Save my PTSD dog Hrafi from cancer

January 6 marks the day I found the bump on his hock and January 7, the heart-breaking day he was formally diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

It's been a long,  soul crushing journey but thank God and all of you, he is still with me and doing well, so far.

Soon I imagine they'll be checking his lungs for spread and that terrifies me and I pray there has been no spread to *anywhere* in the rest of his body.

After he healed from the October 3 amputation, he was given Palladia which is an oral chemotherapy pill, which he took for a month.

His checkup after the month showed "protein in his urine" as well as blood cells so the vet stopped the Palladia treatment for a month and that is where we are now, waiting for his next checkup to see if he can resume the Palladia or not.

His interdigital cyst issue has flared up and is not resolving quickly like it always, and I worry that the Palladia compromised his immune system enough to allow the issue to be harder to fix.

This is added stress and worry, for sure.

But he is still happy, playing and eating like horse so I am grateful for that.

At the beginning of this, I looked at the treatment estimates given to me, factored in his insurance coverage and made a guess at how much to ask for but I was woefully short.

Trupanion, bless their hearts, have so far dropped probably close to $60K on him and never once complained or threatened to stop his health insurance.

Quite the opposite, they have always been kind and tell me to never worry about that happening, ever.

 That adds a double edged sword aspect to all of this.

He has survived much longer than the first vet thought he would and seems to show no signs of slowing down yet but that also brings in the money issue.

It's getting incredibly tight here for us and I have put the last thing I have of any value up for sale, which is my motorcycle but so far, no one has even made an offer.

Cold weather, rough economy, just bad timing, I reckon.

Christmas was pretty much only the gift of having my boy still here, despite losing the leg, after all and for that, I am wildly grateful to everyone who prayed, donated or did both.

He is all I wanted for Christmas, and I am blessed that he is still here.

Please pray that his good fortune continues and that he has no spread and maybe toss in a prayer for me, because honestly, this has been such a nightmare that he's in relatively much better shape than I am.

Also, pray that someone buys the bike because I owe more than I have and I am terrified that I won't have enough to keep him going for as long as he can, given his current hopeful condition.

God bless each and every one of you for being there for both of us.

Shari & Hrafi

Please pray for us as we start chemo again.

Please pray that it has not spread, and that nothing has gotten even worse than it already is.

Please pray that I can hold myself together, for his sake, as I'm having a very hard time coping.

Thank all of you angels and God bless.

It was just too heartbreaking to go through it on the 1 year anniversary of his sister Seven dropping dead.

Superstition or fear, either way.

Couldn't bear it.

November 7, the one year anniversary of his sister Seven suddenly dropping dead, is his appointment.

Raging anxiety over that "coincidence".

More chemotherapy for him.

Praying God...no BEGGING God it has not spread and he will live a long time.

So terrified of our future together I can hardly function anymore.

Please pray that my baby boy will be one of the Lucky Ones.

So many have shown such kindness and generosity to a person they;ve never met and a dog they don't even know.

They say everything has a reason.

I wonder now if the reason for this terrible thing is to change my heart.

Since I was a kid, people who should have protected me instead failed me atrociously and I lost my faith in humans.

But this nightmare has changed all that.

So many kind souls giving so much for a "stranger" and her dog has just wrecked my former cynical paradigm.

Angels, all of you and like angels, I may not ever see you in person but I know you're all out there, watching over us.

I wish had the perfect words to express my boundless gratitude and love for all of you.

"Thank you" seems so inadequate for all you have done for me and my beloved dog.

I am just humbled by all of you.

God bless you all, each and every one.

Shari & Hrafi

Despite going right into the wall for him, the SRT was not enough and now his hock is basically "eggshell surrounding mush".

As hard as I tried to avoid amputation, it has become impossible now and this is why.

Yet he is still his joyous self, with this horror show of a hock.

Hrafi at the surgeon's clinic

That last donation has me in tears of gratitude.

God bless you and thank you!!!!!!!!

Despite doing every cutting edge vet technique, he has a pathological fracture now and amputation is inevitable.

To say this is gutting me is an understatement.

His lungs are still clear, he's still happy and bouncy and doing well and eating like a hod so he probably has a good chance at living a good life for a good amount of time.

However, the copays and uncovered consults have decimated what money I had.

I just paid a $300 consult to his orthopedic surgeon and the estimate is around $4200.

His vets think he's doing very well, considering and has a good chance at being a "successful" tripod.

