Support Chief's Battle in the ICU

Chief is currently in the ICU at OSU-Vet, fighting to stay with us. He was first admitted on March 13th for severe anemia and required a blood transfusion.

Though his lab numbers remained concerning, he stabilized enough that the veterinarians allowed us to bring him home the next day to monitor over the weekend.

At his follow-up appointment on Monday, Chief was still anemic with no signs of improvement. The team performed a bone marrow biopsy from his left shoulder to investigate further.

While we waited for results, Chief was home, playful and happy—he even enjoyed a game of fetch, just like his old self.

Months ago, our sister had invited us on a spring break family trip to Florida—our first vacation since October 2020. With Chief seemingly stable and in good spirits, we hesitantly left for the trip on Day 5 following his biopsy. Our parents came to house-sit and care for the dogs.

Chief was bright and happy for the first day with them, but on Day 2, everything changed. He suddenly stopped eating and wouldn’t drink water. By Day 3, he was increasingly lethargic and unable to hold down any water. At 2:30 PM, my dad rushed him back to OSU.

Still physically in Florida but mentally in Ohio, we made the decision to dip into our savings and fly Jeffrey home immediately.

While he was in flight, I received multiple calls from the veterinary team—gathering Chief’s history, getting permissions, and updating us on his condition. At 11:23 PM, we got the call we feared: Chief’s white blood cell count had plummeted to nearly zero. Although his vitals were still stable, he was at high risk for sepsis. They began IV antibiotics and admitted him to the ICU.

I stayed awake until Jeffrey landed safely, and began packing up our things. Krystyna and I are heading home early—our hearts are in Ohio with Chief.

The vets plan to do a core bone marrow biopsy next. Right now, they are keeping him comfortable and continuing the antibiotics.

We still don’t have a diagnosis. But the doctor told us this could still be a treatable condition—and she wants to fight for him. So do we.

We’ve maxed out our Care Credit and depleted our emergency savings. Chief was a healthy, happy boy before all this began, and we want to give him every chance to fight and return to us.

If you’re able to help in any way, your support—financial or by sharing this story—would mean the world to us. Please help us bring our boy home.