My name is Justin. My fiance and I adopted the last two litter mates from a litter of six approximately 6 years ago back in 2019 at an adoption event in the local Petsmart. We purchased a house, adopted Duke & Wrigley, then a few weeks later found out we were pregnant with a little girl. The first two to three years were pretty problem free, then it started. In 2022, Wrigley was having trouble walking and his patella would occasionally pop out of its socket. We took him to the vet and discovered he needed surgery to fix it (a metal rod in his leg). Between the surgery and follow ups, it cost us over $5,000. In 2023, Duke was chewing one of his favorite Nylabones when he broke a tooth and it infected his gum. He needed surgery to have his tooth extracted, which when all was said and done, cost over $1,000. Then, last year in 2024, Duke started limping. We took him to the vet and discovered he tore his ACL and now he needed leg surgery. Between the surgery, follow ups, and physical therapy, that cost us over $5,000. Now three weeks ago, Wrigley started acting lethargic and wasn't eating as much. We took him to the vet and he had a fever. The vet said it was likely a cold, he took blood, and prescribed us medication. After 2 days, Wrigley was back to his normal self so we thought nothing of it. The day after we finished the seven days of medication, he started acting lethargic again. This time though, his right eye was starting to get a gray haze over it. We took him back to the vet immediately, and with this new symptom, they tested him for Blastomycosis. They sent us home with medication for it after taking additional blood to test for this specific disease. After a few days, the eye was getting worse. Just as we were going to call the vet again, they called us with the results. He tested positive for blastomycosis. And with his eye getting worse, they wanted to see him immediately. We brought him back right away which was Wednesday, 3/26. We had never heard of this disease before and had no idea how he could of gotten it. It turns out, a dog gets it when breathing in airborn spores from the ground in areas where there's "disturbed earth". Coincidentally, a park by our house that we frequently walked our dogs at was recently excavated and completely redone. Blastomycosis is an extremely severe fungal disease that can be fatal. Back to Wrigley, the disease had infected his eye to the point where they needed to remove it to prevent it from taking over his other eye and potentially other parts or organs. Wrigley is only six years old, so it was a no decision to have the surgery done to prevent it from spreading. We scheduled the surgery for the next day, Thursday, 3/27. The surgery went very well and we picked him up that night and brought him home. Between the visits and surgery, we're already approaching another $5,000 that this has cost us. Not to mention, with Blastomycosis, it takes anywhere from a few months to a year of treatments and follow ups to make sure it's completely gone. Every month they need to take more blood to confirm it's going away. He also needs to stay on the medication the entire time. This is likely going to be a long road to recovery, but everyone, including the vets, are very optimistic that he'll recover 100%. With that being said, all of this is finally taking a toll on us financially. And with the unknown number of future vet visits that will be required, I'm finally putting my pride away and asking for help. If a person is unable to help, I completely understand, times are tough for a lot of people these days. However, if you are able to help, even just a little, it would mean the world to us, and most importantly, Wrigley. I appreciate everyone for taking the time to read this. Regardless of if you can help or not, I also wanted to spread a little light on a disease that doctors are still learning about. Please be careful when walking your dogs in areas that are dug up or recently have been.