I am Rosie's mom, here today looking for your help and love this Giving Tuesday.

Rosie is a rescue dog we adopted from Rebel Dogs Detroit, and she has been with us since she was 2 months old. We adopted her on January 15, 2024 (my daughter Isabelle’s birthday), and in her very short life, our sweet Rosie has been through so much. Rosie is a Pitbull Terrier, Bulldog, Shar Pei mix and is the sweetest girl.

Just before her first birthday, Rosie was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called Masticatory Myositis. This is a disease where her body attacks its own muscles in the mouth and the face. She began the treatment of high-dose steroids to combat the disease. A month ago, she was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease caused by the steroids needed to control her Masticatory Myositis.

Wednesday, Rosie went into the emergency vet for bleeding and has not been able to come home.

We like to tease that she is an “emotional support dog” for our true emotional support veteran's assist dog, Hoyt. Hoyt and Rosie are so wonderful together, and she has been such a special addition to our family. With this new potential diagnosis of Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia and her platelets being at zero on Wednesday, we were devastated and at a loss as to how we could not save her. It is the most horrible question to be asked.....do you have enough money to save your child? You say yes and pray you can figure it out some way.

With our Veteran's Assist Dog Hoyt injured in April and having to have a herniated disc repaired in one area and a second site that was hemorrhaging, we have still not financially recovered. He was given a 10% chance to walk again, and against all odds, he did it. Over $11,000 later, and he is still with us, and I am thankful every day.

We have been home helping my brother-in-law recover from his open-heart surgery to repair his aortic aneurysm, so with him off of work, this is yet another serious stressor in our world. Rosie has been in the hospital now since Wednesday, receiving antibiotics, chemo, and immunosuppressants to help calm her body and hopefully allow her platelets to regenerate.

Right now, they are suspecting something called Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia. We tried to hold off on some of the testing to rule out other things as our bill has skyrocketed very quickly. We have barely recovered from Hoyt's injury, and to add this during this holiday season, we just were ill-prepared. We don't know what the future will hold cost-wise for long-term treatment if our girl can get through this, but we will not give up fighting for her. As much as it pains me to ask, if you have the ability to donate to Rosie, we would be forever grateful. If you cannot donate, please share and pray for our girl. We all would be devastated to have to make the choice to let her go because of money. The worst part of all this is that Rosie is adored by my son Dominic and has been since we met her. The day we met her at the meet and greet with Hoyt, she immediately made her way to Dominic's lap. To lose her would mean losing his first love, and he would be devastated.

Right now, Rosie's bill is totaling over $15,000, and each day it is climbing. I know many will say....I would never. But Rosie is a part of our family, and knowing that money is what can take her away from us, from my son, from Hoyt, is tearing us apart. We thank you all for taking the time to read, give, and pray. Kind regards, The Lewis Family