My Dog is Undergoing Emergency Surgery Today for a Life Threatening Perineal Hernia
My son @alex-icey already made a post about Jake here and here, but of course, a 14-year-old can only do and understand so much. I want to clarify some things and provide more details for those concerned about our baby Jake. I would've made a post sooner, but quite frankly, I'm exhausted from being up all night. I can't rest, though, so I might as well write this post.
Jake at around 3am this morning before we were forced to go home and await his surgery today. The gauze t-shirt is holding his catheter/IV apparatus in place.
Jake has been having some issues lately with constipation and anal swelling, but every time after introducing more fiber into his diet, it appeared that he had recovered, so we didn't think it was anything serious -- until yesterday evening when we came home. Jake was lethargic, didn't get up to greet us (super red flag), there was vomit/spit-up all over the floor, and his little rear end was extremely swollen to the point where he couldn't walk. We rushed him to the emergency vet.
After reviewing some x-rays, the doctor determined he has a perineal hernia. To make matters worse, his bladder was partially protruding into the area between the anus and scrotum, giving his little rear end a very rounded appearance as if his internal organs were going to spill out of his body. Google "perineal hernia" if you're curious. Because it involved his bladder and was preventing him from urinating, this suddenly became a situation that requires emergency surgery in order for him to live. Jake is only 8 years old and has a lot of time ahead of him.
This image from Vet Surgery Central is especially helpful in illustrating the "muscle dam" that holds the internal organs in place under normal circumstances:
Unfortunately, the veterinary branch we took him to last night did not have a specialist surgeon available to do the surgery, so we had to transport him to the sister hospital in Culver City at around 2am after they finished running some inital diagnostics and placing a more permanent catheter/IV. This isn't the type of surgery that just any vet can perform.
We just received a call from the surgeon a few minutes ago and they're about to start his surgery literally as I type this. According the doctor, Jake's hernia might be worse than they had anticipated. She said usually the hernia only affects one side, but Jake's is looking like it is bilateral. They're going to do their best to correct it in this surgery and do some poking around to assess the situation better, but there's a possibility doing both sides in one surgery might be too much; he might require further surgery.
This whole situation just keeps getting worse and worse... For anyone who has dogs or cats, I'm sure you can understand the despair my family and I are going through right now. Honestly, the feeling is no different than if my son or any other family member were going through the same thing. I'm completely exhausted and so worried on many different levels. My baby's life is in the hands of God right now, and all we can do is pray that everything turns out fine.
I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm worried about the financial implications of this ordeal as well. We paid over $847 last night to the original hospital just prior to transferring him to Culver City. For the surgery and after-care, we were quoted a range of $6,600 to $8,600 -- and that doesn't include if he needs a second surgery in the future.
To me, telling them to go ahead was a no-brainer. He's my baby and I will do everything in my power to save his life. If it ruins me financially (including any money I was able to make with crypto trading) then so be it. It's only money, right? Lives are more important than money.
I paid the $847 bill with cash (part of my rent money) last night. For the surgery, I applied for Scratch Pay (approved for $4,250 with an interest rate of nearly 25%) and CareCredit for $2,500 (no interest if I pay it off within 6 months). If the surgery goes above $6,750 ($4,250 + $2,500) I'll be pretty much screwed and will have to start selling off what few investments I have.
In case anyone thinks I'm B.S.ing, here's the invoice we paid last night with the name/phone of the hospital on it. You're welcome to call the Culver City branch and ask about Jake.
Steemit has been such a positive online community and I am proud to be a part of it. Thank you for listening to my rant. We appreciate any help you can give (even if it's just a prayer/positive thoughts).
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More pictures of Jake:
Prayers for Jake and for you as well. I totally feel where you're at right now... My heart goes out to you and Jake. He seems like such a sweet and loving boy!
Thank you! He is a sweetheart...
I'm sorry to hear your dog is going through this. I know it's hard for you as well and I hope everything works out for the best. I'm going to share to help get the message out.
Thank you @clayboyn! You are awesome.
Medical bills in our country are just criminal levels of outrages.
I really don’t even have an idea about medical bills for animals and what to fight them on for a lower bill.
With you paying in cash they least should give you a cash discount or something. Really 9 injects of Methadone? ……
I hope everything works out for you guys. Pets are such an important part of family.
Yeah, it's ridiculous. It does say on the invoice that they gave an 18% discount on some of the line items - so kind of them, right? I'm in no mood to fight them about it, even though I know they're taking advantage of us; I'm exhausted and worried sick that he won't survive.
Upvoted, Resteemed & Sending Love & Healing energies to Jake as well as the whole family <3
Thank you! We so need all the help we can get, on all fronts. <3
My prayers are with you and your dog.. Believe that God will bring you though this. Blessings
Thank you, Troy. We are fairly sure he's going to be ok now...
Jake is sure a cute little Pomeranian. I'm sorry he is having such terrible problems. I hope he makes it through the surgery(s) and recovers completely.
Thank you! Everything is looking good as of today. We visited him at the hospital and he's able to walk around a little. He should be ok. :)
awwww poor baby.. good luck back to health
Thanks. I know he is a tough little guy...
So sorry for all this! Change one of your tags to dogs - that one gets searched. I hope everything is much better now.
He's recovering today and has to spend one more night in the hospital. :)
Oh wow! How much is all this costing?
We'll find out the final damage today when he's discharged from the hospital, but we're guessing over $7,000 including the $847 we already paid the other day.
What? That is huge. Oh my goodness. Do they have a payment plan? I would be sunk by this amount. Wow.
It will be ok. I would pay anything if it means he is alive and well. I paid with Scratch Pay and CareCredit for now and will try to pay them off asap so the interest rates don't kill us. Really, I'm just grateful that he's ok and that we brought him to a specialty hospital to begin with since they have experienced vets and surgeons on staff.
Wow - that is amazing. I hope he recovers well. My goodness - what an ordeal.
OMG! Looks exactly like my brother's pompom. I want one too :)
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