Timber’s Big Surgery

WHAT FOR?

While this is something I never thought I’d do, Timber is about to undergo a very large surgery on Monday 11th September at the vet specialist estimated to cost $10,000 and while the bill will be paid either way, I definitely haven’t comfortably set aside 10k in T’s emergency fund. The surgery isn’t totally unexpected but the timing of it is. I got a phone call from mum half way through the Larapinta Trail on top of a mountain saying Timber had been to the vet with a prolapse, caused by the rectal polyps that he has, and we have to start the process of more scans to do anything about it. After getting clear scans of any spreading cancer, we now know that to fix the prolapse and remove the cause, we either have to proceed with the surgery or have to euthanise him soon at just 9 years old and completely happy and healthy otherwise. So I wouldn’t be able to say no to this surgery as he is the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning (sorry Leif, it’s not you).

WHY SURGERY?

Timber has two large rectal tumours which are benign but have grown so big that they are obstructing his colon. He is otherwise the happiest and healthiest 9 year old dog around. We assume he’s had these polyps for most of his life and has definitely had them at least since I adopted him at 4 y.o. But the polyps have not bothered him too much, causing only streaks of bleeding, up until about a year ago when the bleeding significantly increased. We finally took him to a vet specialist in 2022 in QLD as we hadn’t lived near a specialist in a long time, and paid several thousands of dollars to have scans, a colonoscopy, snare the polyps and sent them away for biopsy, like they do in humans. Biopsies came back as benign, but canine rectal polyps have a high risk of becoming malignant in time. But the polyps were unable to be totally removed by colonoscopy and have since grown back rapidly to block the colon.

Timber now has a prolapsed rectum with lots of bleeding every time he defecates and doesn’t have any further options but to remove the cause of the prolapse (the tumours that have grown so big), and remove the section of the colon. He has had scans and a biopsy of one tumour in recent weeks already which came back as still being benign and his scans show that there hasn’t been any cancer spread through the rest of his body, so that’s the best news and means surgery can go ahead.

Because of the location of the polyps, this is a large abdominal surgery where they actually cut into Timber’s pelvic bone to gain access to the area, remove the polyps, resection his colon and put him back together again like Humpty Dumpty.

OUTCOME?

If all goes well in this surgery, we will be lucky enough to have Timber around for another few years, maybe even 5 years, the same length of time we’ve already had him since we adopted him! Like any procedure there are some post-op risks associated with the surgery but for now we foresee them as manageable.

DONATE:

To contribute to these costs, you (yes, you) are under nooooo obligation to donate just because you have made it to the end of this sob story. I’m only reaching out to those who may be in a good financial position and feel like contributing a small amount. Please if you have kids, pets of your own, house renovations, weddings, financial trouble or any other of your own personal commitments, spend the money where you need it. But if you have any extra (and I truly mean extra like you have stacks of cash floating around because you’re a drug dealer or something) then I would be forever grateful for a donation. The smallest amount will help out greatly.

Lots of love, from Timber too.