Jacques' Emergency Fund

Three years ago my dog Sunny was diagnosed with cancer and given a weekend to live. Today Sunny is 14 years old and living his best life because my sister Yvette raised the money necessary to save his life on gofundme.

Today, I have the opportunity to return that life-giving favor by helping her beloved soul-dog Jacques raise the money necessary to restore and maintain his quality of life.

If you’ve ever met Jacques and Yvette you know they are an inseparable pair with an incredible bond.

When they met, Jacques was hiding behind the couch of a modest living room while his siblings eagerly clustered around Yvette’s ankles. It was love at first sight that only grew with time.

As she carried him out of the small apartment, he shook nervously having never been outside before. The two have been an inseparable pair ever since.

Like Mary’s Little Lamb, everywhere that Yvette went, Jacques was sure to go -including her job as a wedding planner at a Buddhist retreat center where Jacques spent his youth in the forest where Eewoks were filmed. When Yvette studied law at Pepperdine, the two of them were rollerblading-running regulars from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach. More recently as chronic illness claimed much of the normalcy in Yvette’s life, Jacques been her grounding rock.

If you’ve met Jacques he’s likely made an impression upon you. Yvette trained him to dance on command, dodge imaginary bullets, give hugs and even bow when she curtsies. Even in a realm where bonds are strong, the love between Jacques and Yvette stands out.

True to his namesake, the two of them have lived in California, Chicago, New Orleans, Arizona and Oregon. Together they have navigated law school law school, the Chicago comedy scene, the loss of our mother and Yvette’s post toxic-mold healing journey, which has only recently, after five years of effort, become manageable.

I love dogs. Yvette’s social media name is "Yvette Lovesdogs" but even among the elite group of dogs, Jacques stands out.

That’s why Jacques has over 20 nicknames -each organically given to him at various times from various people, including Banana, Bu, Banana Bu, Pepe, Pepperdine Jacques, Frenchie, La, La-la, Monsieur Lala, Mouse, Laynew and even Ohyaboshmomalaynew.

This incredible dog, who has been the only constant in my sweet sister’s life, is in a medical crisis.

Outside of the stage, timing has never been my sister’s strong point.

During the first week of August, after five long years of living with family and focusing on her health, Yvette finally felt well enough to strike out on her own again in an attempt to shift her focus away from rebuilding her health to rebuilding her life.

Two weeks later, Jacques was diagnosed with diabetes.

Yvette asked for a thyroid panel at the time because his T4 was low, and after years of illness, she knows her way around lab work. That request was denied.

When Jacques didn’t respond to insulin, they were put on a long waitlist to see a specialist.

My sister is an intense and loving person who has learned firsthand that medicine is a practice where you must be your own zealous advocate. She was also trained to “think like a lawyer” -though her bank account has yet to reflect that. Thanks to her tenacity, Jacques was diagnosed with and being terated for hypothyroidism. He's also new insulin under the supervision of a diabetes specialist.

Taking care of a diabetic pet is not for the faint of heart! It requires careful regulation of diet, medication, monitoring and specialty vets. Luckily for Jacques, having spent the last five years reversing several mold-triggered illnesses, my sister is uniquely qualified to provide dedicated care if she can raise the funds necessary to obtain the professional support required to restore his quality of life.

To save his life, Yvette has put thousands of dollars on a credit card, which she expected to be able to pay off as she had just become physically well enough to rejoin the workforce.

Remember what I said about timing? Well, fate had other plans, and a few days ago Yvette found mold at her new home.

Today, just a month after moving out to rebuild her life Yvette is thousands of dollars in debt to vets and navigating new health issues that both she and Jacques have acquired in the last month. That means that in addition to vet visits and insulin injections, she is starting to react to food and beginning a mold detox protocol.

To say that my sister is feeling overwhelmed and confused is a disservice to the unforeseeable nature of her circumstances, given the five years of ever-changing diagnoses she's been navigating since her last mold exposure. She’s both terrified and pathologically hopeful that this nightmare is the beginning of a blessing in disguise. With your help, I’m hoping to help co-create that reality.

My sweet sister could use a break. Maybe together we can create it for her.

Right now, Yvette needs help paying for the services that just saved Jacques' life. If we’re able to raise additional funds, Yvette would also love to be able to restore his vision, which was lost suddenly on August 31 when his blood sugar spiked following a meal.

This isn’t a case of a person holding on to a dog that is suffering. Because of Yvette’s due diligence, Jacques is doing better and better every day.

That is the blessing and curse my sister is tirelessly responding to.

Having buried our mother, my sister and I are no strangers to grief and loss. While I know Jacques's inevitable passing will devastate my sister, I also understand that this is harder.

This is harder because, for a price, Jacques' quality of life can be completely restored and maintained, but due to Yvette's health limitations, despite her work ethic and tenacity, she's not in a position to keep up with the mounting cost.

This is harder because the default photo for this fundraiser was taken three weeks ago on August 22, and the only thing that stands in the way of restoring that is the financial limitations of chronic illness. It's harder because how you do anything is how you do everything and how my sister does anything is to show up and out, but this time, she needs help to do that.

With this heartbreaking but hopeful story, I humbly ask you to think of the law of compounding returns and the magic made possible by crowdfunding.

If everyone who comes across this post gives $3 and inspires three more people to give $3, you and your friends will be on the hook for $12. $12 might not seem like much, but given the nature of exponential curves, in a short time, Jacques can have the funding he needs to ensure that he stays happy and comfortable for the rest of his days!

Please consider helping this lovable pair!