I have exhausted every other option for the sake of the love in his eyes and his general joyous attitude, but I have also exhausted all the things I had to sell, to keep here as long as he can be.

Please, if you can find it in your hearts, and forgive me for constantly begging, please donate whatever you can spare.

In a wretched life, he is my one bit of happiness and I have no idea how I will cope if I lose that.

And please pray for him...and for me.

Shari

August update:

Allegdly he now has a pathological fracture but some people see it and others don't.

One exceptional vet said it was a "hairline fracture" and not to take his leg.

Instead, we're going to an orthopedic vet in September to try and find a solution to stabilize that leg, which he still uses, despite having an intermittent "not terrible" limp.

His hock is functional even though that is where the tumor was so I wonder if it's not his foot or some kind of neurological side effect from the SRT radiation treatments.

His oncology vet totally ignored my constant questions about "why he limps" when she always said he was "not painful upon exam".

Something is NOT right and she must have missed it.

Seems odd that the heavy pain meds she gave him have utterly no effect on the limp which makes me wonder if it's not "mechanical" or neurological.

I will NOT give up on my baby boy and we need support and prayers for this next phase with the ortho vets.

He is otherwise doing great.

I wish I was in such good shape as this is breaking me.

Thank you all for the support, donations and prayers.

Go Hrafi!!!

August update:

Allegdly he now has a pathological fracture but some people see it and others don't.

One exceptional vet said it was a "hairline fracture" and not to take his leg.

Instead, we're going to an orthopedic vet in September to try and find a solution to stabilize that leg, which he still uses, despite having an intermittent "not terrible" limp.

His hock is functional even though that is where the tumor was so I wonder if it's not his foot or some kind of neurological side effect from the SRT radiation treatments.

His oncology vet totally ignored my constant questions about "why he limps" when she always said he was "not painful upon exam".

Something is NOT right and she must have missed it.

Seems odd that the heavy pain meds she gave him have utterly no effect on the limp which makes me wonder if it's not "mechanical" or neurological.

I will NOT give up on my baby boy and we need support and prayers for this next phase with the ortho vets.

He is otherwise doing great.

I wish I was in such good shape as this is breaking me.

Thank you all for the support, donations and prayers.

Go Hrafi!!!

Update #3
May 19, 2022, 5:43 pm

Tuesday, May 17, Hrafi went for his chemo and lung x-rays to see if his cancer has spread.

THE XRAYS WERE CLEAR!!!!!!

God bless each and every one of you for your prayers and support and praise God and thank Jesus!!!!!

April 16, he had his 5th birthday.

It was not the usual "go out and visit every Hrafi fan" or even trips to the pet store, due to the fear of pathological fracture occurring.

He does favor that leg now and I'm praying that it's just a side effect from the SRT as  he did have some "burns" and swelling from that, which is supposedly "normal".

[hope against hope that's all it is!!!]

He spent the day eating special food greedily and playing with the toy I picked up for him.

[photos below]

Still going for his chem and zolendrate bone strengthening infusions.

Gas is soaring now that our "tax holiday" is over.

He has an upcoming x-ray to see if the cancer has spread to his lungs.

Petition heaven with prayers that it has NOT, please!

Thank you all and may God bless every one of you!

Shari & Hrafi

Hrafi has completed his 3 stereotactic radiation treatments and one chemo treatment, so far.

He is going for his second bone building infusion and CBC to check his white cell counts on the 22nd.

His hock is inflamed and sore from \\\'radiation burn\\\' which is a rare thing so naturally he got it.

We just cannot catch a break.

:(

Really hoping and praying it can be managed and cleared up because the only cure for it otherwise is amputation and we\\\'ve gone through all this avoid that.

I am REALLY grateful for the prayers and donations.

He is my life and my love and I am nowhere near ready to lose him.

Begging God that that will not come for a very long time.

Hrafi has completed his 3 stereotactic radiation treatments and one chemo treatment, so far.

He is going for his second bone building infusion and CBC to check his white cell counts on the 22nd.

His hock is inflamed and sore from \\\'radiation burn\\\' which is a rare thing so naturally he got it.

We just cannot catch a break.

:(

Really hoping and praying it can be managed and cleared up because the only cure for it otherwise is amputation and we\\\'ve gone through all this avoid that.

I am REALLY grateful for the prayers and donations.

He is my life and my love and I am nowhere near ready to lose him.

Begging God that that will not come for a very long time.