I've watched Angel go through treatment for 7 months now and she's only appeared to be in pain a handful of times. 1 week ago Dr. Garon administered a full human dose of Cytoxin (chemo drug) to Angel in preparation for her bone marrow transplant. Seeing Angel in such a weakened state makes me want to take her to the transplant clinic and drop her off tonight! I couldn't imagine seeing her so sick and not being able to do anything about it.I'm so grateful to all of you for helping us save Angel's life by donating so that she can receive the cure :) What started out as a mission to save our dog's life has turned into a full blown movement to change the way we treat cancer in companion animals.
95% of transplants performed in humans were tested on dogs first. 95%! Imagine all of the people you know that have received life-saving transplants. If you don't know someone directly then you won't have to go far to find someone who does. The point: most of these people are still alive to tell about it. Once we found a way to cure lymphoma in humans the death rates dropped and the success rates skyrocketed!
Does it surprise you that cancer is the leading killer in dogs? 50% of dogs over the age of 10 will die from some form of cancer. 50%! That's a big number. We have found ways to cure every dog ailment you can think of; heart disease, diabetes, paralysis you name it. Why should cancer be any different? We must keep pushing forward to help bridge the gap between dogs and humans. They helped us before and they can do it again! Why should the cure stop with humans when there is so much to be learned from what happens when we cure dogs? Chemotherapy is a treatment but a bone marrow transplant is a cure! What if there was an even better way to cure lymphoma and it's just waiting to be discovered? Dogs were there to help us find a cure when we needed them the most. Now it's our turn to give back and help them receive the cures they helped create!
Angel is starting to perk up now and she even looks like she's going to eat :) We will continue to monitor her temperature and pumping her full of meds and fluids. Friday Angel goes back to the vet where they do a blood panel that will be sent to North Carolina. Once North Carolina approves her blood work, Angel will be given her 1st of 6 Neupogen shots, click to see Neupogen rx info . The cost for this drug is $3,000 for 6 vials. She will receive 2 shots per day until they are gone. The shots will be administered from home. We will transport the Neupogen shots to North Carolina in a cooler.
We are close to our goal, but we still have a ways to go. Anything that we don't have to borrow is a god send for our family. We are offering beautiful bracelets, doggy decor & even dog clothes in return for your donations.
http://www.save-an-angel.org/main.html or http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000390876073#!/profile.php?id=100000390876073
I'll update tomorrow to let everyone know Angel's progress :)
Kristie Sullens -- Angel's Mama
ksullens@save-an-angel.org
