Hip Replacement Surgery for Maxwell

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Family,

As many of you know, our 4-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog (BMD), Maxwell is the heart and soul of our growing family. He is a big gentle brother to our son, Alex, and soon-to-be-born twin girls, as well as two kitty siblings, Mulder and Scully.

To make things even more hectic during this time, Maxwell needs hip replacement surgery. He fractured his hip 3.5 years ago and underwent two surgeries that allowed him to walk. However, over the years, he has developed hip dysplasia that if left untreated, may result in Maxwell not being able to walk.

Regretfully, we cancelled Maxwell’s pet insurance as of July 2021 as at the time we were suggested by several providers that we could get away with non-surgical treatment and the premiums for a dog with the pre-existing condition (prior fracture and surgeries) were skyrocketing.

Unfortunately, Maxwell’s condition has significantly worsened over the past year. Luckily, Maxwell remains healthy, otherwise suggesting the surgery to be the path forward with restoring his mobility.

We considered and discussed various possibilities, including femoral head ostectomy (FHO) and total hip replacement (THR) with the latter being the most favourable option for a 100-lbs dog. We went through the X-rays, collected estimates from multiple clinics, and connected with other BMD owners from all over the States, who faced orthopedic surgeries with their dogs.

We settled on Skylos Sports Medicine in Ellicott City and Dr. Peter Lotsikas. The estimate for the procedure is ~$8,500. With all the preliminary exams performed, we are at over $10,000 total expenses.

It’s our goal to help Maxwell walk and run after all these kids without excruciating pain. We are going to dig dip into what we’ve saved up over the last several years that we’ve been out of school. Yet, this feels overwhelming for a young and growing family.

The total hip replacement procedure is a financial challenge for our growing family. So, we are trying to fundraise some part of the expenses to help us with affording the surgery tentatively scheduled for December 2022.

Any donation or resharing our story would be a huge help.

We appreciate your support and will keep you posted on our progress in updates to my FB page to those following our and Maxwell’s progress.

With sincere appreciation,

Anastasia, Dmitry, Alex, and Maxwell