I really wish I could contribute more of my own money into this because then Dexter would be set. I could manage the rest on my own if I hadn’t had the emergency with Squall!! It is beyond frustrating. Squall is doing well, however, so I can certainly say the procedure was worth it! Dexter had an okay last few days. I have figured out an approximate dosage of flavorless stool softener that helps him go when he’s been struggling. However, I can tell that when he pushes, even for the soft stool, he has to use his whole body and that means his muscles are seriously not doing their job. Every day that he is in this situation is a risk for even more damage to them. But, he was in good spirits the last few days and ate his food without complaint, probably because the stool softeners have let him go a little more than usual and so he just feels better.
Anyway, I really really need everyone’s help to reach the last part of the goal. I checked in with the vet yesterday and have to talk to the surgeon to confirm everything before we can set a date. Hopefully, I can get that conversation done with today. My mom bought a plane ticket to come out here in about 1.5 weeks and with any luck Dexter will have surgery either right before or right after she gets here and then she can help me with some of his post-op recovery (such as cleaning drains or other stuff). I’m really nervous I won’t make the goal by the end of next week, which is my current dream! Thank you all and please please continue to share. You never know who checks Facebook or other social media at what time and so every time you share, there’s a good chance someone new is seeing it!
Getting healing laser treatment. I hope to be able to afford this again after his surgery!
Hey everyone! This will be a short post but I wanted to thank everyone who has donated and shared since yesterday. The number of ‘stranger donations’ has been sky high today! I don’t even know who to thank for some of these referrals because I honestly don’t know which friend of mine they know. Additionally, a very special thanks to the group on Facebook who has helped me so much already, Sassypants Foundation for Canine Philanthropy. Talk about some kindhearted people. Today has definitely restored my hope that this CAN and WILL happen. I should be speaking with the vet tomorrow to confirm what needs to happen post-surgery (such as boarding Dexter in a hospital and for how long), so I am fully prepared – then… I will hopefully schedule a date! I don’t know which days are available to have the surgeon travel to LFAH, but I should find out soon. Thank you all once again! I still need just about $1k and I know we can do it! There are those good hearted people out there still not yet reached. Plus, I know payday is coming for many (including myself, though I’ll be paying off the cat’s procedure, of course) and some of you have told me you’ll be donating then. If you can, awesome! If it doesn’t work out, I understand how life can be and don’t feel bad – please just keep sharing. We can do this!
“No, Mom, don’t go to work!” How he looks at me every morning, when he’s feeling good.
Just had a check in with the vet again. He’s concerned the estimate might be missing something here or there, and since he knows I am crowd funding to the goal, it really matters every dollar! So he is going over it now and I’ll pick up a final hard copy on Monday. I also have approval to hang up a flier in their office for SaveDexter.com! I am almost to $2700 – so close, yet still a ways to go! Please keep sharing everyone!!! So far so good with Squall and also with Dexter’s appetite and pooping this weekend. I’m still monitoring Squall closely to make sure he is urinating on his own.
I just was surprised by this wonderful gift from my friend Candi! She does colorful animal portraits and provided me one of Dexter!! Look at this face!! You can buy your own from her at fiverr here!
Quick update – Squall is allowed to come home today, and has a hefty bill attached 🙁 I will be paying almost $800 each time out of my next two paychecks since they kindly let me split the payment. But that means the rest of the money I was hoping to pledge to Dexter is gone before it gets here, and frankly my bills and expenses will be about all I can afford until this time next month (at least maybe my birthday on Sept 14 will be better?) So please please share SaveDexter.com and pledge even $5 toward his recovery if you can. Dexter is doing well today – he had stool softeners last night that made him dehydrated and he even drank so much he threw up! – so hopefully I don’t have to give him any of that for a while, and clearly I would reduce the dosage even more if I do. But I think he will be stable for a few days, hopefully more than a week. I really want to schedule his blood work and preliminary cardio checkup to clear him for surgery! I know you have all helped me so much already, but I have no choice right now but to ask for more…
Is it better when the vet tells you, “Most pet owners don’t have to go through what you’ve been through – you sure have had some bad luck!” I’m not really sure, I don’t feel much better. But I am keeping positive that my awesome network of friends will help me get through this time! Thank you once again!
OMG I AM SO EXCITED!! Over the halfway mark already!! This is so amazing! Dexter and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts 🙂 😀
This is so encouraging! I am starting to feel just a little bit optimistic that I can get this surgery done before he has another unhappy episode! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has donated and shared – it is working!! keep sharing!! I am going to see if some places around here will let me hang up a flyer that is ready to go already, just to spread the word the old fashioned way.
My cat Squall is doing well according to the vet – of course I’m frustrated that he had an issue NOW, when otherwise I’d be able to save all of my income for Dexter – but thanks to all of you and your kindness, things are starting to look up!! Before long, I will be able to schedule the preliminary blood work, etc. that needs to be done within a month of Dexter’s surgery. Once again, thank you!!
Thanks to my donors today! I am 38% to the goal of $4000, just over $1500 thanks to tonight’s donations!
