Friday, June 15, 2012

Introduction to saving Louis

     Recently we learned that my best friend, my just turned 5 year old Puggle has a cancerous mass growing from his rectum and is wrapped about 3/4 of the way around his intestinal tract leading up toward his abdomen. What caught our attention to have this looked at was that Louis has been leaking blood from his rectum after he goes to the bathroom. The blood seems to be more and more every day.
     After a year of tests being done at our regular vet, we were recommended to go to a specialist to try and locate the problem. The specialist was expensive, but we were determined to get Lou healthy again. We were approved for a Care Credit card as a last resort to pay for the bill. I left the specialist with very bad and very unexpected news. Lou has a mass growing at a cancerous rate. After question up question the idea of surgery seemed more and more risky. I was left with an extremely hard decision.
     After speaking with Lou's vet, friend's vets and the surgeon who would be performing the procedure, we came to conclusion that surgery is the only chance Lou has at a longer, healthy life. At first surgery was out of the question, as it is extremely complicated. We thought the chance of him dying was not worth it. The surgeon himself made us aware that there are risks, but they are more along the lines of not knowing how large this mass actually is and whether they can get it all out.
Louis will opened up all the way up and down his stomach. Imagine a person on an autopsy table. It scares me to death thinking of my little Lou opened up like that and I have to trust that these people will keep him alive for me. There is always an option that the surgery can fail, but it outweighs possibly losing my dog in a year, or months to come.
     We have a high estimate of the surgery being about 3,800.00. This does not include the chemotherapy that will need to be done to followup to kill off any extra cancerous cells trying to plant themselves back into Lou's body. With our second baby on the way, our new house repairs and going to school, we are not able to swing this extra 4,000.00 that we need to save Lou. This is a very last resort option for us, as we do not like to ask for people's help, especially when it comes to money. I have set up a Paypal account strictly for Louis and an email account. I want to keep everyone posted on Lou's condition, the vet updates and where we are at with raising this money for him.
     I know a lot of you are animal lovers as Matt and I are ourselves. Matt gets angry sometimes because he thinks I "treat Lou like a person", ha. Louis is my child as far as I am concerned. I've had family members tell me the cost is not worth it and to just let "the dog" go. I simply cannot do that. I will do everything in my power to save Lou's life. When I bought Louis, I fell in love with him and I knew I had to have him. I had never had a dog before. He has been with me through every move, every tear, every new step in my life and I refuse to let him slip away from me so quick. I had always planned on having at least 9 years with him. He used to be my running partner, but due to the discomfort of his mass, he is unable to exercise with me anymore. Updates will be made frequently.     
     We appreciate even the smallest donation. Every dollar will bring us closer to the surgery we need. I can't tell you enough how much this will mean to me.
     Please help save my dog. Thank you.

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