Buster's Fight Against Myelomalacia
Donation protected
Hi, everyone. I'm Anna and my husband is Charles. We have a 3-year old beautiful black brindle Frenchie named Buster. For those who know him, they would describe him as a very hyper, happy, fun-loving, sweet, and super friendly pup. He loves going to the beach to pick up sticks to carry it in his mouth, going to parks, and meeting new people all the time. He loves meeting fellow doggies (though he can be a bit scared of bigger dogos), likes to cuddle, and enjoys eating bananas, mangoes, cantaloupe, and other tropical fruits.
Buster has always been healthy, with the exception of his allergies since his move here to California. Last March 21st, he had his laparoscopic surgery to remove his retained testicles and recovered amazingly well. He was back to being his normal self in no time and was chewing his toys left and right! However, things made a horrific turn when on Monday morning (April 30, 2018 around 7:30am), Buster yelped as his dad picked him up to say goodbye. His dad immediately put him down and just gave him hugs and kisses. After that, Buster was back to the way he is - following us around, drinking water, asking for treats.. We thought he just didn't like the way he was carried. By noon of the same day, I brought him downstairs to our little yard so he could sunbathe a little bit. He relaxed for a bit and as I was walking around while on the phone, he started whimpering. I looked and saw that he was seated by the front door. I instinctively tried to carry him to see if he stepped on something, but when I started touching him, that's when he CRIED. It was frightening. Our baby has never complained about anything so I immediately called my husband and we rushed him to his vet.
When we brought him to his vet, they prepped him for an x-ray and a physical exam. Everything turned out "okay". The bad news was that he had some calcification on his vertebrae, and that he has a bulging disc. His vet said it was mild and that the pain would be episodic (she has a bulging disc as well). She informed us that at this point, he is okay but that we would need to make sure his disc wouldn't get aggravated by sudden movements and so on. He was given Rimadyl and a muscle relaxant as his take-home meds and we were back home in about 2 hours. Buster was still walking and everything looked just fine.
We walked him to do his thing around midnight and that's when we noticed that he was walking a little strangely. He pooped, walked normal again and so we all slept. At 5am on May 1st (Tuesday), we woke up and found our baby's hind legs paralyzed. He looked confused and terrified. So we made a few calls to our vet and she recommended that we take Buster to ASG in Glendale.
At ASG, they informed us that Buster's bulging disc had gotten worse and that he may need surgery. More tests were done and we were given the option to do surgery (it was the first option). The vet bill was extremely costly so we asked if we could take him home and deal with pain management. They obliged but as we were going home, we were going back & forth with Buster's insurance company. It turns out they're able to cover a part of the cost of surgery. This originally wasn't something they could offer because Buster's first ever vet here in the Valley didn't submit all of his paperwork and was therefore a concern for Buster's insurance; they didn't have proof that Buster never had this problem. Fortunately enough, with us calling everyone involved back & forth, things started looking up. Without a hundred percent confirmation that Buster's insurance will cover his costly surgery, my sib-in-laws offered to help us pay for the deposit. This was a huge relief because the vet bill estimate was anywhere from $5,738.60 to $9,542.94.
We dropped off Buster for his emergency surgery at ASG and by midnight of May 2nd, we were told that his surgery went well and that he will be observed as he recovers from anesthesia. By 9am, we were told that he's fine and that we could visit. Our visit lasted about an hour in the evening. We absolutely missed him! He still hasn't regained sensation nor mobility in his hind legs, so Charles and I have been looking into therapy, acupuncture, and even wheel chairs. "Everything would be fine," we thought.
By 9am of May 3 (today), we received some devastating news. Buster's temperature spiked last night and his doctor noted some neck and head twitching. She informed us that MYELOMALACIA is in their radar because those are some of its signs. MYELOMALACIA essentially is spine necrosis where the spine becomes soft and dies leaving its victim permanent paralyzed. Buster's doctor said she will continue to observe to see if it's leading up to that. She gave us 24 hours for observation and if it doesn't improve, we need to talk about our options (euthanasia being one of them). We asked if the observation period could be prolonged since she also said that it could just be an "abnormal reaction" of Buster's body to the surgery... But at this point, we don't know yet.
