Auggie and Payton's Medical Bills
November has not been an easy month for my shelties, Payton and Auggie.
Payton was the first one to need a vet visit when he began vomitting throughout the day and evening on November 3rd. We avoided an emergency vet visit charge as his vital signs looked great and his attitude was positive, and after discussing with the emergency vet tech, as he was able to keep water down and he did finally ceased vomitting bile, we decided to visit our normal vet the following day.
At the vet we ran bloodwork - I specifically wanted to check his kidneys - and also did an x-ray of his abdomen to look for a blockage. His x-ray came back first and was clear for a blockage.
His bloodwork came back with a problem the vet told me she had never seen before. One of his liver enzymes - and only one - was sky high. While the normal range was 10-118, Payton had a level at 1207. From the x-ray, his liver looked pretty normal, but because Payton is a sport dog he is thin and without a lot of body fat to create contrast, it was hard to see much detail. The recommended course of action was to put him on a medication for his liver, Denamarin, for 6 weeks, then recheck bloodwork to see if his levels went back down and were only elevated in response to his digestive distress.
If, however, his levels do not go down, we will be heading to the university for an ultrasound and aspirate to see if we can find out what's going on. Payton is an otherwise healthy four and a half year old sheltie. He is my "baby" dog, being my youngest (even at four) and we pray the answer to his abnormality is not cancer. For now, we wait and see until his follow-up in December.
Last week, my older dog, Auggie, decided he wanted to join the medical fun. Auggie was diagnosed with a heart murmur when he was five years old. Earlier this year, at nine, he had his heart murmur graded by a cardiologist to be a grade 6, the loudest on a scale of 1-6. On his recommendation, we went to the vet for a chest x-ray to see if there was anything alarming on the x-ray, and would then come to the university for an echo of the heart if there was anything to be concerned about. It was important, the cardiologist reminded me, to remember a 6 is only a measure of how loud the murmur is, NOT necessarily how severe it is. After Auggie's x-ray, it was determined his heart was only just outside of normal range, and being otherwise asymptomatic, no further treatment was suggested; we were only to take a chest x-ray every year and keep an eye on it and take action when necessary.
November 15th was Auggie's 10th birthday. On November 16th, he started with a cough, only a few times. On the 17th he coughed more. I tried to listen to his lungs to see if I could hear any fluid in his lungs, but could only hear the whooshing of his heart murmur. On the 18th, I called the university and took their first available cardiology appointment (November 30th.)
November 19th, my dog was having a hard time breathing. By dinner time, he initially refused to even eat. I called my normal vet, but they had no doctor available. We instead turned to the emergency vet. On the drive to the emergency vet, I had to blow into Auggie's nose to get him to breathe again as he was now coughing so violently he momentarily couldn't breathe.
At the emergency vet, he was almost immediately put into an oxygen tank. A chest x-ray was taken once he stabilized and revealed his heart was now so enlarged it was actually putting pressure on his trachea, and his lungs were filled with fluid. He is most assuredly in Congestive Heart Failure. How he went downhill so quickly without giving me prior symptoms, and from "just outside normal range" to that enlarged in approximately 34 weeks, I will never fully understand.
Auggie spent the night overnight at the emergency vet, and I spent the night not sleeping and crying as I wasn't sure if my special boy, who just turned 10 not even a week ago, would ever make it home.
Auggie made it through the night and I transferred him to my regular vet for monitoring through the morning. He had responded very well to treatment and came home with meds and the knowledge he would need to immediately be rushed back to the emergency vet if anything started to look sour that weekend.
Auggie has a follow-up appointment Monday the 23rd, and still has his cardiology appointment on the 30th (still the soonest we can get with only one cardiologist available and the Thanksgiving holiday.) The follow-up appointment will include another x-ray and more bloodwork. The cardiology appointment may include yet another x-ray but will include at least an echo of his heart.
Payton's vet visit cost me $339.54 and will run another $42.04 on his meds plus anywhere between $50-127 depending on how complete of a blood panel we elect to do. (This is all assuming he does not need to go to the university for further exploration, which will cost at least $700 for an ultrasound and aspirate and may run closer to $1000 if additional labs are needed.)
Auggie ran up $723.33 at the emergency vet and $147.48 at the regular vet the following day. His follow-up on the 23rd will cost close to $340, potentially more if additional medications are needed. The cardiologist on the 30th is estimated to be anywhere from $500-1000 depending on what all is needed.
Between the two, and keeping a positive approach to Payton's future, paying off their vet bills in full will deplete every single one of my bank accounts. I am currently enrolled in a medical study and am donating plasma as frequently as possible to try and raise more money to avoid emptying everything (as that will result in fees from my bank) but the credit card bills will come due before I can sell enough of my body to science to make up the necessary amount.
$2500 will cover past visits and the medium estimate on future vet visits, if we remain positive and ignore possible future diagnostic tests on Payton excepting the rechecks we know must happen to give him the all-clear. Anything beyond that will go toward continuing to provide Auggie the medical treatment he will need for his heart or paying for additional diagnostics if necessary.
I thought having my dogs six years apart in age meant I would avoid having catastrophic health problems happening all at once. At this point I have no choice but to stay positive and believe Payton's elevated enzymes are merely a reaction to his GI upset and not cancer. There is no cure for Auggie's heart, only management, and I pray we get years with the right treatment plan, but the fact is my very special boy is old and our time is limited. Both of my dogs are canine athletes, although Auggie is retired as his body has been slowly giving out on him over the years, and the bond we share from learning how to work as a team flows so deep in my heart and my entire being. They go beyond pet, they go beyond family - they are true partners who are major parts of my life and of who I am.
