Support Chisme’s Battle With Mysterious Health Issues

Hello, My name is Jackie, and I am raising money for my little dog, Chisme. Chisme is a medical mystery that no vet can solve (kind of like Scooby Doo, but it sucks and is crazy expensive).

His vet bills and medications have totalled $10,609.11 as of August 4th. I have provided a full breakdown of costs below.

The Story:

In June, Chisme suddenly lost the majority of his vision. When it became apparent that he was rapidly going blind, I took him to Veterinary Emergency Group in Santa Monica (I highly recommend, and the doctor was hot). After running some tests ruling out some common causes of blindness, they referred me to a dog ophthalmologist, which I did not know existed, but this is L.A., so there's six. I ended up taking him to Metropolitan Animal Specialty Hospital the same day. He has been going to MASH since, where he has been seeing the same ophthalmologist (who's also hot??) and recently added an internal medicine doctor to his team.

By the middle of July, Chisme's ophthalmologist had tested him for everything she could. All of his tests for infectious diseases came back negative except one: a weak positive for aspergillus. He was not diagnosed due to weak result, breed, and atypical presentation. His eyesight did not improve, despite many eye drops and oral medications. I was referred to internal medicine and made the soonest available appointment with them.

Before that appointment came up, Chisme started vomiting all of his meals. He was still eating and acting normal, but couldn't hold down a meal. This lasted 3 days until I was able to get him an appointment at MASH with both of his specialty doctors. He had a lot of stuff going on with his guts. Mostly his liver, gallbladder, and pancreas… still with no clear cause. We went home with even more medicines and instructions for a low-fat diet. At his follow-up 3 days later, the internal medicine doctor looked at his guts again, and this time there was improvement! However, both doctors were still stumped as to the cause to the blindness and the vomiting episode.

Over the next week, Chisme began losing interest in food and became lethargic. After he didn't eat anything for a full day, I informed MASH and made the soonest available appointment. That appointment was today, August 4th. Chisme was experiencing severe pancreatitis symptoms. The doctor recommended a 1-2 day hospital stay, which I opted for, as the cheaper alternatives most likely would have just delayed hospitalization. While in the hospital, he will have several more tests. The doctors' current theory is he has either an infection of some kind, or (much scarier) Lymphoma. Maybe we'll get some answers in the next few days.

Edit: He's back! Better but still no concrete answers

The Money Stuff:

As mentioned above, I have spent over $10,000 so far. I am a social worker making $23.24/hr in Los Angeles LMAO. What even is $10,000 ?? My CareCredit is maxed out at $5,500. All charges are now going on credit cards and are accruing interest. And this is not the end. Who knows how many more appointments we will have! Treatment? HAHAHAH HAHAHHSH AHHHHHHHHHH

The goal may increase when a cause is identified and a treatment plan is established.

Fun facts!

Math:

June 30th, Emergency Vet - $1,179.79

June 30th, Ophthalmology - $1,191.67

July 1st, Ophthalmology - $480.00

July 7th, Ophthalmology - $153.34

July 13th, Veterinary Appt - $337.88

July 14th - Ophthalmology - $85.91

July 15th, Ophthalmology - $230.00

July 24th, Ophthalmology & Internal Med - $1,900 + $701.53 (end of CareCredit)

July 27th, Internal Med - $455.80

August 4th - $3,892.19 (75% of estimated total cost of hospitalization)

July 26th, Carnival FUNDRAISER - $1,300ish

Cash Donations $100 & under- $370

Cash Donation - $1000

Cash Donation - $1500

Anon Cash Donation @ MASH - about $2000 (the remainder of the hospital bill)

Grand Total = $10,608.11

Goal August 4th - $10,000

Goal August 5th - $6,000

My GoFundMe was temporarily suspended for offering to send thank you cards. No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to your GoFundMe.