Okuma's Emergency Surgery Fund

On the morning of (10-24-2017) our Husky Okuma was playing outside in our back yard when we heard her screaming and running up to the house from our back yard. We had no idea what she could have ran into, got stuck in or what had happened but she had some visible scrapes on her rear legs, a broken and bleeding nail on her rear paw and was walking and holding her rear end really low like she had some really bad pain in her rear end. (Update!!! We have found out how she was injured see Update below)

I took off work and brought her to the local vet right away where they gave Okuma an exam and could tell right away tell something was wrong with her rear end since she wouldn't stop crying out in pain and refused to do anything but stand shaking so they took her in the back to get some X-rays and found out she completely fractured her tail right at the base of the sacrum (See the X-rays below). The vet told me that at this point there was nothing more that we could do other than try to keep her comfortable with pain meds and keep an eye on her that it may just heal on its own and that she will call a specialist and get back with us when she hears anything. 

So, they sent us home and told us to just watch her and see if it ends up healing. (That was a $543.69 vet visit just to be told to take her home and see if it heals.)  We took her home and she was in such terrible pain even with the pain medication, she kept crying and jumping up in pain every time she tried to sit down and we couldn't get her to go to the bathroom. She was hurting so much that she refused to leave my side and I even ended up letting her sleep in the bed with us where she didn't take her head off my chest the entire night. She usually only would lay in the bed for a few minutes before getting down since she gets hot but she didn't move off my chest once the whole night. 

Once morning came we took her outside to try to go to the bathroom again and she couldn't do anything but cry out in pain when she had to move. So, we waited an hour until the local vet office opened, I called and asked if they were able to get a hold of the specialist yet because there was no way that this was just going to heal on itself. She told me that she left a message and it usually takes 48-72 hours to hear back.

I said there was no way that I was going to wait that long to just hear if a specialist is even able to do anything so I turned to Facebook where I am part of a great Husky Owners group for help. Within minutes of posting the X-rays and asking for help on where I could take her I was receiving messages to take her to Michigan State University Veterinary Medical Center. A few members even sent me their contact information. 

I used the contact information I received and called MSU and talked with the emergency receptionist. I gave her all the information I had so far and she even had me text her personal cell the X-ray photos, she put me on hold to go show the photos to the Vet techs that were on duty. Within minutes she came back on the line and told me that this was really bad she needed immediate medical attention since the fracture looks like it could have severed all her nerves that control her functions to use the bathroom and will need to be seen to determine if surgery could not only fix the fracture and take away the pain but restore any nerve damage.

So right then and there I told her we were on our way and will be there soon since it was over a 2-hour drive. Called into work again and loaded Okuma in the truck and off to MSU we went.

We made it to Michigan State University Veterinary Medical Center and they brought us in right away where a whole team came to look her over. They told us that they will need to keep her for a few hours to run some tests and that I will need to wait for a bit. Once they were finished they called me back in where the team presented the options I had.

Option A: Was that they will need to keep her for a few days and will need to Amputate her tail right at the base of the sacrum, since the fracture severed all the nerves and had caused her to completely lose all feeling and movement of the tail but the main reason is to try to fix the nerve damage to her bladder and anus. The fracture had caused her to lose any ability to control her bathroom functions. They said that surgery may or may not fix this and it was my choice to proceed.

Option B: Was to do nothing and see what happens but more than not she would suffer and her not being able to use the bathroom would cause incredible pain and suffering until she would pass away from infections or bladder rupture.

Option C: Was to put her down now to save money or hassle.

So as you can see there was really only one Option and I didn't care about the money or cost, I would go in debt or sell what I can to get the surgery to hopefully save my sweet girl. So, I agreed to Option A and they told me the following morning they would do the surgery and would call before and after to let me know what was going on through the whole process. They showed me the estimate of what it could cost and that before I left I had to at least put 1/4 down for a deposit.

We were able to get approved for a $1000.00 6 month loan through Care Credit that the vet advised us to apply for and was able to use that as the deposit required while they keep her and get her ready for surgery. However, the total estimate plus the cost I already paid at my local vet was just over $4000.00, plus more to come for follow up visits and rehabilitation she will need.

The vet receptionist had recommended we try a Go Fund Me for her to try and help with the cost since this was such an unexpected financial crisis we did not see coming. We are asking for any help that can be provided for our Okuma who is in such a terrible situation right now. I have never been a person to ask for help but there is nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure her well-being. 

I also will keep everyone updated on the long road ahead to her full recovery. Please feel free to share and spread the word so we can bring Okuma home to heal after her surgery and have a successful recovery. Hopefully she will make it back out fishing and enjoying the outdoors once again.

 Update 10-26-17 8:30am: Still waiting to hear from Michigan State University Veterinary Medical Center to let us know when the surgery will start this morning. However, we have a good idea on what happened to our girl now upon further investigation of where she came running from. 100 yards behind our house through the woods our neighbors have 3 new Horses in a new pasture. Okuma had to have smelled them and decided to go say hello and was probably trampled or kicked thinking she was going to harm them. She would never hurt a horse or chase one and probably only wanted to play (she always wants to play with everyone and anything) but the horses couldn't have known and acted like they should have to an animal running up to see them.

Update 10-28-17 1:07pm: Okuma's Surgery went as planned and we are now home. She has a long road to fully heal but at least she isn't in that much pain anymore. She still has not regained control over the nerves that control her bladder but hopefully over time that will change. Please look at the attached pictures, and read below on the story so far. I will be updating regularly so if anyone is curious and wants to stay up to date on her progress, keep checking back here, or if you comment below or even just donate a dollar you will be automatically emailed through the system on her updates when I post one. 

Also on picking Okuma up the financial services lady noticed my coat I was wearing and asked if I was in the Military, I told her I was and she was able to get my final bill down to just over $2,200.00. Said there was a Veteran program to help pay for emergency Veterinary care she was able to put me in. So that put the total estimate of over $4000.00 down to a total amount I have to pay of $2,833.00. (This is including the amount from the first vet visit that took the x-rays and said we had to go to another place)
  
Update 11-01-17: We reached our goal of $2,833.00 to cover the cost of Okuma's surgery! I am blown away from all the support Okuma has received. Any amount donated over the initial surgery costs will go to her follow up visits and rehabilitation medical costs. However the donations for just the cost of the surgery is more than enough and we are incredibly grateful. I will also continue to update on Okuma's status regularly.

Pictures below of Okuma before her surgery.