Duke’s Vet Bills

Lisa Donahue is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi, my name is Lisa and I am trying to raise funds to support our recent unexpected vet bills. We love our dog Duke, a 3 year old Rhodesian ridgeback. On December 13th 2023 Duke had two huge surgeries. One an emergency DVG (stomach flip) and a diaphragmatic hernia repair. The surgeon commented that he didn’t have a lot of natural tissue to properly close and make a strong repair and she used some surrounding fatty tissue. Recently Duke’s health started to decline after New Years. He was intermittently throwing up. Which I thought was odd, but I assumed it was because he ate too fast, or possibly an upset stomach after all he went through. Last week, he started throwing up more frequently and wasn’t interested in his kibble. Concerned I called his normal vet for additional anti-acid and anti-nausea medicine. That helped with throwing up, but he wasn’t interested in eating. I took hism back to the vet on Wednesday and we did additional blood work, gave him fluids, and additional thorax X-rays to see if something was going on. Unfortunately, we got bad news that his diaphragmatic hernia repair had failed and his intestines and liver were back in his pericardial heart sac. This causes additional pressure when he tries to breathe, and discomfort when he tries to eat.

I took off work Thursday and called around different Veterinary Hospitals to see who could preform his surgery and get him in the soonest. While also trying to be mindful of cost. Unfortunately a lot of veterinary hospitals weren’t capable of preforming such a complicated case such as Duke’s.

VSH - Sorrento Valley was able to accommodate us as an emergency case and confirmed he was a critical case. He is currently undergoing his 2nd attempt for hernia repair and will stay in their critical care facility for 3-days following his surgery if everything goes well.

Our unforeseen veterinarian bills have accumulated quickly. The first surgery (12/13/23) and post operative care (that led to another emergency surgery to remove trapped air in his diaphragm) was almost $7k.

The surgery he’s receiving today (1/18/24) is over $15,000.

We greatly love our dear Duke, and believe he is too young to suffer through these unfortunate health scares. Unfortunately he was born with this and we are trying to continue to give him a better quality of life.

We ask you to please consider to donate anything you can to help us during this difficult time. Your donations will go directly to his medical expenses, CareCredit, and other credit card payments we have accumulated.

Thank you for your contributions and consideration.

(1/18/24) This morning before surgery. Duke is very frail, uncomfortable, and unable to hold down food or water. This is what made Duke’s 2nd attempt for diaphragmatic hernia repair an emergency situation. His blood work also showed bilirubin anemia, as well as bilirubin in his urine. The doctors believe this may be from his liver being bothered by being in the hernia space, or could be another issue.

*Update: 1/20/24 @9:21am - Duke Update: Duke has been doing well at the vet hospital. His liver enzymes are half what they were which is a good sign. They said it may take time to longer even more but they are happy with this progress. Duke has been breathing well on his own and minimal air and fluid has been released from his cheats tube. They are working on removing his chest tube today. In hopes that he will be discharged tonight if he continues to show good health. He has been eating at the pet hospital without an appetite stimulant. He is comfortable on his pain medicine and his heart rate has returned to normal as well.

*Update: 1/20/24 @ 8:34pm - Duke is now home with our family. We were able to pick Duke up around 4pm today. He did well today with his medicine and eating. We got home around 5:30 and fed him and he ate well. He drank some water and he wanted to rest in his pen so we let him. we are so blessed to have Duke home with us again. Thank you to everyone for their continued support, prayers, and donations.

Our official vet bill for his surgery on 1/18/24 is seen below. We were estimated at $15,800 and I had to pay in full before his surgery. Thankfully we were credited back around $4,800 today when we picked him up.

Page 1 final VSH Vet bill

Final bill at pick up on 1/20/24 @ 4pm

* Update: 2/3/24 @8:35am

Duke has been resting and eating well. He is still skinny, but he has been able to gain some weight thankfully. He is still on his sedation medication to keep him calm so he can rest. He’s also on anti-acid medication to help his stomach, and anti nausea. Duke is happy and healthy, he has good energy and seems to be getting back to his normal self. We are still watching his healing ❤️‍ and a close eye on him. Duke got his first bath since his 2nd surgery on Wednesday 2/1. His incision looks well. It is closed and a thin scar from the bottom of his ribs to the start of his groin. Everything is healing nicely.

here’s some photos of Duke this morning, 2/3/24 eating his breakfast.