My Nonprofit Reviews

The Dude and I are blessed and eternally grateful for the outpouring of love and compassion from For The Love of Alex and their donors. One weekend morning , as I was just waking up, I was petting The Dude and became alarmed when I felt a golf ball sized lump on his left hip area. I pet him several times every day and I was completely stumped as to how such a big lump appeared overnight. The soonest appointment I was able to make was on Monday. Bloodwork and slides were taken from the aspirated fluid to try to determine what caused this lump. The vet thought maybe The Dude had played rough and bumped himself hard into something. He’s less than 3 years old and he does run fast and play hard. The vet said the lump should resolve in about 2 weeks, if it was indeed an injury. All slides and bloodwork came back normal.
Less than a week later the lump had increased to twice the original size. Bloodwork and slides were run again, but still nothing indicating anything abnormal. He was put on Clavacillin to see if it would help reduce the lump. Rather than decrease, the lump had now become the size of a baseball. The vets were stumped and; at the same time, very concerned. The soonest surgery slot available was in a week and I began calling organizations seeking financial assistance. I am disabled and have limited funds and I had used all of the money I had for The Dude’s 4 visits up to this point.
During Covid restrictions it’s been very difficult on fundraising for grants for many organizations and I didn’t think I was going to be able to cover the necessary surgery for The Dude. The Dude had been granted funds that would cover half of his surgery and I was trying to figure out how I could possibly pay the other half. I was beside myself, when I received an email from Abby stating that For The Love of Alex would cover the balance of The Dude’s surgery. It was like the weight of the world was lifted of my shoulders.
The Dude’s surgery was extensive and thankfully the vet was very careful in removing the tumor encased in it’s capsule. The mass was sent for biopsy and the results came back as FISS a malignant fibrosarcoma neoplasm from the Feline Leukemia Vaccinations that were administered just a couple of months prior to the lump appearing. If not for the grant donors that Abby reached out to for a quick surgery date, the vet may not have been able to removed the entire contents of the tumor and it may have metastasized. The vet is confident that all of the mass was surgically removed with precision and The Dude will not have to suffer chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
The Dude is my emotional support animal and we have learned how to support each other with our ailments. The Dude and I are forever grateful to For The Love of Alex and their donors, which without your kind donations the extensive surgery and quick surgery date would not have been possible. Thank you all so very much!

❤️ The Dude & Yvonne Milillo