Please Help Sugar
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Please help my 1 1/2 year old Toy Poodle, named Sugar, get her life back. She was involved in an unknown trauma while we were out of town and suffered a severe pelvic fracture that she dealt with for a full week and a half without us knowing the actual cause. Please help us pay for her expensive surgery, continuing care, and previous vet visits for a wrong diagnosis during this time that she actually had a break. I will be posting all of the medical bills and diagnostics for complete transparency. Anything helps! Thanks!
A little over a week ago my mother and I came back from a short birthday trip to Des Moines, Iowa. Upon returning home we quickly realized that something was not right with Sugar - her wiggly little body will usually greet us at the door in such a way that you would think she hadn't seen us in years. That night, however, she couldn't even muster the strength to get off the couch she was positioned on. We quickly discovered that she had blood covering her left pupil so we decided to take her into the Emergency Animal Hospital. After about an hour there the Doctor informed us that she had blunt trauma to the head which caused her to hemorrhage and that her lethargy was likely due to a mild concussion and that after a few hours on a nausea medication/eye ointment she would be fine.
The next morning, however, she wasn't even able to walk – she had hemorrhaged again but this time in the pelvic region. So again, we took her to the vet. After some bloodwork, they rediagnosed her with a disease called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia - which in short means that her red blood cells are attacking themselves and causing her to hemorrhage. They told us that there had been no blunt trauma what so ever and that she had merely just hemorrhaged from the disease. That she would likely have to be on steroids for the rest of her life to keep the disease under control. That no matter what she had a 20-80% chance of death just for having the disease. That her hematocrit levels were so low that she would have to come back in two days for more blood work, and if by then they had dropped more she'd need a blood transfusion.
So two days later we took her back in for more blood work. Meanwhile, she was STILL not getting any better than the last time we had been to the vet. The blood work showed her hematocrit levels were only 1% higher so again we were told to come back in for one more round of bloodwork two days later. The vet also said at this time that if they still hadn't risen they had done everything they could do and would have to refer us to a different animal hospital than the first one we went to.
Two days later I took her back in with high hopes, false hopes. Her hematocrit levels had dropped two points lower than they originally were. They had put her on all of the medications they could at this point, 5 to be exact (two high dose steroids, an anti-clotting med, a blood thinner, and an antibiotic). Nothing was working so they referred us to Kimberley Crest Animal Hospital.
Two more days later and we are at the animal hospital. After a quick examination, the new vet decided he wanted to do a chest CT scan because she had been breathing in a very rapid and random fashion and an additional round of bloodwork. But here is where this takes a huge turn: her hematocrit levels were up by 10% (Yay!) and the CT showed a complete break of her left pelvic bone (Boo!). She hadn't had Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia the entire time. No, she had instead been dealing with a COMPLETE break of her pelvic bone for an entire week without any pain meds or anything. What a little trooper my 8-pound toy poodle is, right?! What about the hemorrhages (I assume you're probably asking)? Just side effects of her body trying to heal itself from the trauma. What is the break from? No idea but the vet said it could be from literally anything since she is so small. Our theory is that she fell down the stairs during one of her routine laps around our two-story home – not that the cause really matters at this point.
So after all that she has been through in the past week in a half, she now requires a major surgery on her hip bone. A surgery that will cost between $2,000 - 3,000.
I am currently a Sophomore at Augustana College and so as you can assume, I do not have that kind of money just laying around to pay for it. However, if she doesn't get the surgery she has a very high chance of being lame in her left back leg for the rest of her life. She is a crazy active 1 1/2-year-old puppy who needs to be able to have normal functioning of her back legs in order to get back our sweet, lovable, and always happy pup.
Sugar came into my life at a very low point in my life. Her energy and affection were what I needed to get me out of a dark depression. I could not imagine my life without her and so I would do anything for her - even go into debt for her. If I didn't find her a way to get the hip surgery I would never forgive myself because a puppy as special as her, deserves the chance to carry out a normal happy life. She deserves to once again frolic through the grass as fast as she possibly can to catch a bunny. She deserves to be as happy as she makes everyone else she meets.
