Bella’s Bladder Surgery

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Last year my dogs’ Dad died (human). He was a UPS driver and we handled the dogs bills just fine. But now it’s just me and the 4 dogs. I hate making this, but after a vet visit every month this year, with a total of 13 visits all together just from January to August…and 3 other surgeries on separate dogs of mine…my funds are empty. With one of those surgeries I looked into care credit, got denied, and was surprised to find out my identity had been stolen. I started the process of getting my identity theft cleared up with the credit bureaus. It’s being processed fine, but could take up to 3 more months to reflect on my credit report. If you knew me in college then you knew I could have declared bankruptcy at the age of 19, hence why I still didn’t know anything about credit til a few yrs ago. Also hence why I just learned a few months ago that credit karma is not where you should keep track of things . I didn’t know how money or life worked. I still don’t know how life works, but I can say that I know how money works a bit better. And without the identity theft issues, I would have a credit score more than high enough for CareCredit. But I’m outta luck with that til at least next year and my savings and bank account are drained from the above visits and surgeries I mentioned above. I paid for all of those this year. By myself. Not a lick of help. All those totaled up to be around $8,300. And todays vet visit alone for the diagnoses was over $500. I start with this because I need people to know I am so proud of my ability to do that this year. Especially because most of you won’t know me personally. This surgery is over $2,000. Surgery for what and whom? Well that would be Bella! My 9 year old, soon to be 10, female Boxer. Age is just a number here as her vet says she is spry, happy, and healthy. She’s 100% fine to go through surgery and live just as grandly afterwords. She has over 20 hail sized urinary stones crammed into her bladder! In the above X-ray you can see where her bladder has extended into her internal organs. It cannot extend any further. Her vet said that X-rays were required because in the ultrasound she couldn’t even find the bladder. It was so stuffed full of the calcified masses. Why surgery now? Because dogs cannot pass these stones. They just sit in there bladder. Some dogs can get medication and prescription food to help keep them from getting larger, or for more of them to pop up. So Bella’s case isn’t everyone’s. Her bladder is so full and the stones are so large that surgery is the only thing that will fix it. My vet says Bella is in tip top shape and health besides the stones and is perfectly fine to undergo surgery safely. If she doesn’t have it, there’s a LOT of bad things that will happen to her before ultimately she passes away. Due to something that could be fixed. I can’t let that happen. After exhausting all my sources I came to the conclusion I would surrender her to a rescue so she could receive the care she needed. However, at the urgency of some of my dogs’ Instagram friends (yes they have their own account), I’ve surrendered to this Avenue of obtaining the help I need to. It’s pretty hard for me to do seeing as I have not been active on my dogs account in years. How could I possibly pop back on and ask for charity? I remember the first time I asked for help and it was for one of Buddhas first surgeries he ever had. It was also cheaper than this. It was when gofund me had just started. To the point they were still only sending checks. Well, I went to cash that check and the teller couldn’t find GoFunds me bank info or something, I don’t remember. I just remember when she did finally find it she said in a very unsavory tune, “oh that CHARITY thing.” That’s actually probably why I don’t want to use this platform again years later. Well, I don’t have FB, and I pretty much blocked myself off from people after Nick died. So popping back onto the dogs account and trying this for a solution is pretty unsettling for me. Especially after being so proud of myself for becoming self sufficient. And as I proofread this I realize it’s more about me and not about her… so

-Bella is Nick and I’s first dog. Technically Nick’s since he bought her, but she became mine that day.

-She’s absolutely THE best cuddle bug. A 60lb lap Boxer.

-She is undyingly loyal…to food.

-And she’s got that nubbie tale Rhythm down to perfection.

-She’s one of my best memories of Nick left. And she’s not ready be back with him yet. It’s not selfish when she’s perfectly healthy besides this. It makes perfect sense to me to have her stick around and continue to make things joyful.

To some it may sound like a sob story, but to my broken self, it’s about explanation, and a tad bit of defensiveness. I don’t want or need pity on a woe is me story, I’m just asking for a little help. And if Bella and I are who you’d like to send a little help too, I would be ecstatic.

(I add this just in case this is seen by people who don’t know me or my journey, and why I say “broken and defensive”…I grew up in a very wrong and very hard situation that made recovery of my mind and body almost impossible, but I’ve gotten there to the healing thing, ya know. Child trafficking within the United States IS REAL and is not a conspiracy...

Any and all help will be cried over in copious amounts. Thank you for taking the time to read..what pretty much seems to be something I should have only put in a journal after rereading. Your time and patience is much appreciated. Sharing helps just as much as donating. So please do not feel obligated or pity us enough to donate. Sharing, a like, a comment…anything to boost engagement so more people see it. The more people who see it, hopefully the faster I can raise this money for her surgery. And that’s what this is about. Getting Bella in there and then out and back with her pack.

All my sincerest and most heartfelt thanks,

The Barkin’ Bunch