Help Miko Search And Destroy Her Seizures.

Hi, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Preston, a teacher at a Title 1 public school for at-risk kids in Los Angeles. And my wife, Sasha, is a costume designer who spends a good deal of time volunteering in various dog rescue efforts. I'm here to tell you about our Miko, a 38-lbs Boston and Staffordshire Terrier mix who had been roaming the streets of South LA for a while when she found us six years ago. She came to us through some friends who run a dog rescue. And from the minute she came in our door, Miko felt like family to us. She is a fantastic, happy bundle of energy and love who takes a devil-may-care approach to life. She plays hard, hikes hard, sleeps hard, eats with gusto and yet loves her family and her hound dog brother so tenderly and generously. Living with Miko has been, for us, a six-year masterclass in how to love, be joyful, and appreciate the little things like bones and snuggling. She frets when any of the four of us is separated from the group. If, on a neighborhood walk, she gets ahead of her older, slower brother, she refuses to go any further until she sees he is keeping pace and won't turn a corner unless he's right behind her.

She has been to the vet several times over the years, always as a result of her full-on lifestyle. She has torn dew claws, ripped part of her ear off and cut her chest open by going all-out on mountain hikes and backyard romps. But all those bumps and bruises were quickly fixed up with stitches and bandages. Now, however, Miko has something wrong with her brain and they're not yet certain what it is. She is suffering grand mal seizures, as well as clusters of smaller seizures one after another. She has been in and out of the hospital several times this week. She's been drugged to the teeth and treated for everything from infection to cancer symptoms, but they are struggling to get her seizures under control. Her MRI shows brain lesions and cysts, but the analysis is that they don't present as consistent with any obvious cause. Spinal taps and oodles of blood panels and cultures have turned up few clues. Doctors are doubtful that cancer is the culprit and her neurologist is now proceeding on the premise that Miko's condition is auto-immune in nature and treatable once they pinpoint the origin.

Miko is a fighter and is giving it all she's got right now. We want so badly to give her all the support we can. Despite all the debilitating meds she's on, she's still feisty, hungry, cuddly and quite expressive about her displeasure at being hooked up to machines and tubes. She's only seven years old and should still have half of her life in front of her. She has a lot of love and happiness left to give the world. We are certain that is why she was put on Earth because she has given so much love and happiness to us and anyone who has ever known her.

Since early April, we have spent $14,618.20 on 3 ER visits, 3 overnight stays, an MRI, x-rays, multiple blood labs, a spinal tap, and various medications and consultations. While we try to find the correct dosages and combination of seizure meds, we anticipate at least a few more ER visits and hospital stays which run anywhere from $1700-$3500 each, depending on the treatments, intravenous meds, and length of stay. Also, Miko's neurologist wants to do more testing and MRIs (appx. $3500 each with anesthesia/fluids/analysis/recovery) to see if any changes could indicate the root cause of her seizures. And we believe once we get her anticonvulsive medication to control her seizures--with a couple more slight adjustments--we can then pinpoint the source of Miko's agony. So we are setting our goal at $15,000.

We are asking for your help in making it possible for us to make choices for Miko's medical treatment and long-term care without having the burgeoning weight of the soaring expenses factoring into our thinking. She is making frequent visits to the ER and spending some nights in the critical care unit. She also needs us to monitor her 24/7. We would be eternally grateful for any love, prayers, social media postings, sharing of this story, or any amount of financial support you could offer.

Preston & Sasha Long