SAVE ISABEL THE DOG (Help With Her Surgery & Medical Bills)

Edit: January 17th, 2025:

Happy New Year Everyone!

Please help me afford Isabel’s full body CT scan (scheduled for hopefully next week!) along with managing her other conditions.

She has started to have kidney issues that need regular testing, Cushing’s disease, a heart murmur, mild chronic bronchitis, is on a low-dose chemo treatment, and she needs a CT scan to make sure no cancer has come back/appeared.

All of this continues to be an expense. The CT scan is looking to be around $2,000-$4,000 (depending on what my surgeon says, waiting to hear back, and we’ll hopefully do it next week) and I’m struggling to afford her continued medical expenses while trying to pay my bills.

If anyone could donate, we’d really appreciate it and it’d be SUCH a help. I will make a more in-depth update soon breaking down costs and medical procedures more, but I just wanted to add an update here.

Please read our main story and updates for lots of info about us and everything we’ve been through.

Thank you and I hope this year is better than the last for everyone. <3

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Edit: August 21st, 2024:

!!!!!PLEASE READ MOST RECENT UPDATE FOR CURRENT INFO!!!!!

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!!!!!!! #SaveIsabelTheDog !!!!!!!

!!!!!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP ASAP PLEASE !!!!!!

!!! ISABEL NEEDS SURGERY TO REMOVE POSSIBLE CANCEROUS LUMPS !!!

!!! SHE WILL ALSO POSSIBLY NEED A PROCEDURE TO SEE WHAT’S WRONG WITH HER EAR !!!

!!! NOT TO MENTION OTHER CURRENT AND FURTURE MEDICAL CARE !!!

!!! PLEASE SHARE AND/OR DONATE ($2, $5, $10, $25, $50+) ANY AMOUNT HELPS !!!

!!!!!!! PLEASE READ ON !!!!!!!

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KEY NOTES:

ISABEL HAS:

- Possible Malignant Lumps that need to be removed ASAP!

- Ear Infection that might need a procedure to see why it’s not going away.

- Cushing’s Disease that needs to be managed with medication for the rest of her life.

- Grade 3 Heart Murmur that she’ll eventually need to be put on medication for.

- Cough that she uses an inhaler for.

- Mild Arthritis that she gets injections and takes supplements for.

ALL OF THIS IS EXPENSIVE AND I CAN’T KEEP UP! PLEASE HELP US!

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Hi Everyone,

My name is Stephanie and this is a GoFundMe for my beautiful dog Isabel (lovingly nicknamed Bella) who’s my family and whom I love so much it physically hurts.

She’s a 13 year old (almost 14!) Maltese Shih Tzu who has my heart in the palms of her lovely paws. My sweet little love.

The sweetest being in the entire universe.

I NEED HELP COVERING HER CURRENT, UPCOMING AND FUTURE MEDICAL COSTS!

This year has been rough for her and her medical costs are becoming more than I can keep up with.

I’m really struggling and living in perpetual fear that I won’t be able to provide her adequate medical care going forward.

So please, spare a few minutes of your time to read our story and consider donating so that I can make sure that she lives a long and happy life for as long as she can with me.

Read on below to know who she is, her medical history, the costs of her care, and just how much she means to me. <3

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WHO SHE IS:

I adopted Isabel when she was 8 weeks old in 2010, 11 days before my 11th birthday. She has been with me for more than half my life and I have been with her for almost the entirety of hers.

She is kind, funny, sweet, loving, silly, cheeky, curious, intelligent, compassionate, affectionate, chill, regal and just overall has an amazing, beautiful, pure heart and soul.

She has such a strong voice. I love hearing her speak considering the majority of time she’s just quiet and chill.

There’s no one like her and there will never be anyone like her. She’s literally the most important person to me in my life.

I love her so much and the thought of her suffering and me not being able to afford adequate medical care for her just ruins me. Absolutely destroys me.

I know there will be a time when she’s gone, but I need that to be many years from now. It’s not her time yet and she doesn’t deserve what she has been going through.

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HER MEDICAL HISTORY:

She’s 13 years old and has had a tough 2024 so far.

She was diagnosed with Mild Arthritis in her legs in October 2023 that she gets injections for along with her 4Cyte and Antinol Plus supplements. This was expected due to her age but it still was a heartbreaking reminder of her aging that I wasn’t ready to face.

She was then diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease in late November 2023 and it has been a struggle to get the medication dose just right. The blood tests are really expensive (around over $500 each) and it took until July 2024 to get her to a level close(er) to pre-diagnosis (although we’re not done yet).

Around January 2024 she developed a different Cough that she now needs an inhaler for, but luckily it has improved and is manageable.

Around March she was diagnosed with a Grade 3 Heart Murmur that we need to monitor and eventually put her on medication for.

