Hello, my name is Kelsey Emerson and I am starting this gofundme for my dog, Lucy. Lucy came to us as a rescue when she was 12 weeks old and had been abandoned and malnourished and surrendered to a local rescue. She was flown from Georgia to be in Virginia to a mastiff reacue, where they had fosters for her and her litter mates. Turned out Lucy is in no way a mastiff or large breed at all! What turned into a temporary foster home turned into a forever home… We love our Lucy girls so much!

After noticing that Lucy was extremely lethargic and unresponsive to many of her favorite treats and toys, I took her into the vet for a check up and some bloodwork… Lucy's red blood cell counts were very low along with her platelet levels being down to zero… It was determined at that time that Lucy had Evans syndrome, which includes IMHA, & ITP… Essentially her immune system is attacking its own red blood cells and platelets and not allowing her body to recuperate. Having low platelets is causing internal bleeding which is inducing the severe anemia. The treatment for this starts with steroids and immuno suppressant drugs in order to shut her immune system down so that her body can create these cells and regenerate them. Unfortunately, one week into this we were seeing a decline.

We were referred to VVC in Richmond so she could be hospitalized and receive blood transfusions. We switched some medication’s around and have seen some improvement however, in order to buy her body more time to begin responding to these treatments, Lucy needs to continue these blood transfusions. So far she has had two blood transfusions and has been hospitalized in Richmond for 48 hours… She will need several more blood transfusions in order to buy her body the time it needs to recover. Each blood transfusion is about $2000, and that does not include the ICU hospitalization fees, it costs roughly $3500 per day to keep her hospitalized and in care with these transfusions. It could take 1 more blood transfusion or it could take 12, there is no way to know until her body begins to respond. As of now I have tapped out all resources available and am forced with the decision to have to bring Lucy home and work with our local vet and pray that she can recover without the blood transfusions but her odds are significantly worse this way.

If I could continue to allow her to be hospitalized and could continue the transfusions, she has a 60-70% chance of survival. Without them we are looking at 10-15%. For those not able to help financially prayers are greatly appreciated as we navigate this extremely heartbreaking and difficult time.