Help Tabasco and Ava with their surgeries

Tabasco

Some of you may be familiar with Tabasco’s story..

he was born in foster care, as part of a litter of 7 kittens, and came out with his eyes open and scabbed over - a clear sign of eyelid agenesis.

This is a condition in which the eyelids are improperly formed in utero, and he is essentially missing these upper lids.

After taking him and two siblings into my care in order to tube feed them, Tabasco thrived, but his eyes were problematic.

At 3 months old, he had a cryoepilation procedure which removed the lashes/fur around his eyes, preventing his eyes from being scratched and irritated.

Now almost 2 years old, he has had continue eye ulcers for more than a year, with his daily drops and ointment not doing much to help.

After getting a second opinion, we confirmed that some hairs have grown back in a way which is rubbing on and irritating his eyes; causing these ulcers.

He now needs a second cryoepilation surgery in order to remove these hairs and hopefully resolve the ulcer issue once and for all.

After all, the ulcers are uncomfortable and they leave behind scarring which could cause vision issues if too much accrues.

Ava

For about a year now, Ava has been having trouble with vomiting and weight loss. It started off infrequently, and has become a much bigger issue as the year has gone on.

With test after test, and many changes in food and environment, we weren’t seeing any progress.

Once Ava had an ultrasound, we got some more answers - she has thickening of the stomach and intestine walls, her pancreas appears affected, and her lymph nodes are swollen.

This could simply mean she has IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), or worse - small cell lymphoma, which is a type of cancer and will mean she will have a much shorter life than we’d like.

In order to determine which of the two it is, she will be undergoing an endoscopy which will take biopsy samples from multiple locations within her gut.

She will also be having full GI bloodwork run to determine if she has a problem with her pancreas.

After losing 2lbs in the course of a year, and having so much trouble keeping her food down, we are hoping that we can get some results and find a solution that works for her.

With my recent end in contract, and my current struggle to find a new working position, these expenses are taking a toll.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be home these last couple of months to keep taking them back and forth to all of their appointments, but the down side of that is the fact that I haven’t been earning money to cover these medical issues.

Tabasco, Ava, and myself will be eternally grateful for anyone who wishes to donate towards their care from their wonderful doctors.