Around the same time, 2 lumps were removed from under the skin of her abdomen, 1 of which turned out to be CANCEROUS, and now needs to be monitored for regrowth because the vets weren’t sure they got it all entirely. Which has turned out to possibly (hopefully not) be the case. I’ve just recently noticed 3 new lumps.

During all this, since around April, she has had an Ear Infection in her left ear that will not go away. For 4 months, I’ve been taking her to the vet, trying three different ointments, some antibiotics, and doing numerous samples/tests that have all been to no avail.

On Wednesday, July 17, 2024, I eagerly took her to a Dermatology Specialist after a month long wait.

There I was given a different ear drop medication to try for 3 weeks before she would have to see the specialist again. Her ear was so inflamed that they couldn’t see down her ear canal properly.

If the ear is not better at that 3 week appointment, she will have to go under mild anesthesia so they can slide a thin camera down her ear to see what the issue is. This procedure has a estimate of $2,153.50-$4,523.50.

Like I said above, I recently noticed 3 NEW LUMPS(!) under the skin of her abdomen near the area that the previous cancerous lump was removed.

I went to see a Internal Medicine Specialist yesterday, Friday, July 17, 2024, to talk about what to do. He said that a biopsy won’t show proper results and that they need to be removed intact and tested ASAP because we can’t tell if they’re malignant or not.

He said we can coordinate with the dermatology department, but that an appointment probably won’t be available until August. Now I’m waiting to hear back from them on Monday, July 22nd, 2024, so that I can see whether I need to book the surgery somewhere else and just what I need to do.

I will then get an estimate for that surgery.

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I have taken her to whatever appointments she needs so that we can get her the help that she deserves. All done from a place of complete love. I would do anything for her. I just want her to get the help that she needs and for her to be healthy and happy for many years to come.

These past 9 months have been the worst of my life, and that’s saying something considering I have struggled with depression, anxiety, insomnia, and suicidal ideation for over a decade. I have backslid tremendously this year, so much so that Isabel and I moved back in with my mum for 6 months because I couldn’t be alone, I still can’t honestly, but there’s not enough room for us there.

THROUGHTOUT ALL OF MY STRUGGLES ISABEL HAS BEEN MY ROCK AND THE ONLY PURE FORM OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE THAT I HAVE EVER AND PROBABLY WILL EVER RECEIVE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

Having said that, I really need your help. I am so terrified, petrified with fear that I will not have enough to cover her medical costs going forth.

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COSTS OF CARE:

Since November 16th 2023, I have paid $11,760.55 for her vet visits. Not including the couple of times I bought her medication online, that amounts to probably $600 give or take. And, of course, Wednesday’s visit of $655.05 with the Dermatology Specialist, and Friday’s visit of $320.10 with the Internal Medicine Specialist.

I didn’t get Pet Insurance until after she was diagnosed with Cushing’s unfortunately, so that is not covered. Since I got it so late, I only get a 60% reimbursement, which is better than nothing but vet bills are still really expensive and, as you can see from above, they have added up.

Not including Wednesday and Friday’s visits, my Pet Insurance has reimbursed me $4,423.99 of her medical bills. I’m so grateful, it’s such a help, I just wish it was a little bit more.

That’s $7,336.56 I’ve spent out of pocket for her since November 2023 just for her medical bills. Not including food, supplements and preventatives. I’d spend it again in a heartbeat, no question.

I’m currently not working due to numerous reasons out of my control that I don’t feel comfortable talking about here. All this money is from my limited savings, Disability Support payments that I gratefully receive from Centrelink, and my Mum.

Like I said above, I have backslid so much these past 9 months that whenever I feel like I’ve got my footing again, Isabel has another medical issue we need to address and I am thrown back to a frozen state of constant worry and helplessness.

I’m asking for $10,000 as a rough estimate for her current, upcoming and future medical bills.

I know I will need that amount, probably more, I just want to make sure that I have it now so that I can immediately get her the medical care and attention that she needs without: delay, worrying about finances, and possibly putting her life at risk.

I need that peace so that I’m not constantly filled with anxiety, fear, guilt, and dread for her future. I want to enjoy being with her and give her a happy life, and I can’t do that when I’m perpetually stressed, and filled with sorrow for not being and having enough.

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If you’ve made it this far, I just want to thank you for reading our story. I really appreciate it, I know it was a long read, I just had a lot of context to get through.

I want to please ask if you’d be willing to donate any amount so that I will be able to afford medical care for for my sweet lovely little Bella.

If you can’t, that’s ok, but please consider sharing this post to friends, family, social media, anyone you think would be interested and be willing to help.

SO PLEASE, HELP ME SAVE ISABEL!

I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t truly desperate and scared for her future.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate it a lot. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. <3

Much love,

Stephanie and Isabel