Sophie's Emergency Spinal Surgery

Hello everyone, my name is Emily and I have an 8 year old beagle named Sophie. On Saturday January 15, Sophie came around the corner for a treat and suddenly cried out in pain. She was shaking, panting, and reluctant to move. While calling an emergency vet hospital I realized she was not walking correctly. We went to the emergency vet hospital where they gave her medicine to relieve pain and inflammation. They told us her IVDD could be flaring up and to give her those medications and provide strict crate rest. At this point she was “wobbly walking” (they called it ataxia). If she got worse, I was to call back. By 9PM that night I was calling back and telling them I believed she was getting worse. They said if 3 medicine cycles in she’s not improving or she becomes paralyzed to bring her back. I woke up at 5AM the next morning to Sophie’s hind legs paralyzed. The emergency hospital was unable to provide MRI and transferred us to a hospital in the city. That night she had an MRI and immediately after received spinal surgery for an acute L1-L2 and L2-L3 disc herniation. She was hospitalized for 3 days total. She was having a problem with urination and they had concerns over possibly having to catheterize her. She came home Wednesday night and were told if she doesn’t urinate by the 24 hour mark to bring her back. The next morning, she still had not urinated. I had to bring her back to the city where they gave her an ultrasound on her bladder. Expressing her bladder manually was not possible due to how tight her muscles were and how painful she was. They said the bladder was within normal limits, so she must’ve dribbled urine at some point. We were sent home with more medications and have had better luck with her bladder since. Sophie is going to have a long recovery (possibly 3-6 months) filled with extensive rehab to try to regain motor control as well as follow up appointments with the surgery team. I have exhausted my savings with this emergency surgery and ER visits and am worried about not being able to afford any recovery care. The total amount on this GoFundMe is from the following bills: her first ER visit Saturday night, her surgery and hospital stay Sunday-Wednesday, and her ER visit Thursday morning. Any donation, big or small, would be EXTREMELY appreciated. I would be very thankful for any help given. This has been the worst week of my life and I never thought this would happen to us. Seeing your beloved fur baby in pain, paralyzed and needing immediate surgery was extremely scary and heart breaking. Caring for a disabled dog has its challenges in itself, adding financial stress onto that has been overwhelming. I want the best for Sophie and the best recovery possible for her. Sophie’s full story: In 2020 Sophie was on the couch when she repositioned and suddenly cried out. Our primary vet believed it was hip related and sent us home with pain medications. She was becoming more painful and I believed something more was wrong, so I took her to an emergency vet hospital the next day. They performed an MRI that showed IVDD type 1 and a mild herniation at L2-L3. The doctor recommended conservative treatment where she was crate rested for 8 weeks and on medications. She started acupuncture and was finally starting to recover smoothly. Then, in early 2021 she was attacked by another dog in our apartment complex. Our apartments have a leash policy, which was not being followed by another pet owner. I picked her up as quickly as I could but it had reset her recovery. We had been very strict about no stairs, no jumping, bought ramps and have been doing everything we can to limit any disc irritation. She has monthly acupuncture appointments to help maintain relief and had been doing well until last Saturday when our worst nightmare happened. Vet bills have been stacking up over the last two years and this sum has been hard to manage. The recovery process is going to be significantly important-hoping Sophie improves each and every day and she can regain motor control and walk again soon. Thank you so much for reading Sophie’s story and for considering donating to help us out <3 To anyone willing to donate or share, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

 

UPDATE:

Hello everyone. I wanted to say thank you so much to all of you who have continued to donate, share our page and also follow along Sophie’s journey. Thank you for all of your love and support. My last update was in February, and I wish I could say that it has been easy recovery since then. Unfortunately on March 24, Sophie was not acting like herself. She did not want to get out of bed and was being sluggish all morning. I noticed a strange spasm around her back legs and thought it could be connected to her discontinuing her medications a few days prior. She had physical therapy that night and I told my S/O to mention it to her therapist. They called me while I was at work and told me they were admitting her through their emergency department-they believed she herniated another disc. Completely distraught, I left work and went to the ER. They confirmed that they believed Sophie’s disc ruptured right above her previous surgical sight. They confirmed she was painful around the T-13 site and had decreased neurological functions. We decided to bring her home with medications for the night and restart crate rest. We hoped that she would not need another surgery and that she could be medically managed. The next morning when I got up with her I could see that her neurological function worsened. She was reluctant to move and when she tried to go potty she collapsed on the sidewalk. Due to her worsening, I had to bring her back to the ER. Their neurologist recommended a CT scan which showed a herniation at T-13-L1. He recommended surgery to relieve the pressure on her spinal cord. She had the surgery and spent two nights in the hospital. For this to happen not only once but twice to the sweetest dog in the world has been devastating. She had to completely restart her recovery- 8 weeks of strict crate rest and rehab restarting at the 2 week mark. Currently, she is 4 months post op from her first surgery and 2 months post op from her 2nd surgery. She has some residual deficits with her proprioception, knuckling and some unbalanced walking. Although she may have this for the rest of her life she has come such a long way and I am so proud of her. She has been an absolute inspiration- no matter her abilities she has so much love and happiness to give to this world. She has her check up with her neurologist this upcoming Tuesday. As long as her recovery is stable, he has talked about recommending her this summer for a non-invasive procedure called Percutaneous Laser Disc Ablation. This is supposed to help decrease the risk of IVDD episodes in her other discs. I am currently trying to save up for this as well as manage the costs of her rehab appointments (she goes twice a week). Even though we didn't reach our first goal yet we still raised an incredible amount of money. I have not given up trying. The total cost has now reached $17,500. I hope to keep reaching people who are willing and able to help with Sophie’s medical expenses. No matter the amount, big or small, it really does make a huge difference in our lives and for anyone who is considering donating, sharing our story, or sending positive thoughts and prayers, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. This has been an incredibly stressful year and the generosity of everyone who has helped us thus far has warmed my heart so much. I know Sophie is sending the love right back to you all. Thank you for listening