- M
- T
- P
Dear friends,
Last week, I was crying my eyes out because I thought I was going to lose my puppy Homer to lymphoma. But, it turned out to be a gross misdiagnosis, and now I am in debt $12,000 (Homer is going to be okay though!). It goes without saying that I would pay ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY to save my dog, but I simply can not afford his vet bills. And, on top of being emotionally exhausted, I feel like a victim of some serious exploitative behaviour by an untrustworthy veterinarian…
Here’s what happened…
Over the weekend, Homer, my 6 month old Portuguese water dog, had a high fever and was very lethargic. I took him to the vet immediately where they told me he needed blood work done ($450). More than 24 hours later the blood work came back with "very concerning results". They explained that his white blood cell count was extremely low, his "neutrofills" were almost completely depleted, and his lymph nodes were swollen all over his body. All of this information was obviously shocking to hear as Homer has been the most healthy and active sweetheart. The vet then mentioned that in his 27 years of practicing veterinary medicine the only other time he's seen these symptoms were in puppies with lymphoma. Homer would need to be taken to emerge right away to test for cancer among other infections deadly diseases. He was not hopeful.
My world was absolutely rocked. For those of you who have met Homer, he is just the most wonderful, perfect, loveable puppy. I've grown incredibly attached to him and so have those who know him. This news literally floored me. I rushed him to emerge and waited as you always do. I waited for the vet to call for hours and was put on hold 10 minutes at a time… 15 minutes… 30 minutes… waiting and waiting, my mind making up the worst possible scenarios. Finally when the vet spoke to me, I could barely keep it together as they described Homer’s horrible symptoms; that his lymph nodes were almost a sure sign of lymphoma and that this is a cancer that offers a 4 - 6 week survival rate.
That's when they asked for a deposit of $5,000 for testing. Trusting the vet's expertise, and with Homer's life on the line, I paid the deposit. They made sure to mention that this would NOT include any oncology testing at first, and that would be extra if they can't find what's wrong with him. $5,000 was just for initial testing. If they were concerned it was cancer and were waiting to test for that LAST, this felt like a greedy scare tactic..and it worked.
For 36 hours there was no hope for Homer, no leads at all and no hope given to me that he was going to be ok.
Finally on Sunday night (it had been 2 grueling days now) they found out what was wrong with Homer: it was a "foreign object" in his small intestine. All their concerns and questions had been answered with this finding… so basically Homer had eaten something he shouldn't have. A perfectly NORMAL puppy thing to do. NOT CANCER. I thought the nightmare was over but they went on to say Homer will need surgery immediately and because it's Sunday we would have to pay out of hours fees and are looking at $7,000 on top of the $5,000 already deposited for a total of $12,000. $12,000 for a bowel obstruction! The most common dog problem on the planet.
I am SO happy that it is not cancer. Homer went in for surgery on Monday, and it looks like this will be fixable. But, now I need your help.
I feel I have been completely taken advantage of. They used my love for Homer as their personal bank and withdrew as much as they could from me. Just yesterday I was listening to grief podcasts and attempting to accept this lymphoma diagnosis for Homer, and now I am potentially out of pocket $12,000. The lesson is this; get pet insurance, and get yourself a trustworthy vet. Also, don't own such a freakin' cute puppy that you would die for. That's the real lesson that all dog owners understand.
I am asking for any small amount you are willing to give. I’ll always pay outrageous amounts to save this little guy, if that's what it takes, but would only ask that it's done in a more humane way.
I love you all, even if you've just read the story and learned anything from it.
xoxo
Taryn & Homer
Last week, I was crying my eyes out because I thought I was going to lose my puppy Homer to lymphoma. But, it turned out to be a gross misdiagnosis, and now I am in debt $12,000 (Homer is going to be okay though!). It goes without saying that I would pay ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY to save my dog, but I simply can not afford his vet bills. And, on top of being emotionally exhausted, I feel like a victim of some serious exploitative behaviour by an untrustworthy veterinarian…
Here’s what happened…
Over the weekend, Homer, my 6 month old Portuguese water dog, had a high fever and was very lethargic. I took him to the vet immediately where they told me he needed blood work done ($450). More than 24 hours later the blood work came back with "very concerning results". They explained that his white blood cell count was extremely low, his "neutrofills" were almost completely depleted, and his lymph nodes were swollen all over his body. All of this information was obviously shocking to hear as Homer has been the most healthy and active sweetheart. The vet then mentioned that in his 27 years of practicing veterinary medicine the only other time he's seen these symptoms were in puppies with lymphoma. Homer would need to be taken to emerge right away to test for cancer among other infections deadly diseases. He was not hopeful.
My world was absolutely rocked. For those of you who have met Homer, he is just the most wonderful, perfect, loveable puppy. I've grown incredibly attached to him and so have those who know him. This news literally floored me. I rushed him to emerge and waited as you always do. I waited for the vet to call for hours and was put on hold 10 minutes at a time… 15 minutes… 30 minutes… waiting and waiting, my mind making up the worst possible scenarios. Finally when the vet spoke to me, I could barely keep it together as they described Homer’s horrible symptoms; that his lymph nodes were almost a sure sign of lymphoma and that this is a cancer that offers a 4 - 6 week survival rate.
That's when they asked for a deposit of $5,000 for testing. Trusting the vet's expertise, and with Homer's life on the line, I paid the deposit. They made sure to mention that this would NOT include any oncology testing at first, and that would be extra if they can't find what's wrong with him. $5,000 was just for initial testing. If they were concerned it was cancer and were waiting to test for that LAST, this felt like a greedy scare tactic..and it worked.
For 36 hours there was no hope for Homer, no leads at all and no hope given to me that he was going to be ok.
Finally on Sunday night (it had been 2 grueling days now) they found out what was wrong with Homer: it was a "foreign object" in his small intestine. All their concerns and questions had been answered with this finding… so basically Homer had eaten something he shouldn't have. A perfectly NORMAL puppy thing to do. NOT CANCER. I thought the nightmare was over but they went on to say Homer will need surgery immediately and because it's Sunday we would have to pay out of hours fees and are looking at $7,000 on top of the $5,000 already deposited for a total of $12,000. $12,000 for a bowel obstruction! The most common dog problem on the planet.
I am SO happy that it is not cancer. Homer went in for surgery on Monday, and it looks like this will be fixable. But, now I need your help.
I feel I have been completely taken advantage of. They used my love for Homer as their personal bank and withdrew as much as they could from me. Just yesterday I was listening to grief podcasts and attempting to accept this lymphoma diagnosis for Homer, and now I am potentially out of pocket $12,000. The lesson is this; get pet insurance, and get yourself a trustworthy vet. Also, don't own such a freakin' cute puppy that you would die for. That's the real lesson that all dog owners understand.
I am asking for any small amount you are willing to give. I’ll always pay outrageous amounts to save this little guy, if that's what it takes, but would only ask that it's done in a more humane way.
I love you all, even if you've just read the story and learned anything from it.
xoxo
Taryn & Homer