RockysSurgery

On Monday March 2nd Rocky, mine and my fiance's almost 5 year old American Staffy started to show some signs of discomfort and seemed to be having a tummy ache, then through the next few days seemed to be feeling better, but was still not quite the ball of energy we were used to and had us worried that he had some sort of blockage and so on Thursday we made the decision to take him to the vet first thing Friday morning. So Friday morning to the vet we went, they looked him over and noticed he had a heart murmur, which was new information but we knew that likely wasn't the cause of his discomfort. So they did some bloodwork and took him back for an x-ray, in that xray they would find that things didnt look quite right with his spleen, so they next did an ultrasound. The ultrasound confirmed for them that he had a large blood filled mass on his spleen. They told us that he would need a full splinectomy as well as a cardiologist to do an echocardiogram on his heart, due to the murmur to determine if surgery was safe. They told us due to the risks of bleeding and the need for a possible blood transfusion we needed to take him to a full service 24/7 animal hospital. They'd gave their recommendations and due to an emergency we experienced a few years ago with our senior siamese and knowing our vet trusted them and reccomended them as well, we took him to OVRS (Oakland Veterinary Referral Services) to be seen. Upon him being brought in, they did another ultrasound to get a better look and confirmed that there was indeed a large mass and stated surgery would be Saturday or Monday. So we left him there to be monitored and to get his echocardiogram as soon as possible. Friday night they did the echo and they found his heart was stable for surgery and fluids and didnt see a need for medication, thank God! Saturday morning they called to let us know his red blood cell count had dropped a bit, and while they didnt see a need for a blood transfusion they decided to do his surgery sooner to avoid the possibility. So Saturday morning he went in and had his spleen removed along with a few lymph nodes and those are being sent to have biopsies done so we can determine what the mass was. The results of that will take 1-2 weeks, so that is still in the air and we are waiting and praying. We are also waiting on the call that he is good to come home! The financial aspect of this though is the last thing we expected to be facing. I just had to purchase a used car less than 2 weeks ago due to my 2008 being on her last leg and while trying to plan a wedding as my fiance & got engaged last May. Obviously this is not something we anticipated and therefore are reaching out for some help. I was thankfully able to get an increase on my care credit to cover the cost initially but the payments are going to be large and will take a long time to pay off and with my fiance Tyler starting a new job at the beginning of the year, he is unable to take any PTO yet and obviously when Rocky comes home he will need some extra care for a little while which is going to require some time off of work. The goal set on this is for the minimum that was given to us at the vet, our max is around $15,000. This is without any additional possible care he may need, depending on the biopsy results as there is a chance of cancer. We understand that many aren't able to donate & that is okay, if you aren't please just say a prayer and send your wishes his way💜