Millie Murphy Emergency Surgery

This is my best friend Millie. This is my ride or die. Shes always been there for me, even when i was too depressed to get up and turn the lights on. Shes sat beside me and loved me unconditionally since the day we met. Yesterday, Millie had an upset stomach. Late last night she began acting a bit off and began shivering. She would still drink but refused to eat her normal food so we switched to rice and boiled chicken to reset her stomach.. We monitored her closely the rest of the night and she finally got a few hours of rest. When i woke up i immediately noticed things were worse. Her right eye was sunken in and her 3rd eyelid would not retract. She was shivering much worse, and her belly was bloated and hot to touch. I could barely get her to move or drink. At this point in my gut I almost felt like shed had a small stroke or something similar bc of her eye, and she was struggling to pant and yawn correctly. Big thank you to Kendra for getting us there quick. They immediately took us back and did bloodwork only to find her white blood cell levels were incredibly high, and her red cells were super low. They did X- rays, the doctor returned and we immediately knew it was worst case. Her xrays showed that her uterus was massively swollen, and full of infection, a lethal condition called Pyometra. They offered to send us home with tylenol and antibiotics but told us her life was basically on a clock of a few hours to maybe a few days tops without emergency surgery. The drs own words were "in medical school we were told never to let the sun set on a Pyometra." I cant tell you how it feels to get that news. I cant physically explain how helpless it feels to know your best friend is in that condition, and that you are powerless to change it. Its no different than hearing that your closest friend or family member is going to die without immediate help, and the ability to recieve that help depends only on how much money you can reach out and touch at that moment in time. Today is Dec, 23rd. Xmas is 2 days away. If we took her home with the antibiotics, even if we were able to raise the money, the vet would be closed until tuesday the 26th, leaving her in excruciating pain, to die at home more than likely. The other options were surgery, and her being able to live out the rest of her life happy and healthy (if we could've come up with the money to pay for it), or put her down knowing she still had the chance at a long life. It wasnt a question, or a choice. Millie has literally saved my life MULTIPLE times when i was depressed and didnt see a way out. I know she would drop dead for me, or Sam in a heartbeat, and never give it a second thought. We refused to let Millies life be cut short. We didnt have time to qualify for scratchpay or carecredit, as the vet was literally about an hour from close. Being 2 days from xmas reaching out and touching that much money has completely tapped us out. It took ALL of our bill money, grocery money, money sat aside for our wedding, literally everything we had saved to be able to cover the minimum amount required for them to perform the procedure. Not including the monthly payments going forward. I know most of my friends and clients have fur babies and love them just as much as i do, and that would make the exact same decision we did today. With it being the first actual slow season where ive been slower tattooing in years, and having a record amount of no call no shows, reschedules in the past few weeks, with our bills being due a couple of days after Christmas, and then at the beginning of the month again, along with sam being in the hospital a few days last week, this emergency expense has left us in a bad spot. If you know me, you know id rather starve and go without, but at this point i have no choice but to swallow my pride and be vulnerable enough to ask for help. Any amount you can help my family with is truly beyond appreciated. I fully understand for many people, this year has been super hard financially as well, so even if you cant donate, sharing is super helpful also. Im also offering a few more gift cards at the same values for anyone interested in those. Thank you in advance to everyone that reads this!