a month and the ultra sounds and x-rays that are required to monitor her health will cost around $350 every 3 months. That will be around $4400 annually. I am asking that if you have anything, not matter how small or how large, that you can donate to cover her medical bills we would appreciate the help. If you cannot donate please share this on every outlet you can so her story can come across someone who can donate.

Thanks for your love and support!

-Amanda and Cashmere