Many of you know my sister, Jennifer Burns and her Australian shepherd, Kerry. You may have seen them at agility trials or at nose  work trials.  If you have met them then you know what a wonderful team they are.  Recently Kerry has been exhibiting some troubling symptoms that her vet could not diagnose so he referred her to a specialist.  The initial thought was that it was either an abnormal growth in the brain or an infection and therefor tests needed to be run.  The hope was that if it was a brain tumor it could be shrunk with prednisone or if it was an infection then antibiotics would work.  The estimate for the tests was $4,400.  Jennifer is an elementary school teacher with no other source of income.  Knowing this, I donated 2,400 to help with the diagnosis.  During the day the tests were run, the vet kept getting results that were not consistent with either initial diagnosis, so more tests.  By the end of day the bill had grown to over $6,000 - even the vet said he got a sticker shock when he added it all up.  The good news was that the main result that was found was an abnormal growth in the spleen, no other growths were detected.  The vet feels that there is a good chance that the growth is benign and that removing the spleen will resolve the problem.  So this is wonderful news but that adds over $4,000 to the already large bill. 

 

I am asking you to share this GoFundMe site with anyone who knows Jennifer and appreciates her kind and generous spirit.  She is always the first person to volunteer to help others around her.  She has taught both special education and regular education and has been honored with Teacher of the Year for Napa County twice.  She has volunteered at many nose work events including taking photographs of the competing dogs (often giving the photos away for free).  Even if you don’t know Jennifer, if you have ever been in the position where the vet bills accumulate literally overnight - then you know the stressful position she is in.

 

I have started the donation off with $2,400 but if you can give any amount, no matter how small (or large) it will be greatly appreciated.