23/04/2019
Hi! Pinkies mom here. Iâm so sorry we havenât posted in some time as weâve been super busy and adjusting to life here in New Jersey. However I have come to post some information about Pinkie and hopes that we can all pitch in rally around my sweet girl. Recently we found a mass( tumor) in Pinkieâs mouth that was really concerning- we took her in to get a biopsy - and hoped for the best however we later found that it was something more serious than we though.
Pinkie has been diagnosed with an oral acanthomatous ameloblastoma. These tumors are aggressively locally in that it invades into the bone and in most cases do no spread to other areas of the body. Treatment is usually focused on local therapy with either surgery or radiation therapy. Surgery with complete excision has an 85-90% chance of cure and while radiation cannot cure this tumor/disease, it does control the cancer for a couple of years or more on average (in some rare instances the tumors may become resistant to radiation).
Prior to either of these therapies, a head/neck CT would need to be performed to determine the true local extent of the tumor and to allow for more appropriate discussion on each treatment option. Cost of the CT scan would be $2,300-$2,500; if CT of the chest is performed at the same time to look for any other concerning abnormalities, that is Yalu and extra $150. Cost of surgery would be $4,000-$5,000 and radiation would be around $6,000- $7,000.
These were estimates provided as a ball park estimates and a more definitive estimate would be provided prior to the procedure.
Our primary focus is the CT scan so that we can see the extent of the cancer and which treatment would be best for her.
We are asking to see if we opened up a donation or funding page if anyone would be able to help with some of these costs? Maybe a fundraiser of some sort for pinkie? Any suggestions would be helpful so that we can get Pinkie the care she so much deserves.
