Hi everyone!

As I’m sure most of you have been following Chico’s story but, if you haven’t I will fill you in from start to finish -

Chico, a 1 year old Chihuahua mix was surrendered to New Hope Rescue, Inc located in Opelika, AL on 2/28/2024. The reason of his surrender was that the owner got extremely allergic to him, but we learned rather quickly, that wasn’t the case.

Chico was scheduled to transport to New England to his adopter just after a week of coming into NHR’s care. Chico left AL on 3/7/24 and started his long journey to New England. On 3/9/24, Karen, our amazing transporter called and said something was wrong with Chico. She said he appeared to have had a seizure and lost functions of his hind legs and most function in his front limbs. We had Karen bring Chico to Guardian Veterinary Specialists in Brewster, NY.

Chico was admitted to the Neurology department at Guardian. They did some tests and images and informed us that Chico had a gap between his C1 & C2 vertebrae and would need surgery to correct the issue. We were informed that the surgery was imperative for Chico’s quality of life moving forward. An Atlanto-Axial Subluxation Stabilization was performed on 3/11/24. Chico tolerated the surgery well. He remained in the hospital for 3 days following the surgery. He was released to our care on 3/14/24 and sent home with an antibiotic, pain medication and a nerve medication. We were told to schedule a 10-14 day post op where they would take x-rays and evaluate his recovery. Chico did well for the next 10 days. He slowly started to move his limbs and regain some function, but still was not walking. His foster brought him back to Guardian on 3/29/24 for his 14 day check up. He was medically cleared, the doctor told us that he was healing great and that there was no need to do an X-Ray, that he felt “confident” that Chico was on the road to recovery and would be walking in no later than 1 month as long as the physical therapy was followed properly. At that time, we were planning to transport Chico back to Alabama as his original foster, wanted to adopt him. We had transport on stand by awaiting Chico to finish his post op appointment. The doctor even cleared him to transport and stated that he felt there were no post operative complications. He recommended Chico go to a vet in 3-6 months to get imaging to make sure everything healed properly.

At that time, we decided not to send Chico back to Alabama. He needed intense physical therapy multiple times a day. It just made sense to keep him in New England.

Chico did well for the next 5 days. We continued his physical therapy, we even did some water therapy with him as recommended him the Neurologist at Guardian. He was doing quite well, until the night of April 3rd. That day, Chico’s foster noticed he seemed a little off. He didn’t seem like himself, he was barking a lot more than normal and just wanted to lay in his bed. A storm was coming in late that night so we thought maybe it was just the weather. Dogs can sense storms before they even come. At 11:58pm on April 3rd Chico had to what appeared to be a seizure. His neck hyperextended, his legs were paddling and his eyes were shaking. It lasted for about 30-45 seconds. I waited for it to finish then picked him up. He was alert and conscious following the episode. I held him for a bit and laid him back down and he immediately went into a second episode. This one lasted about the same time but was a little worse than the first. After the second episode his left eye became lazy, it didn’t react to light and would not follow movement. At this point, the impending snow/ice storm was in full effect and the roads were in hazardous condition. There was no way I was getting him 2.5hrs away to Guardian. I called Guardian to let them know what was going on, they informed me that if he has a third seizure he needs to be seen somewhere immediately. I gave Chico a gabapentin around 1AM on 4/4/24 as he appeared to be in pain. I placed him in a sternal position in his bed and checked on him throughout the night. When I woke up that morning, he was not ok. His body was cold and stiff. He couldn’t move any of his legs or his neck. I called around to local vets in the area to see who was open given the active storm. I brought Chico to Sturbridge Veterinary Hospital as they were open and also had an urgent care. We arrived there and the vet assessed his condition quickly and informed me that he needs to be brought to Tufts immediately. She called over to Tufts to let them know we were coming and that the Neurologist was waiting for him. On the way to Tufts, I then again called Guardian to inform them of what was going on, they agreed to the plan of care and wanted him at Tufts immediately.

Chico and I arrived to Tufts in North Grafton, MA We arrived to Tufts around 1:30PM on 4/4/24. While waiting in the waiting room for them to call us back, Chico had a third episode of what appeared to be a seizure. This one was the worst of them all. The rushed him back to the ER to assess his condition. After a bit of waiting the neurologist came to get me. We went over in detail everything that happened to Chico since the moment he had his first seizure like episode on transport. He was stumped and very confused. The neurologist at Tufts informed me that he has preformed 11 of these surgeries in the past year and every single one of his patients WALKED out of the hospital, so he was unsure as to why Chico is still unable to walk. I shared the X-Rays from Guardian with the Neurologist prior to the surgery and after. He was also confused as to why this surgery was done. That yes, Chico did have a Subluxation of the C1 & C2 vertebrae but that it was only a mild to moderate case. He would have recommend that Chico be placed in a neck splint for 4-6 weeks then to re-evaluate. Hmm, interesting. It was also brought to my attention that one of the pins in Chico’s neck was very, very close to the back of the brain on the Cerebellum. Also, interesting. We agreed to admit Chico to the ICU department at Tufts for further evaluation and testing.

