Today our girl is having surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax. The specialist quoted us $9,000-$12,000 for the surgery. We have been to the ER twice, Tuesday & Thursday, to perform a thoracentesis. I can’t tell you how many X-rays we’ve taken, but trust me, it’s a lot.

More about Aria: she’s the sweetest 4-year-old and mom’s ESA. A mix of APBT, American Staffordshire Terrier, and American Bulldog. She adores paddle boarding, her family, and just genuinely loves love. Some of her favorite things are her big brother (kitty), Wednesday (mom’s day off), and absolutely everything to do with exploring. She’s always been healthy; I always do the biggest blood panels on her twice a year just to ease my mind.

How it started: Last Friday, 10/25, she started breathing a little bit off. I immediately knew something was wrong. I brought her to work with me at the clinic. We didn’t hear anything irregular when we listened to her lungs but took an X-ray and sent it off to the specialist. The result was spontaneous pneumothorax, which means there is air in her chest that is constricting her lungs. Every doctor and specialist believes it was caused by a bullae or bleb, an air-filled sac in the lungs, that ruptured and caused a leak into the chest. This can be genetic, so we really aren’t sure how this happened.

Treatment: We got her chest tapped Tuesday, 10/29, and got 1,400mls of air. Took an X-ray on Thursday, 10/31, and saw there was air in her chest again but only got 600mls when we tapped. I took another X-ray yesterday and knew immediately once it popped up on the screen the air was back. We took her to the specialist the same day. After going over our options while keeping her quality of life and the expenses in mind, we decided to go through with the surgery. This was the only option for a guarantee the leak would stop and what the specialist recommended. I knew this would be the worst-case scenario at the beginning; it is super invasive and aggressive. They will be using a bone saw to open her chest and use saline to find the leak using the bubbles. Once the leak has been found, they will be removing that lung lobe. Recovery will be very hard on her; she will be in an oxygen chamber and have a chest tube. She will have an injection in her muscle for pain that works for three days and be on a pain drip until it’s not needed. They will be keeping her for a few days to monitor and make sure she’s okay to come home.

I’m Taylor, her mom. I work at an animal hospital as a vet assistant full-time but will be getting a second job for the weekends or picking up pet sitting again. Her dad, Kellan, works at a boarding facility as the manager full-time. If you could imagine being 20 & 21 yrs old, we don’t make a whole lot after bills, but we will do absolutely everything we need for our girl. We already have gotten so much support from Aria's friends that we consider family. We love you all and appreciate it to the moon and back!