Funds for Lucky's Spleen Surgery

Co-organized

Aleksandra Palichleb-Hassan and Eva Pali are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Eva Pali.

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Lucky is one of the goofiest dogs I know, but also one of the smartest and most loving. He knows many tricks, but his favorite is bringing things over in exchange for a treat.

Unfortunately on November 4th, as my parents got home in the afternoon, Lucky did not come to greet them. He laid in the corner and did not respond to being called. Knowing something is up, my parents tried to lure him with his favorite treat. When that didn't work, my mom decided to take him outside for some fresh air. But what happened next none of us were ready for. Lucky collapsed after just a few steps on his walk.

My mom quickly rushed him to the closest emergency vet. Upon arriving, the veterinary doctor took one look at him and predicted a ruptured spleen. His belly had swelled up, and he was barely conscious. He took Xrays and told them Lucky had a ruptured spleen and an enlarged liver, possibly multiple tumors, and then the vet suggested to my parents they put Lucky to sleep.

That's when my mom gave me a call to ask me what to do. I told her to not make any decisions until I got to them. I drove 3 hrs to NYC. By this time my parents made the decision to take him home so we could decide what we wanted to do.

That evening we all laid on the floor with him, petting him and giving him love. He could barely look up to see us. But it was when I gave him a kiss on the forehead, and he lifted his head to give me a lick on the nose, I knew this dog was not ready to leave us. He only turned 7 this year. He was too young, too smart, too loving to be put to sleep. I told my mom that first thing in the morning we will look for a better hospital to take him to for the surgery. So after staying up with him all night, comforting him, giving him electrolytes, heated pillow, and blankets, that morning we drove around Brooklyn to find a vet that would take on the surgery.

Luckily we came across VERG. An incredible animal hospital in Brooklyn. They took us with open arms and immediately took Lucky in to be stabilized.

Dr. Brett Levitzke and his team were so kind and reassuring. Dr.Levitzke suggested we do an ultrasound to see where exactly the tumors were, and what was happening since the Xrays were not clear. (which I agree, it was hard to make anything out of them).

We waited about an hour for the ultrasound, as they wanted to give him IV due to his blood loss after the rupture. But soon we got the news that the tumor was only on the spleen and that there were no other tumors or enlargements visible.

So what next?

Our options were, of course, to remove the tumor and the spleen, and send it for biopsy. Or give up. But of course at this point, with the news that the tumor was only on the spleen putting him down wasn't even an option in our minds.

The only thing that was stopping us now was the over $7,000 estimate to have this procedure done. Both my mom and I knew we simply did not have that kind of money.
I had told my mom about credit care and suggested we take the risk and try to raise the amount. We both cried in that office. We were scared but not ready to let Lucky die.

We took the plunge and got approved for CreditCare and agreed to the surgery.

The minute we signed the agreement, the doctors were already rushing to Lucky to start his blood transfusion and additional testing.

That same afternoon we got a phone call that they were about to do the surgery. At that point, everyone in my family was mentally exhausted but unable to rest until the surgery was over. Luckily a few hours later we got the call that the surgery went well and that Lucky was stable.

I cried with excitement on the phone. I couldn't be happier.
Even now as I'm writing this, tears are pouring down my cheeks. I just want him to be well.
After all, he is my furry little brother.

But this is where I need to suck up any last bit of pride and beg for money.

We only have a few weeks before we have to start paying off the bills, and the sum is enormous.

This is why it is so important to us to raise as much of the sum as possible to pay off the bill. We still don't know what the costs for the additional post-operation treatments will be so we need to act fast.

Please open your heart if you can, any amount we are grateful for, there is no amount too small. Even if you can only share this fundraiser we will be thankful for.

Thank you for reading.

I will include all bills and updates on this profile.