Mia’s Shunt Surgery
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This past spring our family had to put our 10 year old Husky to sleep due to cancer. It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. Listening to your child cry herself to sleep every night was absolutely heartbreaking. Bella (our 7 year old) begged for a puppy every day. She wanted a puppy to play with and grow up with. I wanted nothing more than to watch a puppy grow each year with our child as well. I went back and forth on wether to get another dog or wait..our hearts were still hurting so much from losing our other dog. If you know Bella, you know how much she loves dogs. Her room is covered in stuffed dogs. I happened to be looking at puppies and I found Mia (our golden retriever) through a breeder. I wanted so bad for Bella to have a dog to grow up with. I decided it was right for our family and I knew we would love this dog as much as we loved our other dog. I decided to surprise Bella with picking out her own puppy. A puppy that was all hers. When she walked in the yard full of puppies the love and excitement on her face brought tears to my eyes. Bella got to play with all of the puppies for a while. She kept going back to Mia. Mia was so sweet and calm. Bella scooped her up and said she is the one, and that was that. We have loved and loved on Mia since day one. She is the absolute most sweetest and loving dog and the best dog for Bella and our family. All Mia wants to do is love on you, have her belly rubbed and steal your slippers.
Mia has had a clean bill of health since day one, regular puppy visits from the vet, has had all of her shots, meds, and is spoiled to death! It wasn’t until we took Mia to be spade that we had any idea that something was wrong. I got a call at work that the vet was having a very hard time getting Mia up from surgery. They ran tests and found high levels of enzymes in her liver. They suggested I follow up with Mia’s regular vet. Mia’s vet met me that night (she is the best vet ever) and put her on meds for a month to see if it was a fluke or if something was wrong with her liver. Bella overheard me talking to the vet and locked herself in the bathroom when we got home and was crying and begging God to heal her puppy. It broke my heart in two. As a family we cried and prayed and cried and prayed hoping it was a fluke. I have turned to so many people asking for prayers for our sweet Mia. Mia was tested the day after Christmas to see if the meds worked. The test results came back that her levels were still high just like post surgery. We scheduled a bile acid test the next day to check her liver. That test came back that her liver was not functioning properly. Our vet made some calls and spoke with other specialist and shared that most likely Mia has a shunt on her liver. What does that mean, it means that her blood isn’t flowing like it’s supposed to her liver. The only way to remove the shunt is through a costly surgery done at Purdue. $2000 for a CT scan and $5,000 for the procdure that most likely will need be done not once but twice to fix the problem. If we have the surgery, Mia will live a healthy normal life. If we chose to not do the surgery Mia’s life expectancy is 9-12 months. Mia will be 8 months on Saturday. I am absolutely sick to my stomach. I don’t know what else to do. Financially, we just don’t have the money for the surgery. I have prayed about this for over a month asking God to heal her and for it just to be a fluke. I can’t even imagine losing our sweet Mia. Bella is unaware the severity of Mia’s health at this point. She absolutely loves her puppy. She reminds everyone that Mia is her puppy and she is the one who picked Mia out. She will be devastated if something happens or we can’t afford to fix her.
If you know me well enough, you know I never ask anyone for help. I try and figure things out on my own. I have no other options at this point, I am putting it in God’s hands and asking others who would like to help in any way. I would never ask if I had any other option. I am keeping my faith and leaning on others for prayers. Thank you so much for your love and generosity! May God Bless you!
Much love,
The Connors Family
Mia has had a clean bill of health since day one, regular puppy visits from the vet, has had all of her shots, meds, and is spoiled to death! It wasn’t until we took Mia to be spade that we had any idea that something was wrong. I got a call at work that the vet was having a very hard time getting Mia up from surgery. They ran tests and found high levels of enzymes in her liver. They suggested I follow up with Mia’s regular vet. Mia’s vet met me that night (she is the best vet ever) and put her on meds for a month to see if it was a fluke or if something was wrong with her liver. Bella overheard me talking to the vet and locked herself in the bathroom when we got home and was crying and begging God to heal her puppy. It broke my heart in two. As a family we cried and prayed and cried and prayed hoping it was a fluke. I have turned to so many people asking for prayers for our sweet Mia. Mia was tested the day after Christmas to see if the meds worked. The test results came back that her levels were still high just like post surgery. We scheduled a bile acid test the next day to check her liver. That test came back that her liver was not functioning properly. Our vet made some calls and spoke with other specialist and shared that most likely Mia has a shunt on her liver. What does that mean, it means that her blood isn’t flowing like it’s supposed to her liver. The only way to remove the shunt is through a costly surgery done at Purdue. $2000 for a CT scan and $5,000 for the procdure that most likely will need be done not once but twice to fix the problem. If we have the surgery, Mia will live a healthy normal life. If we chose to not do the surgery Mia’s life expectancy is 9-12 months. Mia will be 8 months on Saturday. I am absolutely sick to my stomach. I don’t know what else to do. Financially, we just don’t have the money for the surgery. I have prayed about this for over a month asking God to heal her and for it just to be a fluke. I can’t even imagine losing our sweet Mia. Bella is unaware the severity of Mia’s health at this point. She absolutely loves her puppy. She reminds everyone that Mia is her puppy and she is the one who picked Mia out. She will be devastated if something happens or we can’t afford to fix her.
If you know me well enough, you know I never ask anyone for help. I try and figure things out on my own. I have no other options at this point, I am putting it in God’s hands and asking others who would like to help in any way. I would never ask if I had any other option. I am keeping my faith and leaning on others for prayers. Thank you so much for your love and generosity! May God Bless you!
Much love,
The Connors Family
Organizer
Megan Shafer Connors
Organizer
South Bend, IN
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