Surgery Day
Just Operated On
I am a disabled and living with cerebral palsy. While I’ve worked most of my life, I am currently looking for a job. My boyfriend and I are faced with the need for surgeries for our dog, Opal. She is 6 years old and is my dearest companion and most loyal helper. She seems to sense my special needs, keeping close to me at home and is my guardian dog. As I spend more time at home, it is comforting to have her with me at arm’s length.
About 6 months ago we went to the park, and she came home with a limp. Unfortunately, with time, we learned the limp wasn’t temporary. I took her to the vet since we suspected something serious happened, and the vet gave her prognosis. I took a conservative approach and reduced activity, removing jumping, running, and stairs from her daily activity. I also started her on dietary supplements to support healthy joints. After 6 months of treatment, I didn’t see any progress. and ended up going to another veterinarian for x-rays and they confirmed our fear that there’s likely to be a tear in her knee. Since Opal is a fairly large dog (about 72 pounds) and active, the vet recommended TPLO surgery as soon as possible. This required us to go to another facility, and we decided on Skylos. There we consulted with Dr. Lotsikas, and he also recommended TPLO surgery before she causes more harm to her back legs.  Opal is usually very active and it has been devastating for me to learn that she has this condition and she will need to go through surgery and therapy, just like I did. This surgery alone will cost $3,800 as well as other costs from rehab and presurgery tests (blood test, ultrasound, and more x-rays).
Unfortunately, we have to postpone Opal's TPLO surgery. Her pre-surgery blood work levels related to the liver came out abnormal. Dr. Lotsikas suggested that Opal have an ultrasound to see what was going on and determine if she's able to have to surgery or not. She had an ultrasound appointment and the results were not what any of us had expected.
They found a serious problem with Opal's gallbladder (mucolele). This is considered a higher priority than the TPLO because it is life threatening. Dr. Paeke recommended we have her gallbladder removed before her TPLO surgery. This would include about a month of recovery and would cost us $5,400. 
Opal's gallbladder surgery was on Feb. 21 Dr. Fink was recommended to us by both our TPLO surgeon and the Radiologist that did the ultrasound. We're moving pretty quickly because we need to wait four more weeks to do the TPLO after the gallbladder surgery.
We consider ourselves lucky, because had it not been for her knee, we would never have found out about the gallbladder in time to remove it before it became a deadly situation. Right now, we are still in time to get her operated before she has life threatening problems.
I ask any kind-hearted animal lover to help donate for her Gallbladder surgery and TPLO surgery fund so I can keep my loved companion, active and by my side.
Thank you so much for the help!! This will help me out a lot to pay off my credit card. Opal is still recovering and needs to keep taking antibiotics for a month.