Help Pam and Kevin Cover Mac's Vet Bills

Hello, friends.

I'd being lying if I said this year has been going well for us. It seems like one emotional blow after another, especially this June.

Both of my parents have been struggling with various health issues for a few years now, but now we've come to a new crossroads.

My beautiful Mom has been bravely working through a litany of chemotherapy/radiation treatments for lung cancer and adrenal gland cancer. Her current chemo treatment only has a 20-30% chance of success. If it doesn't work the way we hope, her doctor has estimated she may only have 6 months left with us.

We learned this news on June 5th.

On the heels of this absolute gut punch, Kevin and I's sweet furry monster, Mac, started getting very lethargic and stopped eating. We immediately took him to our local vet, Spring Green Animal Hospital, and they said that he was very anemic and might need a blood transfusion to keep him alive long enough to run tests to root out the cause.

Kevin and I knew we would run into this day one day. Mac has had an overactive immune system his whole life and has needed to take steroids to keep it in check. He has been living a relatively lively, happy life, and the steroids were working, so we pushed the expensive fact finding tests down the road. Kevin and I spoke at length about how far we would go financially for our kitty boys and we decided we owed it to Mac to at least do some fact finding, so we took the leap and dove in.

Our local vet highly recommended that we rush him to VCA Veterinary Emergency Service. He has had x-rays, an ultrasound, a sample of his spleen taken, blood tests, virus tests, and, ultimately, a bone marrow aspirate. A couple tests had to be sent to Colorado State, and we are still waiting to hear the results.

VCA concluded that his body is still making new red blood cells (which is great), but something else was killing them off (not great). It could be his immune system or possibly Mycoplasma. Treatment-wise: He could switch immuno-suppressants which might help curb his immune system better. Or, he could take antibiotics for the Mycoplasma.

He did not get the blood transfusion because they suspected that this immune system might have rejected the foreign blood cells.

He spent two nights with VCA. They took amazing care of him.

He came home on June 12th shaved on his shoulder, belly and leg. He was pretty loopy and in pain from the bone marrow aspirate. His red blood cell count was still low but seemed stable, so the vets felt it was safe for him to come home. They upped his steroid dosage, and gave us an immunosuppressant, an antibiotic, and an appetite stimulant. After all of that, it is now June 22, and it currently feels like he is turning the corner and getting back to his friendly, mischievous self!

However, while this seems like a positive turn (and it is!), we are still running to Madison with him once a week for blood work rechecks to make sure he really is improving. During his last recheck on June 17, there was no red blood cell count improvement, so they are giving him another week to let his medications work. If, during his next recheck on June 24, his numbers are still not improving, or they are dropping, the last resort will be trying to give him a blood transfusion.

Needless to day, this whole month has been incredibly nerve wracking, just an absolute emotional roller coaster.

We knew all of this would be expensive, but we never thought these tests would be quite as expensive as they were. We spent $815 at the Spring Green Animal Hospital for the preliminary tests and office visit, and $4,600 at VCA for his major tests and overnight stays. And, costs from the medications and recheck appointments are trickling in and piling up. We are wildly grateful that much worse diagnoses were ruled out, such as cancer and organ failure, and we are much closer to understanding his situation. But because of all of this, we are financially over a barrel.

Now that we have the ball rolling with Mac's care, I need to shift my attention back to my family. I desperately need to spend more time with my Mom and family over the next 6+ months as it seems time with her is dwindling. I made the no-brainer decision to take time away from work and spend one full week per month at home with my family in Fort Wayne, IN. This alone will make money a little tight for me, but on top of Mac's bills, we are sitting in a pretty good sized hole.

Kevin and I are humbly and graciously asking for your help. This last year was a year for employment changes, and personal financial improvements and we FINALLY felt like we were climbing back up the income stability hill, and then everything came crashing back down. If you could possibly find it within your self to spare what you can, even if it is a dollar or two, it would mean the absolute world to us. Essentially, your donations would help us not have to worry as much about finances while I'm at home with my family spending precious time with my Mom.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for reading this to the end. We know we are a part of a very supportive community and we appreciate every single one of you to the moon and back.

Even if you are not in a place to donate, please feel free to share this and help us get as many eyes on it as we can.

We love you and thank you in advance for the support!

-Pam