I really appreciate it, everyone! A lot of my close friends have already donated, so I must continue to ask for shares and re-shares in order to get to my goal.
I love this picture of Dexter with the flowers 🙂
Thank you so much to everyone!!!
I’m still working on a few things like getting the final word of advice from my main vet Dr. Collins and I will still be trying to get a percentage discount from Alpenglow if at all possible. But it is so encouraging to finally have a noticeable amount of money set aside!! I know there is a long way to go… but I think we can do it! Thank you thank you thank you! Keep sharing!!
I have received enough donations to hit the $500 savings mark!! Yay!
Dexter had a bit of a rough day with some unexpected diarrhea. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on him tomorrow!
My name is Jamie, and this is a short story about my dog, Dexter. He’s a longhaired miniature dachshund who is consistently rated Most Unusually Sweet Dachshund by everyone he meets, and in late February 2015, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Before explaining further, I would like to immediately clarify that our home is now stable, happy, and safe. It is just me, Dexter, and my cat, living just outside Boulder, Colorado. We are very happy now, except for Dexter’s incomplete recovery from this terrible incident.
A situation had been escalating within my home for a few weeks. My now-ex had begun drinking in secret and things were quickly going from bad to worse. Through no fault of his own, Dexter received one accidental kick in the butt. He would usually be underfoot, as small dogs tend to be, but in a normal situation, that’s okay. With the increase in yelling and arguing and stomping around the house, 6-year-old Dexter had been lying low for the most part. I didn’t see what happened, as I work full-time. I only saw the aftermath.
He woke us in the middle of the night crying in pain. His rear end had swelled to an incredible size, and he spent several minutes crawling into my arms for comfort. I rushed him to the vet as soon as they opened.
Dr. Collins first thought it was a perineal hernia, although a very severe one, based on the size of the swelling. In fact, I authorized this reconstructive surgery by planning on emptying my bank account and borrowing money from my mom, just barely scraping it all together. However, when Dr. Collins shaved Dexter for the procedure, he discovered the awful bruise to indicate this was not a normal hernia.
The original injury and swelling
We tried what I could afford, with Dr. Collins of Louisville Family Animal Hospital being a true hero to me in this awful situation. (I ended up filing for a protection order the same day Dexter was getting his surgery, but that is another story – this is about Dexter.) So the first procedure was to drain the fluids, placing drains in each side of his rear end that stayed in for over a week, hoping to remove the fluid that had built up, and hope his body would heal.
The first attempt to simply drain the fluid and let him heal
It didn’t. I had to get him surgery just before Easter. This was a more elaborate procedure where the muscle and tissue were sutured together. Staples closed up his incisions, and he was back on the mend.
But this is only the most basic of solutions to a perineal hernia, and unfortunately for Dexter, it wasn’t enough. His rectum had begun to protrude as a result of the injury, which was slow to heal whenever he strained to go to the bathroom. To make matters worse, the staples on the left side – which had already sustained more injury, as Dr. Collins saw during surgery – didn’t heal correctly, and a vestibule of air was trapped in the body, creating a painful area that still bothers him months later.
Dexter has been healing since April, and the evidence is now clear – he needs serious reconstructive surgery to fix his problem. He’s had numerous vet visits since, for one simple sad reason – he struggles to go to the bathroom, and since his rectum now has a divergent ‘kink’ in the end (from the protruding rectum coupled with the air pocket), feces can become trapped and compacted. When it is compacted, he literally cannot go. This results in a vet visit, an enema that requires sedation – because it hurts him so much when they do the procedure – and basically drains my meager savings immediately.
Over the last month in particular it’s become very clear to me that despite my efforts to get him on the perfect diet – to create an easy time for him to go, with soft poop that doesn’t get caught in the kinked up spot – there is absolutely no way he won’t have more problems. He still occasionally passes feces that cause him to whine in pain, simply because they have collected in this bent up part of his body, and became too firm to pass comfortably.
The surgical consultation was on Monday, July 27, after two vet visits in less than two months to give him enemas, all with failed attempts to regulate his diet and pain with medication. There are two parts to fix him: 1. Repair the herniated muscles with the second-level procedure which is preferred in this situation, but which I couldn’t afford in the first place. 2. Through an incision on his abdomen, literally move his colon and bladder upward within his body and suture them in place. This fixes the protruding rectum and straightens out the kinked-up intestinal tract, allowing him to go to the bathroom normally. This, also, is a standard option for a perineal surgery this severe.
I’ve explored so many financial options. I’m trapped under student debt, despite having a good steady job I can’t get approved for the usual CareCredit type financing, and the constant vet visits have reduced any savings I had to nothing. The estimate for this surgery start-to-finish comes in at a range of $5,298.88 – $6,152.50 [EDIT: I did get a discounted offer from the vet out of sympathy for my situation, and thus the goal is now $4.8k]. All funds will be used for surgical costs. The need to do this surgery is urgent, as there is no telling how much worse it will get or what day it could happen. I really need your help to give my dog back the life he deserves. Updates as to his condition can be found here.
This donate button goes directly to my PayPal account. All funds will be used toward the surgical costs for Dexter.
