Dixie & Dudley Drain the Bank

I wouldn’t normally do this because my kid is a pretty self sufficient member of society BUT the recent back to back medical events with my grand doggies has been a pretty big hit to the old credit card for Brandon & Tracy!  As a mom, I wish I was wealthy enough to just pay it but I can’t!  So for those who don’t already know the happenings of the last 2-3 weeks, here are some edited FB posts from Tracy with explanations :

Dixie
We took Dixie to the vet for a checkup and because of her eating changes, thinking it was a benign tumor in her mouth causing her discomfort making her not want to eat. That turned out to be okay, but come to find she has a tumor on her spleen. They need to do a splenectomy and they recommend sooner rather than later, especially since she hasn't been eating normal over the past month. So today she is going in to surgery please send some good vibes, well wishes, and cross your paws for my Dixie girl today! Ugh!

Dixie’s patho results came back... they are not good. The tumor was cancerous and although there was no evidence of it spreading at the time, it more than likely has... so she is officially on hospice. They are giving her 3-5 months without chemo. We will continue to take the best care of her as we have since she was a pup.

Dudley
Monday night Dudley had a witnessed (by me) seizure at home, and then again yesterday at 11am when he was at my MILs house.  He’s been acting weird over the past week...we thought for sure it was because of his broken nail (because this has happened before). However, this time he would yelp and whimper/whine (for several seconds, very loudly) and would freeze/stop in his tracks and then would be totally fine, until he would whimper again in what appealed to be pain.

We were able to get him into the vet yesterday afternoon where they drew labs and did an X-ray of his spine/chest. They sent us home recommending a neuro vet, but also to monitor and if another one happens to time it and such and with certain parameters to take him to an emergency vet if needed. Well last night he had several mini seizures and then a big one that ultimately was the one that made us bring him to the ER. The whole car ride he was twitching and had some irregular breathing, it was awful. We were there til 1:00 am and they kept him overnight. No witnessed seizures over night but he was given IV phenobarbital. This morning, we picked him up from the emergency vet and brought him straight to a neurologist for further consultation. Basically we are planning to rule out infection/tetanus, tumor, or epilepsy with an MRI and CSF collection. His seizures are not “normal” seizures and his symptoms are strange in appearance which is why this is complicated.

So we decided to move forward with an MRI and CSF collection for Dudley...prelim results of MRI of brain: abnormal. Something is going on. It’s hard to determine now, but the neurologist is going to have a better look tonight and will have a radiologist read the images too. CSF was collected and results should be back tomorrow evening. What we know...1.4 cm area visible on MRI...possible tumor...possible infection..edema is present...all on the right hemisphere of his brain...he has deficits on his left side affecting coordination, vision, and strength/reflexes. He has been discharged on phenobarbital for seizures and dexamethasone for edema. For now, we are still on seizure watch and will pray that this is an infection that can be treated with antibiotics and such, and with long term hopes of being able to taper him off of seizure meds. Again, that’s what we are hoping for. We will know more tomorrow and will be anxiously awaiting those results. 

Totally vet costs so far:

Dixie $2800 - she still may need to see an oncologist but for now, she is back to acting healthy so that may be revisited later on!

Dudley $4700 - this is just for the primary vet visit, emergency room visit, neurologist visit with MRI and CSF!  

YEP $7500 in vet bills in two weeks!!!  

So I’m setting up this GoFundMe, thought I would see if I could get them SOME help!   Also, please remember GoFundMe charges 2.9% + $.30/donation (that comes out to $217+ if the full amount is raised) so maybe we can try to get it over what they need to cover fees! ‍♀️