There are some animals that truly defy- Facebook

There are some animals that truly defy- Instagram

Our last remaining pup, Baxter, recently suffered a stroke-induced cluster of seizures, and spent the past month in the Pender Veterinary Centre ICU under intense observation and therapy. We need help with the costs, as it's put us into serious debt to the tune of $30,000. If we cannot fully pay off what we owe within 12 months, we will be hit with 27% interest and then owe $38,000. Baxter is improving dramatically, but we still have a tough road ahead, and we need tremendous help. Baxter is a beloved family member, and he provides much-needed service to my father (an 88-year-old retired US Navy Veteran). Please read below for further details (photos included).

Baxter (a Carolina Dog/Dingo rescued by us) is the last of our five pup pack, and up until now he also remained the healthiest. Suddenly, on March 10th, 2023, he collapsed with convulsions as he went into a grand mal seizure. Having experience with seizures in the previous pack member who passed away on January 13th, 2022, I knew that I had to comfort Baxter, and make certain that he didn't hurt himself in the process. I also applied a cool/wet paper towel to his nose and snout to help cool him down, and wipe away any excess salivation. Fortunately, this seizure ended at the 3-5 minute mark, and Baxter immediately got back up. We phoned his primary care veterinarian, and rushed him to the nearest emergency hospital. Unfortunately, the nearest hospital said they were full, so my father had to drive him back home.

During this timeframe, I was on the phone with another veterinary emergency hospital as I tried to find out if they could take Baxter. As I was performing the intake procedure over the phone, and preparing directions for my father, Baxter went into a second seizure, and this one didn't stop after five minutes. As I was working on giving his information to the intake personnel, I picked him up and ran him back to our vehicle, and my father immediately rushed him to Pender Veterinary Centre in Fairfax, Virginia.

At Pender Veterinary Centre, two nurses awaited my father's arrival, and they immediately rushed into action, wrestling Baxter out of the vehicle and running him inside aboard a stretcher. Upon intake, his temperature was 108-109 F., and his heart rate was 300 BPM. They managed to quickly bring these numbers back to normal. However, because of the severe seizure activity (status epilepticus), Baxter's entire body had taken a severe beating (due to seizure-induced heat stroke), and he was in a very difficult state of being. Surprisingly, the doctor said that despite the severity of the seizure, Baxter's levels weren't that far outside of normal parameters. Yet, the long road ahead has just begun.

Baxter was placed into a hyperbaric chamber, and we visited him the next day. Baxter was very lethargic, and only a little responsive. At this point, we had to make a difficult decision. The more I looked at Baxter and interacted with him, the more I felt that he stood a good chance of fighting through this. He's only ten years old, and otherwise in great condition, and I didn't see the same look in his eyes that I witnessed in our other pups when it was the end of their lives.

The next day, Baxter began drinking. However, his platelet count suddenly went down, and we authorized a plasma transfusion if necessary. Amazingly, later that afternoon, as we headed to the ICU, the doctor told us that his levels had risen again, so no transfusion was necessary. Upon visiting him, Baxter showed slightly more activity, so this was very promising to say the least.

A day later, Baxter began eating, so we didn't need to consider a feeding tube at this point. Once again, he presented with more interactiveness, and he moved his mouth just a little bit more. Also, at this point forward, his vitals began to showcase normalized wave patterns. However, they still couldn't lower the O2 levels without signs of respiratory distress. Thus, he stayed in the hyperbaric chamber.

The next day, Baxter turned himself around and flipped himself over! The nurses thought that one of their colleagues had turned him over, as they did so on a regular basis, but nobody had done this, so they became excited knowing that Baxter had righted himself onto his stomach!

A day after all of this action, Baxter was finally able to remain in ambient air, and vital monitoring was taken off of him. His breathing was still a little erratic, but it was much better than before. Additionally, when we opened the porthole to Baxter's hyperbaric chamber, upon hearing my voice he suddenly lifted his head and shoved it all the way out for us to interact with him!

One day later, and Baxter was finally placed into a regular habitat as he continued to improve. He also began to army crawl slightly at this point, although his back legs weren't fully working.

Finally, as the days progressed, Baxter's numbers kept improving, and his collapsed lung lobe reinflated, his pulmonary edema and cerebral edema cleared up, his kidney levels normalized, his liver levels for the most part were normal, his clotting times improved, his platelet count kept going up, and his organs appeared "pristine" upon a secondary ultrasound and x-ray. Unfortunately, slight setbacks occurred with Baxter developing various rashes and sores from his increased crawling capabilities, so they began treating him with SSD burn cream. At this point, Baxter also ripped his catheter out when he made a move to really get going, and a piece broke off which ended up in his bladder. The first attempt at retrieving the broken piece of catheter was unsuccessful, so they decided to run a scope later that evening to retrieve it, which, fortunately, was a success!

The next day I managed to get Baxter an emergency appointment with a neurologist, and upon examination the doctor believed that he had a hemispheral issue due to the fact that he favored the right side of his body, as opposed to the left side. Thus, we authorized an MRI. Later that afternoon I went back to discuss the MRI findings with the neurologist, and amazingly enough, Baxter presented with NO tumors. We did discover that he had lesions from the insult of the cerebral edema, and that he also had an infarction in his thalamus which the neurologist believes caused the entire seizure in the first place. Thus, his diagnosis is that a stroke caused his seizure. However, all observed damage is transient in nature, and the doctors believe that Baxter will make a full recovery at this point!

Since then, I have lined up sessions with a physical therapist out of VCA SouthPaws, and we have purchased and set up an entire rehabilitative environment for Baxter once we bring him home. We have various support harnesses, play pens, padding, protective outfits, therapy balls, comforters, and so much more.

I have been spending every single day (over the past month) at the ICU with Baxter, and have been heavily engaged with his entire medical team. All of these people are incredibly amazing, and we couldn't have done any of this without them. As a future veterinarian myself, it has all inspired me greatly to continue working hard to help others as they've helped all of us.

Baxter has a scheduled follow-up neurology appointment in three weeks, and there will be continued care with regards to his medications (including phenobarbital, Keppra, denamarin, prednisone, SSD cream, and probiotics), and all of his follow-up care (including blood draws, physical therapy, and physicals).

Unfortunately, our current medical bills are close to $30,000, and we've already utilized all of our Care Credit line, then some. If we cannot pay off the Care Credit line within 12 months, we will then be hit with approximately 27% interest. At this point, there is simply no way we can pay this off in time, and we're at the point where we've been trying to sell furniture out of our house, and even our car, so we can try to afford all of this.

Any and all donated money will be put forth into paying off Baxter's ICU care first and foremost, and right now we're simply asking for help in being able to pay off enough of his bill to give us some breathing room. If we can pay it off entirely, that would be amazing, but simply paying off a large enough chunk of the total would be very helpful right now.

Baxter is the last of our legacy of the five pup pack, a legacy stretching 21 years, and he means the entire world to us. He's been fighting so hard that Pender has awarded him a Purple Heart in recognition of his achievements and all that he's been through. We're a military/teacher family, and we don't have the greatest ability to afford such expenses. As someone fighting through my own health issues (Cystic Fibrosis), and working very hard to complete my pre-veterinary medicine schooling at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (after having to wait many years for my health to improve before I could finally attend), I fully understand the difficulties of overcoming obstacles, and Baxter fully exemplifies this spirit in glorious form. Baxter is my inspiration, the medical team is my inspiration, and everyone who's been so kind and supportive to all of us throughout this ordeal also serves as my inspiration.

Thank you very much for all of your consideration and support, and we truly appreciate everyone who can help us out.