Brinkley Needs Surgery

On Tuesday night my sister's dog, Brinkley, was running and playing when he attempted to jump onto the bed and missed. Wednesday morning when Jen woke up, Brinkley was unable to walk without falling over. She immediately rushed him to the emergency vet, who kept him overnight for monitoring. The next morning the emergency vet referred her to a neurologist because they were concerned that Brinkley either had a brain tumor or a spinal cord injury. I received a call from Jen in hysterics because the neurologist was about 80% sure it was an issue with his vertebrae, but needed to do an MRI to be sure. The MRI alone cost $3000 and she only had $1500 available on her CareCredit. After making some phone calls, we managed to get the MRI cost taken care of, and Brinkley was officially diagnosed with a slipped disc. The prognosis for this is very good, but he needs to have surgery to repair the problem. The general estimate she was given for the surgery is around $5000.

My sister recently graduated with her PhD, and has taken on massive amounts of debt in the process. She worked three jobs while finishing her education and dissertation, while paying her own rent, bills, and tuition in one of the most expensive cities to live in. She can not afford to cover the cost of this surgery, and unfortunately, the office does not allow payment plans. I know many will feel that this is a ridiculous amount of money for a dog, but Brinkley is my sister's baby. She got him shortly after she moved out to LA, and he has been with her through all of the ups and downs that she has experienced since living there. The helplessness that she is experiencing now, knowing that she can't afford to help Brinkley get better, is something that I can't even imagine. She needs this dog more than most people would ever be able to understand, and I am trying to do everything in my power to help him get better. My husband and I have managed to get some money together to help, but we can not afford to cover the full cost of the surgery either.

If you are able to help, we would owe you a huge debt of gratitude. This has been an extremely emotional experience for Jen, and I am just trying to help create a happy ending.

Thank you.