I really didn’t want to have to go this route but here I am. As many of you know, my dog Jerry Lee whom I’ve had since he was 5 weeks old and is now 13.5 is my heart and soul. I credit him with so many positive changes in my life, if it wasn’t for him I’m not sure what my life would look like right now and I mean that with sincere certainty. He’s the sweetest, most stubborn, most lovable goof of a dog and everyone who meets him falls in love.

I have tried to do the best by him throughout his life and have gratefully been able to “spoil” him with great food and treats, comfy orthopedic beds, daycare when he was able to go, and lots of visits to dog parks from Cali to New Orleans. When he has had health issues I’ve always provided for him by getting him veterinary care including surgeries, consultations with Oncologists, 2nd opinions when warranted, and whatever treatments are advised. I’ve had him on a number of supplements, have oxygen therapy, a PEMF pad for his arthritis, and ongoing acupuncture.

And for the vast majority of this I’ve funded this myself. I’ve asked for help one time in his 13 plus years which was in 2020 when the world shut down. We discovered halfway thru the year that he had a soft tissue sarcoma and at that point I did not have the funds or the credit available to treat it. I was thankfully able to receive help from a wonderful organization, Lexi’s Legacy and thru a GoFundme that raised about $1500. With these and the money I had I was able to get the much needed surgery done and the tumor removed. For the five years since I have provided for him on my own, anything he has needed. Which brings me to now…

This year has been insanely rough. On top of his mobility challenges and the numerous supplements and acupuncture treatments, he developed Aspiration Pneumonia the last week of March. He spent four nights in the hospital and this cost me roughly $6000. One week after clearing the AP he had surgery to remove a benign mass that has been abscessing to the point of needing nearly continuous antbiotics. That was $4500. During this surgery a mass he has had and which I was told to leave due to his age and location was biopsied and confirmed a grade 2 soft tissue sarcoma. We have now seen 2 Oncologists and went to LSU for a radiation consult. I chose to put him on Rapamycin, a novel chemo treatment. These consults were close to $1000 plus the costs of medicines.

We were still trucking… and then this Monday as we were leaving to go to his Onco checkup I decided to take his temp as he had been selective with his food for a few weeks and X-rays kept showing nothing. It was 103.7! This became an ER visit and when they got him into ER it was 104.6. He was admitted right away and diagnostic tests began to find the source of infection. When his X-rays returned clear, the Ultrasound was unremarkable and the Urinalysis was negative it became about is this the tumor causing this? (Paraneoplastic syndrome). I was beside myself as the options were dwindling. The option of letting him go as he wasn’t showing response to the first antibiotic was brought up Tuesday. I was an absolute mess. I prayed and asked for God to show me what I needed to see. Shortly after I decided to google if a Urine culture was more definitive than a Urinalysis and the answer was yes. The culture would take a few days but I knew I needed that information, I couldn’t shake that it was an infection. I ok’d them adding another antibiotic on Tuesday and tried to get some rest. On Wednesday morning I got a call that he was showing improvement. He was responding to the second antibiotic. His temp spiked again (yet thankfully went back down) but because we still didn’t have a definitive answer I agreed to him staying another night in the hospital. This morning I received a call that he was doing well and that the culture was producing rods aka indicative of a bacterial infection. I couldn’t believe it, the hunch I’d had for weeks that this was an infection regardless of clear tests was being proven. At discharge we received notice from the lab of the prelimary type of bacteria and which antibiotic would be effective, Baytril, which happened to be the second one they started . This roller coaster over the past four days costs me a little over $5000.

I am tapped and overwhelmed. I have paid off about $5000 but still owe about $12000 in medical bills for him. And we are in the thick of summer where we make about 1/10 of what we make during “season”. We struggle regardless during these months and sitting with this medical debt and knowing that with his age and cancer and his chemo and that any other medical problem could arise I’m stressed to the max.

I hate to have to resort to this platform and I’ve succeeded for years in providing for him even above myself (often above myself), but I’m drowning here. Any amount would be so appreciated and 100% would go to paying off this debt so if something else unforeseen comes up I can actually cover it. Thankyou all for even reading this and high five if you made it to the bottom of the page. Any amount would be greatly and humbly appreciated.

Love, Namaste and Dogs > Humans