Shiloh's Spinal Surgery
Hi, my name is Danielle. If you know me, you know that I hate asking others for help, especially financial help. If you know me, you also know that I would do anything for my animals, and that's why I'm here. Last Saturday evening, our six year old rescue pup, Shiloh, started walking funny. Her back legs were stiff. After speaking to some coworkers at the vet hospital I work at, I separated her, kept her rested, and gave her something for the pain in hopes I could bring her to work on Monday. But by Sunday she couldn't walk or feel her back legs. We made the 2.5 hour drive down to Maine Veterinary Medical Center in Scarborough for help as they were the nearest open veterinary hospital with a neurologist. They got her in as soon as we arrived. Within an hour the doctor seeing her called me to tell me the hard news.
It seemed that Shiloh had a herniated disc in her spine. To diagnose this she would have to have an MRI. A herniated disc would be best case scenario and then would require immediate surgery. The doctor said the estimate for all of this would typically be $5,000-10,000 and that's assuming nothing went drastically wrong. She then told me that if we didn't act then we would need to instead discuss quality of life and euthanasia.
Most who know me know that my boyfriend and I do everything for our animals. They eat healthy diets, get regular vet care, and enrichment. They are our children and we would do anything and everything for them. And though we love all of them equally, Shiloh is special. We adopted her about 6 years ago when she was 6 months to a year old. She came from a hoarder in Georgia, small, and terrified. Gaining her trust and watching her progress over the years has been amazing. There was not chance that we weren't going to do everything necessary to save her. Especially given that she's only six and has been completely healthy up until now. So Shiloh went into surgery to remove the herniated disc from her spine at about 1:30am on Monday morning.
Now the surgery only has a 50/50 chance of working. This means that she will either walk again and have full function, or she will be paralyzed for the rest of her life (as long as no complications arise during recovery). But even if she is paralyzed, the doctor has assured me that she will have a fine quality of life, but life will just be different. She'll need help going to the bathroom and a wheelchair. But we can do that because we love her.
As of right now, our bill is around $7000.00. This includes the exam, xrays, MRI, surgery, hospitalization, and physical therapy. It's still early, so there's a chance the bill will increase. Not only that, but if the surgery isn't successful, chances are we will have more costs to face like a wheelchair, modifications to our home to make it more accessible for her, and further medical care. But honestly, anything will help. We love our little girl to pieces and will do whatever it takes to see her get better. We would appreciate any help we can get. Thank you for reading.
