Our story is below and our update follows. We continue this GoFundMe because now we are left with an enormous hole in our hearts. A void nothing will ever fill. An open wound that will leave one of the biggest scars imaginable. We lost our fight. We are all unbearably heartbroken. I wish we could continue this fund with a positive outcome. But we can't. We lost a member of our family, and we have an unimaginable pile of bills. Payment plans were not an option for the hospital so we had to max out several lines of credit. I thank everyone who has helped and everyone who will continue to help. Every dollar will be put towards the bills we accumulated to get our fur baby the absolute best care and most advanced treatment offered. Trooper, we love you. We always have and we always will. We will miss you every single day, but we know you will always be with us, and we will always be with you. Rest peacefully T-Dog. We love you with all of our hearts.

Trooper's Story

One of our best friends in the entire world, our dog Trooper, was just diagnosed with one of the most aggressive canine autoimmune diseases imaginable: IMHA. Four letters I would not wish on the worst of my enemies. Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia. It came on like a ton of bricks. He went from being his usual crazy, full of love and life self, to desperately fighting for his life in a matter of merely a day, shattering our family. He refused food and just didn't seem like him. It wasn't stress, and we knew it. But nothing could prepare us for what we were about to hear.

"Trooper has an autoimmune disease. It's called IMHA. We need to admit him immediately and get him on his first round of transfusions to try to stabilize him. His immune system went into overdrive and it's forcefully attacking his red blood cells."

We were dumbfounded. We've been hit with more than our fair share of tragedies, but we refuse to let this turn into one. This was Monday, the 27th. Reading through paperwork until 4 in the morning and researching this horrific disease became the new norm for me.

The first week or two are critical. If he lives to discharge, his prognosis will be much more positive. IF he lives? How can this be? Long story short, this disease needs the most aggressive treatment available. Steroids are the cornerstone to shut his immune system off. BUT, they can take a week to work. During this time, he has become severely jaundiced. His liver is in overdrive trying to keep up with and process the RBC destruction, and his spleen has become enlarged. He won't go near food, so they have to consider a nasogastric tube. On top of that, he needs blood thinners. There is a high risk of blood clots forming in IMHA patients, so they must be vigilant in monitoring for them. He's had 2 blood transfusions, but his body decided to break down that blood too. He needs to get past this initial crisis, and God willing he does, there's a long road to recovery.

In speaking with the doctors and doing my research, there is a very wide range in mortality rates. Many of these mortalities were due to the immense, unimaginable financial burden this disease takes on families and their inability to keep up with the treatments. Many succumb to the worst possible choice. Not our Trooper. We will fight this fight as long as we can possibly do so. He's now been moved to a second hospital. We were told that he is a candidate for TPE. It is an extremely costly form of basically a specialized dialysis. While there is no guarantee, it has saved the lives of dogs. To put it simply, it cleans the blood, takes out the yuck, replaces it with better stuff, and removes the antibodies attacking his system. It also removes some of the bilirubin caused by the jaundice. It should make him feel better and buy him the time he needs for his medicine to kick into gear. Time is of the essence. The first hospital stay already put us $14,500 in the hole. The next hospital is already making its way upwards in bills. Our pet insurance is already maxed out, and for many people, this is the point where they give up. Not us. We will scrounge every penny we can to get him the treatment he needs and give him a fighting chance to come home to us and get this nasty disease into remission. But we need help. Every dollar sent to us will go towards Trooper's vet bills. This is such a time-sensitive matter that we need everyone to help us pull through. I tried to give my 9-year-old book fair money at school, and I almost cried when he said, "Can we put this towards Trooper?"

For my family, especially my 3 children, Trooper is so much more than a dog. He is our family. We need him and he needs us. When we experienced personal tragedies and terrible situations, our dogs were there for us, to console our children. We need to be there for them. Any contribution made will help us on our journey to help Trooper. Now is when we need it, and we are so grateful to whoever can help.