Jett needs help to survive some rough turbulence

This is a difficult ask but there are no lengths I won’t go to to give Jett a chance at a long and happy life.

I have to start this campaign to help get Jett through some serious medical issues. This is a complicated process of discovery to figure out what is really wrong with him and it’s going to be costly to get to the answers.

This past summer, Jett had emergency surgery to remove a massive spleen that was compressing his abdominal organs. For all we knew this was successful, and he spent the last 5 months of 2023 acting like a puppy again, and everything was benign, all tests looked great. This procedure alone was $15000 and I covered that with resources and credit.

Fast forward to the last week of December and Jett just wasn't himself. He was looking a bit slow and lethargic but there was no reason to panic as he had such a clean bill of health so recently. But then he crashed on New Year’s Eve and we spent the first day of 2024 In the emergency hospital. Jett was admitted and spent the night in the ICU for a blood transfusion.

As of right now, Jett is suffering from severe anemia and massive thrombocytopenia, meaning he has very few red blood cells and almost no platelets. We are trying to find the cause of the platelet deficiency which is thought to be the source of the anemia from internal bleeding, but the testing is complicated and takes 1-2 weeks. It was submitted Thursday January 4th.

I’m writing this campaign right now from the waiting room at Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Diego. We are here for another transfusion that we hoped would not come until tomorrow. The costs so far in 2024 are already about $7000. Today is another $1850.

The plan right now is to treat Jett for his platelet deficiency. He is already on heavy antibiotics to treat a suspected cause that will be confirmed by the test results we expect in a week or so. These tests will help verify if this is erlichiosis from a tick bite or something different like an autoimmune disease where we can then immediately treat with immunosuppressant steroids.

In order to get to that point and through some more directed treatment, he is going to need several more transfusions to get him through this period until the treatments take effect and his little body can catch up on platelets. Then his internal bleeding can stop and he can recover from the anemia.

Right now he’s in no pain but incredibly tired and lethargic. He has a chance to get through this if we can keep his blood markers stable enough. Over the next few weeks. This is going to be regular transfusions…at least another 3-6 depending on how he responds.

Unfortunately we don’t have insurance because of a preexisting condition. He beat cancer right after we got him at 2 years old so the insurances would not cover him after that or this campaign wouldn’t even exist.

I’ve set the amount at $20k because I’m sure we’ll get close to that in testing and transfusions and follow ups and meds and all the things. I’ve already covered over $23k and will service that myself….what I’m asking for is help to get him the rest of the way because with all that has been spent, his road ahead could be short as a result of what I can manage going forward if I don’t find more resources.

Some friends and family have already helped and I am so grateful to those angels. I’ll be equally grateful to anyone who feels that they want to give the little man a fighting chance. He’s not suffering or in any sort of pain, just incredibly tired and there’s a chance that this can be resolved and he can recover. We have to see this through to know if there’s an outcome where he stays with us.

He still has lots left to do :)

Thank you all so much

Jett

UPDATE: 10 January 2024

Hey everyone, I wanted to update here on the page so you know where we are.

But first, I want to thank each and every one of you who have donated to help Jett and who have shared this to your circles. The support we have received from friends, family and even those we may not have met is so overwhelming and we are beyond grateful.

Jett has been really lethargic over the last 36 hours until this morning which is usually indicative that his anemia is still worsening. Yesterday we had a test come back that was negative for infectious causes which is good info but it’s still not conclusive until the better testing comes back sometime after January 16th. The wait times are painfully long. But this result, along with Jett’s progressive decline between transfusion prompted our Vet to switch treatment to steroids to try and address the overactive immune system as the issue. Doing this before knowing for sure he doesn’t have an infection is risky but we are at a point where we have to now. Tests are taking too long and we need improvement.

Steroids were started last night and this AM Jett was very exhausted and had low endurance but he was a little brighter and maybe a bit more enthusiastic about eating, so it was nice to see. Hopefully it’s a tiny sign the steroids are having an effect.

Today Jett had another visit to see how he was doing following his last transfusion on Sunday afternoon. When he went in his hematocrit, a measure of his red blood cells was 13%. Clinical anemia and transfusion is indicated below 20%, so we had to leave him at the ICU again for his transfusion. Thank god for the pet donors who give blood. I had no idea there was a network of dogs that are on call for this stuff. Amazing.

We expected to get him home tonight but the call with the vet was concerning. The transfusion didn’t have a major effect like the ones before. Previously his red cells hit around 30% with the transfusion but today they only came up to 19%. The vet decided this is too low to send him home and he needs to overnight in the ICU. They are going to watch him and test again tomorrow to see if he remains stable which would be good sign, or if he drops further which will mean another transfusion tomorrow with hopefully better results.

He’s also getting his steroid intravenously tonight as well as a B12 shot so we are hoping for some signs of progress tomorrow.

We had a bit of good news in the tests that show his platelet count has come up a little, up to 40,000. It was really low, under 10k until today so this is great as it might indicate the steroid is working to suppress the immune attack on his blood. Hopefully this follows with the red cells coming up as well.

Also encouraging is that his white cell count is a little above normal. Last test was under normal, so the increase since Sunday seems to indicate his bone marrow is still working to make these cells and he has the ability to recover if things keep moving along this way. It just comes down to how long it takes and how long we can hold out.

The best thing today is that all of your love and generosity, all your effort to share this and the funds you have all sent to Jett has made today’s transfusion and this unexpected overnight in the ICU something we could do with a little room for tomorrow. You have all bought Jett more time and we are so grateful for each and every one of you.

We expect to hear from the Vet tomorrow am around 10 and I will update instagram and this asap on how things are looking. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Love and gratitude,

Dave and Celeste