Hi, I'm Kim. My husband Jon is a United States Marine. Jon has been deployed on 3 separate occasions, each for varying lengths of time. The last time was to Afghanistan, which is an ugly and harsh place and even uglier war. There are a lot of things that the public doesn't get to see which happens over there. Jon has told me some things that have actually brought tears to my eyes. His last deployment was cut short by an IED, which detonated nearby his unit, killing a man in his unit, and sending a shard of shrapnel into my husband's leg. It wasn't a bad wound, considering his fellow soldier who lost his life, but it was enough to get him sent home with an Honorable Discharge.

Jon's military career corresponded with us getting our 3 dogs: Holly, Jolly, and Kuby. These three have been with us as puppies when Jon first enlisted, until now, with Jon finally home for good. Jon loves them and I believe he is able to “discharge” some of what he's seen and done by talking and playing with the dogs. It's great therapy. Not only does Jon have the leg wound, but he is also diagnosed with PTSD. He has seen too many dead bodies and too much inhumanity. Holly, Jolly, and Kuby, combined with several medications, have helped him and continue to help him through this.

Kuby was always Jon's favorite. I know, just like with kids, you shouldn't have a favorite. But it's just a fact that Kuby was always favored by Jon. They have a special bond that the others don't seem to have. Kuby would always play fetch with the baseball. Kuby follows Jon around everywhere, including the bathroom. Kuby was the one that Jon picked out from the shelter himself (I got to pick the other two). This is why it hit Jon so hard when he found out that Kuby was in need of surgery to have a tumor removed in his intestine.

About a week before Jon was set to get out of the base hospital overseas, I started to notice strange behavior in Kuby. His appetite went down, and had been going down for some time. But then he started vomiting for no reason and I noticed some blood in his vomit. I took him for an emergency visit to the vet. There they ran blood tests, squeezed his belly, and said they would need to do an ultrasound. I brought him back the next day for the ultrasound and there they found a tumor in his intestine. They stuck a needle in right there to gather cells to see if it was benign or malignant. I didn't have the heart to tell him while he was still overseas. I was told that Kuby would need surgery but the extent would depend on whether it was malignant. I had no earthly idea how we would pull it off. When Jon came home and I told him the news, he told me not to worry, that this would work out. But I could see the panic and worry on poor Jon's face. He again reassured me that somehow we would come up with the money for the surgery. The same afternoon that Jon arrived home, we got a call from the vet letting us know that the tumor was benign, but that it would need to come out as soon as we were able to set it up.

And this is why I am here today, begging all the good folks out there reading this to give what you can, even if it's $1. My husband deserves to have his little Kuby around to help him and Kuby deserves to have more years on this planet. I wouldn't ask like this if there was any other way, but we have exhausted all of our other options. We borrowed what we could from friends and family, we tried to sell what we could at a yard sale, and we squeezed what we could out of our savings and credit cards. The total estimate of the surgery is $5156.40. Through everything that we have tried, we have raised roughly $3600. We therefore only have $1500 more to go to get the surgery done. We do not have much money.. The vet was able to give me a huge discount on the emergency visit and follow up ultrasound, only charging me for the ultrasound and blood panel, and not for the biopsy and emergency visit. This came to $600.32. We tried to apply for Care Credit, but were denied. The government doesn't pay my husband much, and with me being a receptionist for a small company, we just make ends meet. Please, from the bottom of my heart, if you can, please help in any way you can. Thank you for anything and everything you are able to do.