So if you could please, please help me and Sugar out we would be forever grateful! Anything helps! If you can't financially support us for whatever reason I ask that you please keep us in your thoughts!
Thanks a million for your time and support (:
A little over a week ago my mother and I came back from a short birthday trip to Des Moines, Iowa. Upon returning home we quickly realized that something was not right with Sugar - her wiggly little body will usually greet us at the door in such a way that you would think she hadn't seen us in years. That night, however, she couldn't even muster the strength to get off the couch she was positioned on. We quickly discovered that she had blood covering her left pupil so we decided to take her into the Emergency Animal Hospital. After about an hour there the Doctor informed us that she had blunt trauma to the head which caused her to hemorrhage and that her lethargy was likely due to a mild concussion and that after a few hours on a nausea medication/eye ointment she would be fine.
The next morning, however, she wasn't even able to walk – she had hemorrhaged again but this time in the pelvic region. So again, we took her to the vet. After some bloodwork, they rediagnosed her with a disease called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia - which in short means that her red blood cells are attacking themselves and causing her to hemorrhage. They told us that there had been no blunt trauma what so ever and that she had merely just hemorrhaged from the disease. That she would likely have to be on steroids for the rest of her life to keep the disease under control. That no matter what she had a 20-80% chance of death just for having the disease. That her hematocrit levels were so low that she would have to come back in two days for more blood work, and if by then they had dropped more she'd need a blood transfusion.
So two days later we took her back in for more blood work. Meanwhile, she was STILL not getting any better than the last time we had been to the vet. The blood work showed her hematocrit levels were only 1% higher so again we were told to come back in for one more round of bloodwork two days later. The vet also said at this time that if they still hadn't risen they had done everything they could do and would have to refer us to a different animal hospital than the first one we went to.
Two days later I took her back in with high hopes, false hopes. Her hematocrit levels had dropped two points lower than they originally were. They had put her on all of the medications they could at this point, 5 to be exact (two high dose steroids, an anti-clotting med, a blood thinner, and an antibiotic). Nothing was working so they referred us to Kimberley Crest Animal Hospital.
Two more days later and we are at the animal hospital. After a quick examination, the new vet decided he wanted to do a chest CT scan because she had been breathing in a very rapid and random fashion and an additional round of bloodwork. But here is where this takes a huge turn: her hematocrit levels were up by 10% (Yay!) and the CT showed a complete break of her left pelvic bone (Boo!). She hadn't had Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia the entire time. No, she had instead been dealing with a COMPLETE break of her pelvic bone for an entire week without any pain meds or anything. What a little trooper my 8-pound toy poodle is, right?! What about the hemorrhages (I assume you're probably asking)? Just side effects of her body trying to heal itself from the trauma. What is the break from? No idea but the vet said it could be from literally anything since she is so small. Our theory is that she fell down the stairs during one of her routine laps around our two-story home – not that the cause really matters at this point.
So after all that she has been through in the past week in a half, she now requires a major surgery on her hip bone. A surgery that will cost between $2,000 - 3,000.
I am currently a Sophomore at Augustana College and so as you can assume, I do not have that kind of money just laying around to pay for it. However, if she doesn't get the surgery she has a very high chance of being lame in her left back leg for the rest of her life. She is a crazy active 1 1/2-year-old puppy who needs to be able to have normal functioning of her back legs in order to get back our sweet, lovable, and always happy pup.
Sugar came into my life at a very low point in my life. Her energy and affection were what I needed to get me out of a dark depression. I could not imagine my life without her and so I would do anything for her - even go into debt for her. If I didn't find her a way to get the hip surgery I would never forgive myself because a puppy as special as her, deserves the chance to carry out a normal happy life. She deserves to once again frolic through the grass as fast as she possibly can to catch a bunny. She deserves to be as happy as she makes everyone else she meets.
So if you could please, please help me and Sugar out we would be forever grateful! Anything helps! If you can't financially support us for whatever reason I ask that you please keep us in your thoughts!
Thanks a million for your time and support (:
Organizer
Rachel Thorndyke
Organizer
Colona, IL
