Help Charmer Fight Canine Cancer

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Okay, my pup has cancer mass in his mouth, I am trying to raise the money I need to fund the cancer treatment of my dog, Charmer, above.  He has a mass around his upper right rear molar (click pictures for enlarged images):

My pup’s name is Charmer and he is an 8 year old long-haired dachshund, black and tan. It means so much for me to treat him because my aunt gave him to me when I unexpectedly lost the first long-haired dachshund I had to a mystery blood disease when she was just 8 years old, just as Charmer is now, and I did not have the money to treat her. Saturday, January 13th, 2007 marked the 8th year of her passing, and I simply cannot believe this can be happening again, exactly at the age my Pizza was, exactly the time I lost her.  To try to prevent that, I refused any procedures on him that would cross the same date of Pizza’s death.  Call me superstitious, but the timing is just too synchronistic and I will not even put it to the test. 

The cancer my dog has is a mass around his upper rear right molar. I actually took him Monday, January 8th, 2007 to my vet to do a biopsy and remove as much of the mass he could, but to my surprise he called me 2 hours later to say he could not remove any because of the risk of bleeding, and made the appointment for me for the doggie cancer vet. I understand that the treatment can be good depending on the cancer type, and radiation to the mouth often brings good results; hence I am all ready to follow through on it.

When I visited with the dog cancer vet, Dr. DiBernardi, she said he needed a biopsy for her to determine what type of cancer it was, in order to know how to treat it.  She also needed 3 chest x-rays to rule out if the cancer already spread to his lungs.  If it appeared in his lungs then no biopsy would be needed because it would be certain it was a malignant cancer.

However, the price she quoted was almost $1000 for the biopsy and x-rays, and that wasn’t even with any treatment to help him.  I had to tell her I had a veterinarian that would perform the biopsy for 1/3rd that cost, and I would have to use him, as I could not afford $1000 just for the diagnosis.  She explained to me that her facility was more expensive because it was a specialty center with state of the art equipment, but she had no problem with me using my veterinarian.

Unfortunately my veterinarian’s earliest date was a week away, January 17th.  Charmer had the 3 chest x-rays, and I was weak with fear waiting for the vet, Dr. Carmona to let me know if the x-rays showed cancer in the lungs.  It was the best news when he telephoned and told me no.

Dr Carmona then performed the biopsy and removed also a peanut-size tumor on the outside of Charmer’s rear molar to make him more comfortable.  He didn’t use sutures, but cauterized the area.

Three days later, Dr Berg, the head veterinarian where Dr Carmona works, telephoned with the bad news that the tumor was malignant melanoma.  When I got off the phone, I clutched Charmer, crying.  As I cried, I knew I wasn’t any better prepared to handle losing him as I was when I understood Pizza was deadly ill.  That resolved me to do the best I can to save him, as I am not any better at handling the grief and I cannot bear losing him.

When the oncologist knew the tumor type, she then let me know what the treatment would be and the cost.  It consisted of radiation and chemotherapy together, for 4 to 6 weeks, one combined treatment each week.

She wrote up an estimate of the charges.  The radiation is $826 to $991 each of the 6 treatments.  The chemotherapy is $475 to $570 each of the 6 treatments.  Don’t ask me why the price range, but I am guessing that has to do with any complications that may happen during the treatments.

When I first met with Dr Dibernardi, she had told me that treatment ranged from $1800 to $6000, depending on the cancer.  Now she was telling me from $7806 to $9,366, and this is for palliative treatment that will gain him 9 months more of ‘quality life’, as she put it.  If that was all I could give Charmer, I would have thrown in the towel.  But during my frantic searches to learn all about all the kinds of modern treatment options, I had come across clinical trials that had amazing successes consisting of a vaccine against the very type of cancer Charmer has.

I had found 3 places in the United States conducting the trials right now.  One was in my home state, one in Wisconsin, and one in New York.  I read very positive study results for the University of Wisconsin trial, but I simply couldn’t get Charmer up there.  I was set to go to the one in my home state, when I thought to call Wisconsin and see if they shipped the vaccine to my vet.  To my excitement, I learned they did.  However, they require a donation from $1800 to $2000, depending if your veterinarian has cryo freezing to store the vaccines.

This study has actually cured some dogs, and also double or tripled the lives of many more.  What the vaccine does is get the dog’s body to attack the specific cancer cells of melanoma.  Dr Dibernardy agreed to perform the Wisconsin vaccines on my dog.

Now the only very big hurdle I face is raising the money in time.  When Dr Berg gave me the diagnosis January 20th , 2007, I asked him how long I would have if I did absolutely nothing for Charmer.  He told me Charmer would probably be comfortable for another month.  However, only four days later, a new bump appeared in his cheekbone area right above the molar with the mass.  Suddenly the time I thought I had seemed suddenly gone, and the stake jumped up 20000 percent!  Panicked I called the oncologist.  She told me that the lump could be just a hematoma from the surgery, or an infection, not necessarily the tumor, but she couldn’t tell without seeing it.  She told me to use a cold pack instead of the hot pack I had thought to use.

In case it was the tumor suddenly growing, the treatments were moved up to start this January 30th.  However, it pained me to tell Dr Dibernardi that I could only afford the radiation at this time.  I really only have the money for just 3 of the 6 radiation treatments.  Dr Dibernardi had told me that all treatments must be done one after the other or the tumor gets resistant. 

It was the most horrible thing I had to do to make a choice betweent 2 treatments that really  need to be done together all because I don’t have the money.  From what I understand the radiation will be used to attack and shrink the tumor mass in his mouth, but that the chemo is to be used to get any spread of the cancer in his body.  Well that really isn’t a choice I can make, because both belong together, one without the other can leave him doomed.  But what choice do I have!!!!?????

So I am now scrambling around to raise the money for at least the radiation and I am running out of precious time as Charmer can’t wait, but has to start right away next week. I got a small loan of $1800 from a place called carecredit.com which specializes in giving loans for animal vet treatments, but it didn’t come close to the full cost.  Through some sales online I have been able to raise another $1100, again good, but not good enough. I have made some good friends online who are trying to do what they can to make Charmer’s cause known to help, and I thank them.

Little Charmer deserves to live.  He is a very good, sweet boy.  He doesn’t bite.  When he travels in the car he is a perfect little gentleman, quiet, but alert, looking at surroundings, but no fuss and extremely well behaved.  At home, he enjoys barking at the various foot and car traffic up our cul de sac.  Mostly he wants to keep tabs on where I am at all time and will come to follow me if I make a move out of his site, when the three other dogs I have will stay lying still like doggies logs.

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