Help Bailey Bear Walk Again

Hello everyone, my name is Joely and this is my baby, aka my dog, Bailey Bear. Bailey is a special dog, extremely intuitive and always happy. He helped me get through the darkest of days. When I was going through cancer treatment during the pandemic, a time when I was immunocompromised and no one could be around me aside from my husband Chris, Bailey stepped in as his assistant, doing the most to make me smile, licking away my tears, and kissing my joints when the chemo was attacking them. That's who Bailey is, a teddy bear come to life. He loves people, giving kisses to everyone he meets. He always has a smile on his face, he loves his older brother, and he loves chasing the birds and squirrels outside. He tries to take care of everyone else, bringing me wounded birds and mice and loving us a little extra when we aren't feeling good. But now it's our turn to take care of him.

Yesterday morning, Bailey went out in the backyard for his morning run, as per usual. We aren't sure what transpired, but when he came back in, he was limping. As the day went on, it progressively got worse, and eventually, he stopped walking altogether. We spoke to our vet, and she said to give him a round of steroids. It didn’t do much. Throughout the night, Bailey was in a lot of pain. All of this is typical for dachshunds. Because they are so long and active, they can start to develop intervertebral disc disease and need spinal surgery. That's where we're at right now. Because it's Easter Sunday, we found one doggy neurologist who is able to do surgery on him today, but it's extremely expensive. Between the surgery itself, the anesthesia, a three-day hospital stay, and the around-the-clock care he'll need after surgery, the estimated total they gave us is $13,000.

We are not the type to ask for help with money. If you know Chris and me, you know that we are very hard workers, taking on tutoring jobs and home instruction students to make ends meet. This estimated amount of money, however, is beyond our reach; we don't have a choice right now but to ask for help. Any amount would help us, and if you can't donate, please share this on your socials.