Please Help Helo

Sarah Greene is organizing this fundraiser.

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Short Version of our story -

Our beloved Helo (He-Low like a helicopter) has extreme abnormalities around his spleen, which also has a possible cancerous mass inside, as well as very low red and white blood counts. He requires emergency surgery to survive, as well as a possible blood transfusion, and very likely a form of chemotherapy later. We want to give him the very best care in this time, so please help us help him get the care he needs. Anything given that goes over the vet hospital bill will be directly donated to the hospital, full transparency of the funds will be achieved through images of the bills and a final documented donation of anything remaining with the West Vet Hospital in Garden City, Idaho. We don't know with follow-ups and the uncertainties of his situation how much the end cost will be, but we will update. We will update his story as well when we find out more.

UPDATES:

08/16/2023

Helo was diagnosed by the first vet office and recommended to go to West Vally

08/17/2023

Went through an emergency entrance at West Vally early in the morning. Diagnostics not looking good. Returned in the evening with Helo to decide on what to do. Pulled a loan after deciding to do surgery if it meant saving him.

08/18/2023

After meeting with the doctor and surgeons who were watching his blood counts closely and weighing factors for most of the day on what was best, it was decided in the late afternoon that moving forward with the surgery was his best option at that time. He went in for a successful surgery thanks to some very skilled people, and was placed in observation. We were called and given a detailed update. The Spleen was extremely irregular but was not yet bleeding. The liver is looking good. The surgery went very well. Excellent news!

08/19/2023

Got a call in the morning that he was looking good. One of the fantastic nurses at the hospital even video-called us and let us look in on him. I was so extremely grateful. She then sent a video for my wife to see. Best. Staff. EVER!

Received a call from the surgery team for an update saying he was looking stable and well. He was eating perfectly and could switch to oral medicine. Due to his nature, it would more than likely be best if in the afternoon he came home. WOOOOOT!

Went and helped with a blood draw to make sure his numbers were stable. He looked well so far, bringing him home thanks to these amazing people! We'll be back there tomorrow for another blood draw. We will have to wait till mid-next week to find out about the tumors and what we will have to do next. New pictures and bills updated.

08/20/2023

After heading back down today for another blood draw, his numbers are still low but stable! We won't have to do an infusion today! Woot! I can't even explain how wonderful the staff there has been. I don't know where we would be without West Vet.

08/23/2023

We did another blood draw and he was an excellent boy. His blood count numbers continue to rise (which is a really good thing). Still waiting to hear about the biopsy and whether or not we will need to start chemo :/ They did a quick check of his stitches and it looks like he is healing well. Super happy to hear. Still needs pain meds, but he doesn't seem as uncomfortable as the days before.

08/25/2023

Checked in again about the biopsy, no word yet. The staff as always has been absolutely wonderful to us. Can't thank them enough. Stopped one of the pain meds and watching him closely for signs of discomfort that's over tolerable for him. He'll stay on the other for a bit longer.

08/30/2023

Spoke with the surgeon this morning about his biopsy results. They aren't quite sure what was going on with his spleen but they are fairly sure it wasn't that aggressive cancerous mass we were fearing. There is a cell clump in his liver, but they aren't sure if that's a reaction to what the spleen was doing to him or something else, so we will go in for a blood workup tomorrow afternoon and maybe a bone marrow pull if his numbers haven't increased.

08/31/2023

Went back to the hospital to have another blood test and meet with the oncologist for the next step. Unfortunately we have reached the end of our loan amount and can't take another, but she was kind enough to come speak with us. We are going to try to get the blood work done at a cheaper facility and have them send the info over, if we can find one. We could really use your help to figure out what's going on!

Long Version of our story -

Helo is a rescue pup. About 200 miles from home with some hitchhikers in the bed of my truck I spotted a dog on the side of the interstate rolling around in the carcass of a vulture. Which is apparently the best smell he could find at the time.

It didn't take long for us to get him in the truck but it was clear he needed some help. I honestly couldn't have imagined how important this creature would become to me, and our family. After a patch-up at the vet we could start getting him healed up. With the injuries sustained, the vet said he was used as a bait dog for fights, beaten regularly, and kept in a very very small cage.

In those days I was on the road a lot, and wouldn't you know it, that was his favorite place to be.

Slowly but surely he started to heal, and started to look better. He was a gentle boy at heart, and enjoyed the company of muffins the cat.

He certainly does love to roll around on long car rides!

During the cold times, he became the cutest thing in pink!

Helo and I had a lot of good times in South Florida roaming around the everglades.

From Florida to South Dakota and back, we had a lot of adventures for a few years, but then it was time to move to the west coast!

And to the West, we went!

After a time in Idaho, Sarah and I finally found one another and got married. I didn't think I'd ever find anyone who would love my best friend as much as I did.

But it didn't take long for them to be inseparable, as a pair of cuties to boot!

From tooth brushing, to long hikes, to some of the best snuggles around, Helo is always excited to spend the time with us.

And I don't know if you know this, but he is one heck of a skilled fisherman!

Not to mention the mechanic of the year 9 years running! You can see him here sporting a jacket he wore to the hospital yesterday that his mama made him.

We got the car working again, and he was super happy to go back on more car rides.

We've spent many years, many seasons enjoying his company and watching his fears of the past diminish.

Helo started behaving oddly at the start of the week. We thought it was just an ear infection, but after visiting the local vet, they made it clear something life-threatening was occurring, and fast.

They recommended taking him to West Vet Hospital in Idaho. It was determined after two days of weighing risks and options that he would need emergency surgery to remove his spleen, the odds being he would still have cancer and would need a transfusion but wouldn't be in pain and wouldn't have the risk of a very painful spleen rupture which would cause his death.

At this point we don't know what the future hold for our beloved Helo, but we ask and pray for support to help keep him in our lives. Updates will be given as they come. Please share and donate anything you can to save our boy, we honestly can't imagine life without him. Anything left over will be directly donated to the West Vet Hospital.