Payton was the first one to need a vet visit when he began vomitting throughout the day and evening on November 3rd. We avoided an emergency vet visit charge as his vital signs looked great and his attitude was positive, and after discussing with the emergency vet tech, as he was able to keep water down and he did finally ceased vomitting bile, we decided to visit our normal vet the following day.
At the vet we ran bloodwork - I specifically wanted to check his kidneys - and also did an x-ray of his abdomen to look for a blockage. His x-ray came back first and was clear for a blockage.
His bloodwork came back with a problem the vet told me she had never seen before. One of his liver enzymes - and only one - was sky high. While the normal range was 10-118, Payton had a level at 1207. From the x-ray, his liver looked pretty normal, but because Payton is a sport dog he is thin and without a lot of body fat to create contrast, it was hard to see much detail. The recommended course of action was to put him on a medication for his liver, Denamarin, for 6 weeks, then recheck bloodwork to see if his levels went back down and were only elevated in response to his digestive distress.
If, however, his levels do not go down, we will be heading to the university for an ultrasound and aspirate to see if we can find out what's going on. Payton is an otherwise healthy four and a half year old sheltie. He is my "baby" dog, being my youngest (even at four) and we pray the answer to his abnormality is not cancer. For now, we wait and see until his follow-up in December.
Last week, my older dog, Auggie, decided he wanted to join the medical fun. Auggie was diagnosed with a heart murmur when he was five years old. Earlier this year, at nine, he had his heart murmur graded by a cardiologist to be a grade 6, the loudest on a scale of 1-6. On his recommendation, we went to the vet for a chest x-ray to see if there was anything alarming on the x-ray, and would then come to the university for an echo of the heart if there was anything to be concerned about. It was important, the cardiologist reminded me, to remember a 6 is only a measure of how loud the murmur is, NOT necessarily how severe it is. After Auggie's x-ray, it was determined his heart was only just outside of normal range, and being otherwise asymptomatic, no further treatment was suggested; we were only to take a chest x-ray every year and keep an eye on it and take action when necessary.
November 15th was Auggie's 10th birthday. On November 16th, he started with a cough, only a few times. On the 17th he coughed more. I tried to listen to his lungs to see if I could hear any fluid in his lungs, but could only hear the whooshing of his heart murmur. On the 18th, I called the university and took their first available cardiology appointment (November 30th.)
November 19th, my dog was having a hard time breathing. By dinner time, he initially refused to even eat. I called my normal vet, but they had no doctor available. We instead turned to the emergency vet. On the drive to the emergency vet, I had to blow into Auggie's nose to get him to breathe again as he was now coughing so violently he momentarily couldn't breathe.
At the emergency vet, he was almost immediately put into an oxygen tank. A chest x-ray was taken once he stabilized and revealed his heart was now so enlarged it was actually putting pressure on his trachea, and his lungs were filled with fluid. He is most assuredly in Congestive Heart Failure. How he went downhill so quickly without giving me prior symptoms, and from "just outside normal range" to that enlarged in approximately 34 weeks, I will never fully understand.
Auggie spent the night overnight at the emergency vet, and I spent the night not sleeping and crying as I wasn't sure if my special boy, who just turned 10 not even a week ago, would ever make it home.
Auggie made it through the night and I transferred him to my regular vet for monitoring through the morning. He had responded very well to treatment and came home with meds and the knowledge he would need to immediately be rushed back to the emergency vet if anything started to look sour that weekend.
Auggie has a follow-up appointment Monday the 23rd, and still has his cardiology appointment on the 30th (still the soonest we can get with only one cardiologist available and the Thanksgiving holiday.) The follow-up appointment will include another x-ray and more bloodwork. The cardiology appointment may include yet another x-ray but will include at least an echo of his heart.
Payton's vet visit cost me $339.54 and will run another $42.04 on his meds plus anywhere between $50-127 depending on how complete of a blood panel we elect to do. (This is all assuming he does not need to go to the university for further exploration, which will cost at least $700 for an ultrasound and aspirate and may run closer to $1000 if additional labs are needed.)
Auggie ran up $723.33 at the emergency vet and $147.48 at the regular vet the following day. His follow-up on the 23rd will cost close to $340, potentially more if additional medications are needed. The cardiologist on the 30th is estimated to be anywhere from $500-1000 depending on what all is needed.
Between the two, and keeping a positive approach to Payton's future, paying off their vet bills in full will deplete every single one of my bank accounts. I am currently enrolled in a medical study and am donating plasma as frequently as possible to try and raise more money to avoid emptying everything (as that will result in fees from my bank) but the credit card bills will come due before I can sell enough of my body to science to make up the necessary amount.
$2500 will cover past visits and the medium estimate on future vet visits, if we remain positive and ignore possible future diagnostic tests on Payton excepting the rechecks we know must happen to give him the all-clear. Anything beyond that will go toward continuing to provide Auggie the medical treatment he will need for his heart or paying for additional diagnostics if necessary.
I thought having my dogs six years apart in age meant I would avoid having catastrophic health problems happening all at once. At this point I have no choice but to stay positive and believe Payton's elevated enzymes are merely a reaction to his GI upset and not cancer. There is no cure for Auggie's heart, only management, and I pray we get years with the right treatment plan, but the fact is my very special boy is old and our time is limited. Both of my dogs are canine athletes, although Auggie is retired as his body has been slowly giving out on him over the years, and the bond we share from learning how to work as a team flows so deep in my heart and my entire being. They go beyond pet, they go beyond family - they are true partners who are major parts of my life and of who I am.
Organizer
Aimee Lynn
Organizer
Champaign, IL