Gambit just turned 10 years old, and as most of you all know, he is the main man in my life, my best buddy and constant companion. #theadventuresofgambitandrene and #thegreatgambino would be nothing without my trusty sidekick... (or maybe I'm his?) This dog-child of mine has gone EVERYWHERE with me! From the beach, camping, climbing mountains, looooooong drives, to even earning his very own weirdo GORUCK patch last month! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, apparently (no comments). He even helps co-teach Playschool with Caity and me. The kids would be lost without him, as would I. He's their best friend and our mascot, and he's always hanging out with 'his' kids.

Well, the other day, I heard the most horrific sound. I literally thought someone had come into the backyard and was hurting him. I charged downstairs as Gambit was screaming and as soon as he saw me he ran/hobbled to me, and away to the vet we went. Neither of us are particularly fond of seeing the doctor, but he could barely walk and couldn't put any weight on his right back leg. Poor dude has a totally torn ACL and meniscus, and the vet said that he is in an excruciating amount of pain, and she strongly recommends surgery. He's totally pitiful right now, can't put any weight on his right leg, and is whimpering in pain when his pain pills wear off. 
Give me anything. Give me a 45# ruck full of bricks, a huge log to carry, cuts, bruises and scrapes all over me, sickness or even (yes, I'm going there.........) spiders. But do NOT, tell me my dog-child is in excruciating pain. The good news, which is where we stand now, is that he can be fixed!! He can be my franken-dog-child, but the surgery is going to cost close to $6000 total! Holy Mother of $6000 ?!?!?! That's.... a lot. And way more than this preschool teacher has right now. I'm strapped, especially after some recent life changes. And I know everyone is, and everyone has their own financial issues, but after several people asked me to (and my best friend Dawn came over and MADE me sign up) I'm posting this asking for help. 

For those of you who know Gam, know that he's not just a dog. He's my soul mate, my Spirit Animal and my bestest fur-baby. Even if you can't donate to his surgery, even re-posting this on your wall, may help. At this point, any tiny amount you could donate counts as a GINORMOUS amount for us. And anything we were to collect over the cost of his procedures would go straight to an Animal Welfare organization. Thank you all. I love my tribe of weirdos, and we're both so lucky in the support and love you've already shown us. 

If you're more comfortable using paypal, please contact me for that info. 

Thank you. THANK YOU. Know that any kindness shown here will be more than repaid in the future. And everyone is getting boa constrictor hugs from me and licks of gratitiude from The Great Gambino. <3