That night, the doctor called with an update. Chico had two more of the seizure like episodes since he had been admitted that afternoon. Luckily, the neurologist was present for the fourth. Chico was not having seizures. He was having InterCranial Pressure Episodes because he is brain was swelling. There was pressure being placed on the brain stem and cerebellum which was creating the brain swell. During the fourth episode, Chico actually stopped breathing for about 1-3 minutes. They were able to bring him back but he was struggling breathing on his own and his STATS were down. They needed to intubate him immediately. It was do or die at this point. So we agreed to intubate. We weren’t really sure if Chico was going to make it through the night or not. On Friday 4/5/24 i went up to Tufts to bring Chico his moose and some fresh blankets. I was able to meet with his Neurologist. He was doing better but not out of the clear yet. He was still on the ventilator but they had been lowering it slowly and seen him taking breaths on his own. We weren’t sure how things were going to go and if he was going to make it or not. But oddly enough, some sort of miracle happened. That night Chico did a complete 360. He was off the ventilator, eating and drinking on his own and completely alert. A miracle, actually, and even the neurologist agreed. It must’ve been the moose, LOL!

Chico remained in the hospital throughout the weekend to be monitored closely. On Monday 4/8/24 the Neurologist called and said that he was doing great. He has started to move around in his kennel a bit, barking for attention and very alert, but still not walking. The plan was to release him back to me on Tuesday 4/9/24 on oral medication but they needed to wait for it all to be delivered. We agreed that I would plan to be at Tufts for 2pm on 4/9/24.

I arrived at the Vet on Tuesday. They brought Chico out to me and he was just so happy to see me! We went over all of the medication he was being sent home with, how often he needed it etc. the plan now was to have Chico come back in 10 days to be re-evaluated and to plan a second surgery to remove and replace the pins in the neck as they were placed incorrectly. But we couldn’t do it right away as Chico needed time to recover from everything he had just been through. His Neurologist told me how famous Chico was at Tufts, that everyone there knew him and his story and just what a miracle dog he is.

Chico and I left tufts about 2:45PM on Tuesday, we got home about 3:15pm. He was doing fairly well. He seemed a bit tired on the way home but I figured he was just sleepy from the medication. We got home and he was happy to see my dogs, barking at me when I wasn’t holding him, back to his old shenanigans. I got Chico comfy and set up in his bed thanks to all the items people purchased for him off his wishlist. He was set up and ready for recovery. Until I noticed, something was wrong, again. Within MINUTES, Chico looked different and was breathing different. His eyes were glared over, his breaths were shallow and he was in and out of consciousness. His paw pads, ears and gums were cold and his gums were completely white. SHIT. I wrapped him up in a blanket, got in the car and rushed him back to Tufts, we left the house at 5:45. Chico was only home for a little over 2 hours before he started crashing again. The ride to tufts was horrendous, he was in and out of it and actively dying. They took him back right away.

After about an hour, they took his foster to the back to talk things over. Chico’s carbon dioxide level was at a 50. It should not exceed a level of 25. NOT GOOD. We weighed out our options on what to do. We are at a loss. It was confirmed the pin needs to come out, NOW. The pin in his neck is touching the brain and is also affecting his Phrenic Nerve. The Phrenic Nerve is the most important nerve for breathing. It provides exclusive motor control of the diaphragm, the primary muscle of respiration. So basically, Chico’s diaphragm and lungs, were not inflating and deflating on their own. Which is what caused the carbon dioxide to not be filtered out of his body. Yet again, he was admitted to the ICU with the unknown if he was going to be placed back on a ventilator. At that time they wanted to do an additional CT scan to see if anything has changed. I was able to go back into the ICU to see him and be with him for a few minutes, tell him how strong he is, how much he is loved and that he will overcome this. When I walked into the ICU, he was so excited to see me, took his head out of the oxygen mask and just wanted to touch me.

Chico’s neurologist called today 4/10/24 around 11AM to give an update. They were trying to take his CT scan from last week and turn that into a 3D diagram so they could take a closer look at his spine. So at that time there wasn’t much of an update other than that he was stable, did not need to be intubated and that they are doing everything they can.

We got the final update for today around 6:30pm. Chico will be heading into surgery tomorrow at 12pm EST. However, this is an EXTREMELY risky surgery. The pin that is touching the brain, could now be adhered to the back of the brain. Which means, when they go to remove that pin it could create a major bleed which Chico would not be able to come back from. We also learned during this update, that the second pin that is suppose to be connected to his second vertebrae, is not. It’s just in limbo in his muscle and cartilage and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Another, misplaced pin. The Dr. does not show any concern in taking that pin out, but the one touching the brain, we just don’t know how it’s going to. If Chico makes it through the surgery, he will then immediately go back to the ICU. Depending on how he is, he may have to be placed on a ventilator for 1-2 days to allow his body to rest and start recovering. The prognosis for after surgery, is good. They are confident this pin, and that if they can remove it safely, Chico will live a wonderful life. If the surgery is not done, Chico will not make it.

This was an extremely tough decision for us to make, on what the right thing to do was, what is fair to Chico. But, he is literally a miracle. The neurologist just told me again on the phone that he can’t believe the dog is still even alive. So, Chico has a will to live and wants to fight, and as long as Chico wants to fight, that’s what we will do!

We are already about $19,000 deep into Chico’s care and that includes the $8,000 botched surgery done by Guardian. We are now looking at another $10,000-$13,000 for this surgery. This is insane. But again, Chico is showing us he wants to live and keep fighting, so that’s what we will do.

I am making this GoFundMe on my own to help raise money for Chico’s vetting. The rescue has already paid about $13,000 so far, still owes a reaming balance of $6,000 for the 5 day stay at tufts and will now owe another $10,000-$13,000 for the surgery. I know this seems like A LOT of money to raise, and it is. But I am going to do my damn best!

Anything will help and I appreciate all of you!