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Hi Friends,
Many of you know our sweet, funny, charming, French Bulldog, Karl, through his instagram @karlmemaybe_ or from having the pleasure of meeting him in person. Karl has recently been diagnosed with a significant brain tumor that requires immediate treatment.
A little bit about Karl
Karl (aka Kahl, Karly Rae, Karl Lagerfeld, K-Ray, etc) joined our family almost 7 years ago, as a sweet little puppy, and has made our lives so incredibly joyous ever since. He is the most ideal companion and loving creature on the planet. He is an avid collector of dirty tennis balls, he is in a committed relationship with his stuffed Monkey, his favorite song is Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All", he is the self-declared "Mayor of Bone Town" and constantly seeking contributions to "The Bone Fund" (which consists of mostly ring bones), In his spare time he likes napping by the fireplace, "swimming" in the lake, long car rides, and making strangers smile with his boyish good-looks.
Background on the tumor diagnosis
Last Friday evening we noticed Karl start to violently convulse while laying in his bed. He lost consciousness, was gasping for air, became stiff, couldn't stand -- we literally thought he was going to die in our arms. He was drooling then panting heavily. It was the most heartbreaking thing we've ever experienced. We were out the door within minutes and got him into the car and straight to the emergency vet a few blocks away. He stabilized by the time we arrived, they tested his vitals, and he seemed to have no obvious diagnosis other than likely a seizure. Hesitant to prescribe anticonvulsants, they decided to monitor him for a while and give him anxiety meds. We had the option to take him home or leave him there (the vet said typically they hospitalize after 3 seizures within 24 hours), Ultimately we decided to take him home to monitor for the night with medication.
Around 3 am later that night Karl began having another seizure. It was not as intense as the first but it was still very troubling. We were able to get video of the episode for the vet and, upon returning to the hospital, they identified the events as seizures. We decided to have Karl admitted for observation for 12 hours during which they started him on an anti-convulsant medication. He was seen by a Neurologist who witnessed one more small seizure in his facial muscles. She raised concern that he may have a brain tumor considering the severity and sudden onset of the seizures and recommended getting an MRI of his brain.
Today Karl had the scan done which revealed a large tumor deep in the right side of his brain. The neurologist explained that because of the tumors location, surgery is likely too risky. Radiation is our best bet to shrink the tumor, should we decide to do so. In the mean time we are moving forward with chemo therapy and steroids in addition to the anticonvulsant medication. We are meeting with our primary vet tomorrow to figure out a plan for radiation.
This has been a whirlwind of a few days and we are trying to do everything we can to get Karl the best treatment available. We do know this will be a costly venture and have already spent $4,192, which is not insignificant for us financially.
Our goal is to raise what we can here so that we have the capability to comfortably move forward with his treatment without making decisions based on money alone.
The money raised will go to:
-Hospital bills
-MRI
-Chemotherapy
-Steroids
-Anticonvulsant medication
-Vet and Neurologist visits
-Radiation Therapy (TBD)
-Aftercare (TBD)
We will keep this updated based on what we find out in the coming days and weeks.
If you choose to donate to Karl's treatment (or as he calls it, The Bone Fund), we would be so overwhelmingly appreciative. We do not take the decision to crowdsource this money lightly. In the event that we raise more money than is needed for his treatment, we will donate the remainder to help other animals in need.
Thank you for all of your support and love for our sweet karly boy.
Skyler & Cole (Karl's Parents)
+ Ben (Bonus Dad)
Many of you know our sweet, funny, charming, French Bulldog, Karl, through his instagram @karlmemaybe_ or from having the pleasure of meeting him in person. Karl has recently been diagnosed with a significant brain tumor that requires immediate treatment.
A little bit about Karl
Karl (aka Kahl, Karly Rae, Karl Lagerfeld, K-Ray, etc) joined our family almost 7 years ago, as a sweet little puppy, and has made our lives so incredibly joyous ever since. He is the most ideal companion and loving creature on the planet. He is an avid collector of dirty tennis balls, he is in a committed relationship with his stuffed Monkey, his favorite song is Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All", he is the self-declared "Mayor of Bone Town" and constantly seeking contributions to "The Bone Fund" (which consists of mostly ring bones), In his spare time he likes napping by the fireplace, "swimming" in the lake, long car rides, and making strangers smile with his boyish good-looks.
Background on the tumor diagnosis
Last Friday evening we noticed Karl start to violently convulse while laying in his bed. He lost consciousness, was gasping for air, became stiff, couldn't stand -- we literally thought he was going to die in our arms. He was drooling then panting heavily. It was the most heartbreaking thing we've ever experienced. We were out the door within minutes and got him into the car and straight to the emergency vet a few blocks away. He stabilized by the time we arrived, they tested his vitals, and he seemed to have no obvious diagnosis other than likely a seizure. Hesitant to prescribe anticonvulsants, they decided to monitor him for a while and give him anxiety meds. We had the option to take him home or leave him there (the vet said typically they hospitalize after 3 seizures within 24 hours), Ultimately we decided to take him home to monitor for the night with medication.
Around 3 am later that night Karl began having another seizure. It was not as intense as the first but it was still very troubling. We were able to get video of the episode for the vet and, upon returning to the hospital, they identified the events as seizures. We decided to have Karl admitted for observation for 12 hours during which they started him on an anti-convulsant medication. He was seen by a Neurologist who witnessed one more small seizure in his facial muscles. She raised concern that he may have a brain tumor considering the severity and sudden onset of the seizures and recommended getting an MRI of his brain.
Today Karl had the scan done which revealed a large tumor deep in the right side of his brain. The neurologist explained that because of the tumors location, surgery is likely too risky. Radiation is our best bet to shrink the tumor, should we decide to do so. In the mean time we are moving forward with chemo therapy and steroids in addition to the anticonvulsant medication. We are meeting with our primary vet tomorrow to figure out a plan for radiation.
This has been a whirlwind of a few days and we are trying to do everything we can to get Karl the best treatment available. We do know this will be a costly venture and have already spent $4,192, which is not insignificant for us financially.
Our goal is to raise what we can here so that we have the capability to comfortably move forward with his treatment without making decisions based on money alone.
The money raised will go to:
-Hospital bills
-MRI
-Chemotherapy
-Steroids
-Anticonvulsant medication
-Vet and Neurologist visits
-Radiation Therapy (TBD)
-Aftercare (TBD)
We will keep this updated based on what we find out in the coming days and weeks.
If you choose to donate to Karl's treatment (or as he calls it, The Bone Fund), we would be so overwhelmingly appreciative. We do not take the decision to crowdsource this money lightly. In the event that we raise more money than is needed for his treatment, we will donate the remainder to help other animals in need.
Thank you for all of your support and love for our sweet karly boy.
Skyler & Cole (Karl's Parents)
+ Ben (Bonus Dad)