My name is Josh and this is my dog, Kyoto.

On October 22 she was impaled by a large piece of wood. It entered near her right armpit and lodged itself over 7 inches deep. This required emergency surgery.

I was at work so I'm not exactly sure how it happened but she was able to make it to the back door of the house. She was found by Sarah's 12 year old daughter, Ella. Sarah and Ella were able to get Kyoto in to the car and rushed her to the emergency room.

I got there about an hour later and waited to speak with a vet or tech. During a consult the vet tech showed me the picture with the piece of wood still in Kyoto. That’s when I realized how serious this really was.

A little while later they asked if I had paid the deposit. At that point I had not talked to anyone from the vet about the cost of this. At first they said it would be between $3,000 and $4,000.

I was already close to panic mode but I pulled it together and applied for CareCredit assuming that there was no way I would be approved. Somehow I was and with a credit line that would cover that initial estimate.

Some more time passed and they brought me out to pay the deposit. In the 30 minutes or so that had passed the estimate went up to as high as $10,000 and the deposit they wanted was more than my credit line.

I literally felt weak in the knees and just started sobbing uncontrollably.

I explained to them that even with the CreditCare there was no way I could afford it and started crying uncontrollably. My anxiety was telling me that I wouldn't be able to pay for it so I wouldn't be able to get her back.

Fortunately the vet took pity on me and reworked the estimate down substantially to $3,782.69 on the high end. I was able to cover the depot with my CareCredit.

I signed the paperwork for surgery but initialed the DNR line. If she went into cardiac arrest during the surgery I would have lost Kyoto. I just couldn't sign the CPR line knowing how much that could possibly end up being. She is young and healthy so I was hopeful she would pull through ok. Signing that DNR line was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I felt like I had let her down and I would never see her alive again.

I went home that night and waited for the call from the vet to let me know how the surgery went.

I got the call around 10pm. She did really well in surgery and the vet said she was incredibly lucky. Had the piece of wood been smaller or entered at just a slightly different angle it would have likely punctured through the rib cage and pierced a lung and possibly the heart. Somehow that huge piece of wood just went sub-dermal, didn't rip up the muscle too bad, and didn't leave a bunch of debris.

One of the ways they saved money was by not going though and making sure all of the wood was out of the wound. So there is a chance some pieces or splinters are still in Kyoto. Time will tell on that but looking at the wood I'm fairly confident there isn't much. The wood is smooth since it appears to be a piece of a handle to a shovel or rake. Had it been a branch with bark the story would be much different.

I was able to pick her up today around 12:30. When she came in the exam room I could tell she was uncomfortable and lethargic. As soon as she recognized me, though, she got her helicopter tail going. That's how you know she really loves you.

I held her paw while the vet tech removed her IV. Apparently she wouldn't let them do that without me. The tech gave me care instructions and some meds, then we headed home.

She has a draining tube in her that is leaking a lot of fluid, which the vet said would be normal. I have some gauze on it and body wrap around her to keep it against the drain. I'll have to change it multiple times a day but it's better than her leaking everywhere she walks.

She took her first round of meds with dinner and didn't reject any of them. She's a trooper like that.

As I'm writing this she's laying at my feet waiting to go to bed.

I'm creating this GoFundMe to help pay for this unexpected expense. I barely live paycheck to paycheck. Right now I have a few hundred dollars in my checking and less than that available on my two low-limit credit cards.

The CreditCare line of credit is 32% interest, 1 year deferred, and it is mostly maxed out from this surgery. If there are any complications I would be in a bad spot. I want to get it paid down as fast as possible so if there are any complications I'll have a way to pay for that. Any donations will go directly to paying off this debt.

I would be forever grateful for any support you can give. Thank you so much!