Please help us pay for Sushi's Surgeries

Hi,

We are Frank and Izamara. Our beloved 2-year-old maltipoo chihuahua, Sushi, was hit by a car on Tuesday, March 12, and suffered a traumatic abdominal wall hernia, displaced bladder, perineal hernia, and multi-pelvic fractures.

At the time of the accident, he was being cared for while we visited family in Florida. On the same day of his accident, we were already scheduled to return home to Chapel Hill, NC. As we made our way to the airport, we received the worst news of our lives. Sushi, our tiny baby, had been run over and was unable to walk with several wounds on his hind legs, and heavy bruising on his abdomen and groin. Frank's family was able to rush him to a veterinarian who spoke with us over the phone and insisted the best option for him was euthanasia due to his state of shock at the moment and by assessing his X-ray scans. It felt as if the world was crumbling down around us. We felt powerless because we couldn't even be there with him to help him pass. We decided we wanted a second opinion, and his parents graciously rushed him to an emergency veterinary hospital. At this point, we had been deplaned off our spirit flight back home due to mechanical issues and had our flight pushed back from our original time of 4 pm all the way to 7 pm.

Meanwhile, Sushi was being assessed by the emergency vet, who had access to better technology. We were given the option for euthanasia and surgery that was estimated to go upwards of 15 thousand dollars and had no payment plan options. As two broke college students, this felt almost impossible, sending us into a spiral at the airport. This Dr had given the option to keep him on pain medication while our flight arrived from FL to say goodbye to our little guy and be there with him while he passed.

Having been thrown so much information in a couple hours and making such gut-wrenching decisions, we told her to keep him comfortable so we could be there with him while we stepped foot onto the plane. As soon as we sat down in our seats, we called her back, begging her to release him to Frank's family so they could take him home and give us time to find cheaper surgery alternatives.

We finally arrived in NC after an eternity and rushed to see him. As soon as we entered through the door, Sushi's ears perked up, and we felt immense relief just being able to see him. He wore a look of immense sadness, very unlike him. We spent the entire night calling clinics all over the state, trying to find places that offered payment plans; however, we were being told that we must pay all surgery fees upfront to have someone help him. We didn't let all the no's stop us, and we continued looking the following day until we finally found a place that could do his most life threatening hernia repair (abdominal) and offered a yearly payment plan (Animal Emergency Hospital and Urgent Care). His first surgeon was able to complete the abdominal hernia repair, placed his bladder in the correct place, and assessed that his organs were healthy with no damage from the accident. He is currently still under their direct care as we wait to transfer him to Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital (TVRH) in Durham.

TVRH is the location where Sushi will get his two missing surgeries for pelvic fracture repair and perineal hernia repair. Both these procedures require specialty surgeons and are way beyond our budget. We are doing our very best to help our tiny baby, but we would appreciate any help from anyone. Sushi is truly a ray of sunshine; anyone graced by his presence will attest to his sweetness and curiosity of the world. He loves to run and go on hikes, dance with Frank and I, eat a lot of yummy chicken, stick his head out of the window to feel a breeze in his face, and sit by the window on slower days to watch people walk by. He was the only puppy in his litter and we have known him since the day he was born because he is the son of Frank's mom’s dog. We had the pleasure of bringing him home with us when he was around 3 months old. We joke that he was the only pup because his big personality and energy was that of a full litter. Witnessing Sushi grow has been the greatest joy of our lives. We ask for your help in paying for his surgeries and promise that we will do our absolute best to give him the happiest, most fulfilling life when we reach the other side of this horrible chapter of our lives. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Whether or not you can donate, we appreciate all the good wishes, prayers, and thoughts to help Sushi continue living a good quality of life.

Best wishes,

Sushi, Frank, and Iza