Help Us Pay Emma's Medical Debt

First of all, thank you all so much for your continued support, love, donations, and campaign shares. It all means the world to us and our family. 

At this point, everyone has heard the news that Emma fought as long as she could and is no longer in pain. The sudden, tragic, and traumatic end to her journey is making the grieving process incredibly difficult for both of us, but especially Diandra, who was a part of Emma's life from the time she was 2 weeks old to literally a day after her 7th birthday. 

This year has been rough for everyone, but Emma has definitely been through the wringer more so than anyone else in our family.  In May 2020, my Fiance and I rescued a baby kitty who quickly grew up to be quite a big boy, easily doubling the size of our little Emma. Being a male, orange tabby, Winnie was always very territorial of our back and front yards, and unfortunately one night, Emma wound up being an innocent bystander. After spotting a stray cat in our yard, Winnie got spooked and pounced on his little sister who came in from the other room to check in on him.

The resulting lacerations required an emergency $2,000 surgery, which, thankfully, we had the money for.  We immediately got Winnie fixed, something we hadn't done yet, and since then, he has become a loveable, big ball of fur who mostly just sleeps and eats all day. They got along great, sometimes even took naps together and Winnie even liked giving his big sis a bath every now and then. 

We assumed that would be the end of Emma's medical issues, but little did we know things were just getting started. Over the summer, we discovered a dime-sized mass on Emma's little noggin, and in October, we decided to be proactive and get it removed and tested to make sure it wasn't going to cause any other issues. My fiance applied for a Care Credit credit card and Emma had a successful surgery. Good news! The lump was benign, no worries! They sent her home with the cone of shame and a few antibiotics to help the healing process and manage the pain. Emma was in great spirits! Eating, going for long walks, still her energetic, perpetually-happy self.

This is where things took a turn. About a week into her post-op healing process, Emma began vomiting and regurgitating several times a day. This only worsened and turned into 3-5 times a day including after every meal. We took her to our vet who sent her home with anti-nausea medications, which didn't help. If anything, it almost seemed as if it was getting worse.

The entire week was a mixture of late-night Emergency vet visits (several nights we wouldn't get home until 5 in the morning, the time Diandra usually begins waking up to hit the gym) and Day appointments with her primary doctor trying anything he could to get her throat cleared and to reduce to vomiting. At one point he was so lost as to what was causing this, he even tried acupuncture, which he's trained in, to see if it would alleviate any of her pain. Aside from relaxing her, allowing her to sleep, it didn't do much else. 

By the end of the week, our doctor had come to the conclusion that she *probably* had esophagitis, something that could've been caused by the tube that was down her throat during the surgery to keep her asleep. He said we could continue her on her medicines (one to reduce her higher than usual liver enzyme count, and one for her inflamed esophagus. He also recommended that we give her water and liquid food using a syringe and standing her upright to feed her.

This advice lead to her BEST DAY in a long time! She was eating, drinking, breathing normally and with clarity, and was even getting in some sleep, something she wasn't able to do previously. We were incredibly hopefully as just assumed, at this point, this would all be over in a matter of a week, or two at the most. 

The day after her birthday, Saturday morning the 24th of October, we attempted to give her some water and some medicine. her breathing wasn't as clear as it had been the previous day, but it also wasn't the worst, either. After giving her some water, which she slurped right up, a few minutes later she took what would be her last breath. I attempted CPR and Mouth to Mouth, but we got no response. We stopped what we were doing, ran to the car, and drove her to the vet, but it was too late.

Diandra and I aren't the types to ask for help - we pride ourselves on taking care of our own problems. But the sudden and traumatic end to Emma's story has not only left us heartbroken, shocked, and confused, it has also left us with a mountain of debt, and Emma isn't even here to enjoy life with us. 

We understand that times are tough for everyone, and we understand if you aren't able to help, but even just $1 and a simple share can help us move on from our precious Emma. Thank you for the continued support, love, and messages. They mean the world to us.