Danuta's Heart Surgery

Danuta is our 4 month old Great Pyrenees/Aussie mix. She is a little sister to our 6 year old German Shepherd, and they have bonded very closely over the past few weeks together. She is just coming into her full personality as she grows into her big girl body. Stairs are still daunting, she's recently learned how to express herself vocally, and her sister's ears are one of her favorite toys.

Danuta has been diagnosed with Patent Ductus Arteriosus(PDA), and requires a surgery in the next 6 weeks to correct the issue. Luckily, this surgery should be curative, but without it she has a very short life expectancy. PDA means that there is an open valve between 2 sections of her heart that shouldn't be there. This causes the blood to rush back, and never make it to the intended part of the body (which happens to be her lungs). Not only is this a pretty significant defect, but it causes her heart to enlarge. This in turn creates more problems as she gets bigger. Our timeline is short because of her rapid growth and the high probability of it becoming irreversibly worse grows as quickly as she does. As her heart enlarges it has already started forcing open other valves which forces more blood back into the heart. Her cardiologist has expressed how crucial it is that Danuta has this surgery ASAP, but to expect that the cost of the procedure alone will be around $10,000. The money that we raise will go strictly to her procedure and any medical needs associated.

Please help us give Danuta the chance at life that she deserves. She is vivacious and loves every person that she meets. She is a precious part of our family, and although we've only known her a short time we cannot imagine a

world without her in it.

Any help at all is incredibly appreciated, and would go a long way. Thank you!