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VIDEO CAN BE FOUND HERE
Hi, I'm Charlie and yes, I'm back fundraising. I thought I was done with this, but life handed me another curve ball while still recovering financially from a bad injury.
My dog Tammy has blown a disc in her neck. Yes. Almost to the day 1 month after I was cleared to return to work after doing the same thing to my lower back, for which I required surgery.
Tammy is a very sweet and very otherwise perfectly healthy 12 year old beagle. I've had her since she was 11 months old and she means the world to me.
She has neurological deficits and severe pain, and currently is on strict rest (not that it matters, as she doesn't want to do anything). When she wakes up and goes to bed, she shakes in pain. She can't look up. It hurts to walk. She is struggling, just like I did with my back injury.
Neck intervertebral disc disease typically struggles to improve with medical management. My experience as an emergency veterinarian, and the experience of the specialist she saw today, is that you might control the pain temporarily but it always returns and eventually requires surgery. The success rate with surgery is 90%.
I had surgery in March 2025, and I was unable to work for 5 months. I burnt through $35,000 in savings keeping myself and my company afloat. When it came to renew my visa to stay in the US, I had no savings left and my community generously helped me pay 3/4 of the legal fees. I'm still saving and sorting out the final payment, I was not expecting this to happen with Tammy.
I have considered continuing medical management for more months, but she is just in horrendous pain. I have considered euthanasia, but typically beagles live on average til 16 years old, and if that's the case she has a quarter of her life still to go. I would also not forgive myself if I euthanised a healthy dog that had a 90% chance of improvement if she just had a surgery. As someone who has just had this medical condition, and as a veterinarian, I couldn't live with that. I have secured a veterinary loan, but they wouldn't approve me for more than $8000. I therefore have 10 days to find a minimum of $7000.
I am doing everything I can to find this money, within the constraints of my visa. I'm not allowed to get a second job yet, as my visa status needs to be changed (this is the final step I'm saving $4k for after my injury). I'm camming, I'm on my fan page 24/7, I'm on Mynx. I'm hustling for company jobs. But realistically, 10 days isn't enough time to find this money on my own very easily.
I feel very uncomfortable raising money again so soon, but I just don't have many options not being able to take a second job. So if you are able to forgo a coffee this week to contribute $5, I appreciate you. If you can't donate any money, please share this page. Or, if you follow me and enjoy my content, please consider signing up to my fan page and helping out there by purchasing my content. Every little bit helps and thankyou in advance.
As I find money myself through work, I will reduce the end goal for this fund raiser as I don't expect this to be solely funded by the public. For now though, it's an easy way for everyone to track how far off I am.
For a longer video version of my explanation, please go to this link.
Organizer
Charlie Forde
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA