Mikey's Tumor Fund
As many of you know, my precious dog, Mikey, has had some kind of huge mass on his back, right leg for over a month. It's recently started causing him a lot of pain. Two vets haven't been able to figure out the cause, so we were sent to a specialty clinic today. It's extremely expensive. We might normally be able to afford it, but I was recently diagnosed with black mold (Stachybotrus and other molds) poisoning due to a genetic disease, and our bills are VERY high, even with insurance because they inexplicably don't want to cover treatment for it. We're talking over $1,500/month in diet and supplements alone. That doesn't include doctor's visits. So, we have maxed out all our credit cards paying my bills. We still can't afford all of my treatment, and we used money today (for his visit) that was supposed to pay for my doctor's visit next week, so we need help for Mikey!
Here's what we found out at his visit:
First, we're waiting on a radiologist to read the ultrasound and a chest x-ray to look for anything the vet may miss.
She said that his blood work was ok considering what's going on. The foot that started swelling last night actually split open today, but she has no idea what caused it. So we just have to put meds on it.
The back, swollen leg is still a little bit of a mystery. She couldn't find a place on the ultrasound to get a biopsy. She THINKS it could be a large, benign tumor or lipoma that tore through his leg muscles due to some type of injury. Now, that's a guess. She's also worried there could be cancer elsewhere that's causing the tumor. She said that if the radiologist doesn't see anything else and the leg remains swollen, two things need to happen...
First, we need to do a CT scan of the leg and other areas to look for cancer or anything suspicious. Second, the tumor (if it's one) needs to be removed, if it continues to be painful and stay that swollen. I attached a bill from the tests from today and an estimate for the CT scan at the top of the description. That doesn't include removing the tumor. OMG!
I could tell this doctor was very smart, and it's one of the best, affordable specialty hospitals in the Dallas area. The ones actually in Dallas are higher, according to his regular vet. Even if we don't have to get a CT scan done, we just maxed out our credit card on tests, so I'll have to skip my treatment and doctor's appointment next week. It is EXTREMELY embarrassing to have to ask for help, but our only other option (with my health problems) is to put Mikey down or let him suffer. I just can't do that without trying, and I would hope that any of you would do the same for your pets, if you could.
So those of you that are able to help, even if only $5 (I originally said $1, but apparently you can't donate less than $5), thank you from the bottom of our hearts! To everyone else, continue to pray for Mikey and our family. We are going through some very rough and expensive times, but we are still very blessed to have so much love and support out there! Thank you so much ahead of time! I will continue to give updates here and on the link below.
XOXOXO,
MELISSA