We are heartbroken, tired, and devastated by all this. His vet bills are piling up and if he does pull through, we would need to spend more on his therapy, meds, supplements, and making sure he lives a wonderfully happy life. We are trying our best and our hearts are crushed by this. I've repeatedly asked our vets if we could have done anything or if we missed anything, but they said that there was no trauma and he didn't have any history of symptoms that required a CT Scan/MRI. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions the past few days and we are truthfully worried about the bills... We just spent a significant amount of money for his laparoscopic surgery last month and we're struggling now, which is why we would like to ask for your help in saving our beloved baby. Any donation is greatly appreciated and if you're not in the position to donate, that is totally understandable too. Please do help us spread the word about Buster's GoFundMe page. Please, please, please keep him in your thoughts/prayers. We really need all the healing thoughts. :'(
With love,Anna, Charles, and Buster
Buster has always been healthy, with the exception of his allergies since his move here to California. Last March 21st, he had his laparoscopic surgery to remove his retained testicles and recovered amazingly well. He was back to being his normal self in no time and was chewing his toys left and right! However, things made a horrific turn when on Monday morning (April 30, 2018 around 7:30am), Buster yelped as his dad picked him up to say goodbye. His dad immediately put him down and just gave him hugs and kisses. After that, Buster was back to the way he is - following us around, drinking water, asking for treats.. We thought he just didn't like the way he was carried. By noon of the same day, I brought him downstairs to our little yard so he could sunbathe a little bit. He relaxed for a bit and as I was walking around while on the phone, he started whimpering. I looked and saw that he was seated by the front door. I instinctively tried to carry him to see if he stepped on something, but when I started touching him, that's when he CRIED. It was frightening. Our baby has never complained about anything so I immediately called my husband and we rushed him to his vet.
When we brought him to his vet, they prepped him for an x-ray and a physical exam. Everything turned out "okay". The bad news was that he had some calcification on his vertebrae, and that he has a bulging disc. His vet said it was mild and that the pain would be episodic (she has a bulging disc as well). She informed us that at this point, he is okay but that we would need to make sure his disc wouldn't get aggravated by sudden movements and so on. He was given Rimadyl and a muscle relaxant as his take-home meds and we were back home in about 2 hours. Buster was still walking and everything looked just fine.
We walked him to do his thing around midnight and that's when we noticed that he was walking a little strangely. He pooped, walked normal again and so we all slept. At 5am on May 1st (Tuesday), we woke up and found our baby's hind legs paralyzed. He looked confused and terrified. So we made a few calls to our vet and she recommended that we take Buster to ASG in Glendale.
At ASG, they informed us that Buster's bulging disc had gotten worse and that he may need surgery. More tests were done and we were given the option to do surgery (it was the first option). The vet bill was extremely costly so we asked if we could take him home and deal with pain management. They obliged but as we were going home, we were going back & forth with Buster's insurance company. It turns out they're able to cover a part of the cost of surgery. This originally wasn't something they could offer because Buster's first ever vet here in the Valley didn't submit all of his paperwork and was therefore a concern for Buster's insurance; they didn't have proof that Buster never had this problem. Fortunately enough, with us calling everyone involved back & forth, things started looking up. Without a hundred percent confirmation that Buster's insurance will cover his costly surgery, my sib-in-laws offered to help us pay for the deposit. This was a huge relief because the vet bill estimate was anywhere from $5,738.60 to $9,542.94.
We dropped off Buster for his emergency surgery at ASG and by midnight of May 2nd, we were told that his surgery went well and that he will be observed as he recovers from anesthesia. By 9am, we were told that he's fine and that we could visit. Our visit lasted about an hour in the evening. We absolutely missed him! He still hasn't regained sensation nor mobility in his hind legs, so Charles and I have been looking into therapy, acupuncture, and even wheel chairs. "Everything would be fine," we thought.
By 9am of May 3 (today), we received some devastating news. Buster's temperature spiked last night and his doctor noted some neck and head twitching. She informed us that MYELOMALACIA is in their radar because those are some of its signs. MYELOMALACIA essentially is spine necrosis where the spine becomes soft and dies leaving its victim permanent paralyzed. Buster's doctor said she will continue to observe to see if it's leading up to that. She gave us 24 hours for observation and if it doesn't improve, we need to talk about our options (euthanasia being one of them). We asked if the observation period could be prolonged since she also said that it could just be an "abnormal reaction" of Buster's body to the surgery... But at this point, we don't know yet.
We are heartbroken, tired, and devastated by all this. His vet bills are piling up and if he does pull through, we would need to spend more on his therapy, meds, supplements, and making sure he lives a wonderfully happy life. We are trying our best and our hearts are crushed by this. I've repeatedly asked our vets if we could have done anything or if we missed anything, but they said that there was no trauma and he didn't have any history of symptoms that required a CT Scan/MRI. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions the past few days and we are truthfully worried about the bills... We just spent a significant amount of money for his laparoscopic surgery last month and we're struggling now, which is why we would like to ask for your help in saving our beloved baby. Any donation is greatly appreciated and if you're not in the position to donate, that is totally understandable too. Please do help us spread the word about Buster's GoFundMe page. Please, please, please keep him in your thoughts/prayers. We really need all the healing thoughts. :'(
With love,Anna, Charles, and Buster
Organizer
Anna Santos-Glenka
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
