Lola's Heart
Donation protected
Hi,
We are the Oppenhuizens. Two weeks ago we adopted our sweet Lola girl from a local shelter. We brought her home where she lives with us (Daniel & Jessica) and her new sister, Zoe. We think she likes us.. just a little bit.
When we took her to the vet for a check up we found out she has a severe heart murmur that needed extensive testing and possibly surgery. When we contacted the shelter they told us if they would have found her defect while she was there that she would not have been adoptable. We know that she was meant to be with us and have a chance at life! We found out on November 20th that her murmur is caused by a congenital heart defect called Pulmonic Stenosis. In medical terms, this means that her pulmonary valve is narrowed or obstructed, which connects the pulmonary artery to the right ventricle. For you non-medical folks, basically one of the valves that carries blood through her heart is very narrow or fused together, which causes her murmur and will eventually lead her to heart failure. Look right here.
Lola needs what is called a balloon valvuloplasty where a balloon-tipped catheter is inserted into her heart through one of her veins or arteries (usually the femoral artery) and inflated to open up her valve. Without treatment, Lola will start showing signs of heart failure within the next year. She has stunned the doctors already by making it through her spay surgery when they didn't know she had the defect, so we know she is a fighter! She is so full of life and deserves a life full of snuggling on the couch with her sister. Like this.
Here's where you come in. No one in the Memphis area can perform this surgery, as it is highly specialized. Because it is such a specialty surgery, it is also very expensive. We want to do everything we possibly can for our girl, but we are not able to do it on our own. We will have to travel to University of Tennessee Veterinary Medicine Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee or Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for Lola to get treatment. The surgery alone is over $2,000. She has had one echocardiogram already which cost $500 and will need another after the surgery plus follow up visits and medications. I understand that there are so many other things that you could give your money to, plenty of real humans that need treatment and surgeries. We TOTALLY get that. However, we don't have any children of our own and our dogs are our family and we have a feeling there are some more dog lovin' people out there like us. We would love any help you are able to give us to get this girl's heart in working order so that she can live a long, healthy life with us! I mean, look at this face.
We are so grateful for whatever we are able to raise and if nothing else, please pray that we are able to get her the surgery that she needs. As we find out more about the surgery and the costs, we will update everyone on her progress. Thank you to everyone who is praying for our girl!
Jessica and Daniel (and Zoe and Lola girl)
We are the Oppenhuizens. Two weeks ago we adopted our sweet Lola girl from a local shelter. We brought her home where she lives with us (Daniel & Jessica) and her new sister, Zoe. We think she likes us.. just a little bit.
When we took her to the vet for a check up we found out she has a severe heart murmur that needed extensive testing and possibly surgery. When we contacted the shelter they told us if they would have found her defect while she was there that she would not have been adoptable. We know that she was meant to be with us and have a chance at life! We found out on November 20th that her murmur is caused by a congenital heart defect called Pulmonic Stenosis. In medical terms, this means that her pulmonary valve is narrowed or obstructed, which connects the pulmonary artery to the right ventricle. For you non-medical folks, basically one of the valves that carries blood through her heart is very narrow or fused together, which causes her murmur and will eventually lead her to heart failure. Look right here.
Lola needs what is called a balloon valvuloplasty where a balloon-tipped catheter is inserted into her heart through one of her veins or arteries (usually the femoral artery) and inflated to open up her valve. Without treatment, Lola will start showing signs of heart failure within the next year. She has stunned the doctors already by making it through her spay surgery when they didn't know she had the defect, so we know she is a fighter! She is so full of life and deserves a life full of snuggling on the couch with her sister. Like this.
Here's where you come in. No one in the Memphis area can perform this surgery, as it is highly specialized. Because it is such a specialty surgery, it is also very expensive. We want to do everything we possibly can for our girl, but we are not able to do it on our own. We will have to travel to University of Tennessee Veterinary Medicine Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee or Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for Lola to get treatment. The surgery alone is over $2,000. She has had one echocardiogram already which cost $500 and will need another after the surgery plus follow up visits and medications. I understand that there are so many other things that you could give your money to, plenty of real humans that need treatment and surgeries. We TOTALLY get that. However, we don't have any children of our own and our dogs are our family and we have a feeling there are some more dog lovin' people out there like us. We would love any help you are able to give us to get this girl's heart in working order so that she can live a long, healthy life with us! I mean, look at this face.
We are so grateful for whatever we are able to raise and if nothing else, please pray that we are able to get her the surgery that she needs. As we find out more about the surgery and the costs, we will update everyone on her progress. Thank you to everyone who is praying for our girl!
Jessica and Daniel (and Zoe and Lola girl)
Organizer
Jessica Bradley Oppenhuizen
Organizer
Memphis, TN