Tuesday. Spinal Surgery is EXPENSIVE.

After spending the previous night sobbing loudly to my Mom on the phone and then trying to drown my sorrows with an IPA and brisket from Fette Sau, I started to feel a little better.  Smoked meat is a band aid to my sorrows.  Roo was out of surgery and resting at the hospital, my puffy eyes were returning to normal and I felt like I could actually talk to people without bursting into tears. She is still paralyzed in her hind legs, but there is a still a chance that it will only be temporary.

Have I mentioned yet that I have the most amazing group of friends? Friends that I am not even sure I deserve.  I'm crabby, I'm blunt, I like to go to bed early.  And let's face it, surgery is EXPENSIVE.  Let me get this out of the way and tackle the elephant that is creeping around in the room.  No, I do not have pet insurance.  Does that make me an idiot?  I don't know.  Maybe.  Probably.  Hindsight, 20/20, blah, blah, blah.  I haven't been able to justify the costs of that monthly premium on two dogs. Or do I just insure one? The man made miracle French bulldog or the elderly chihuahua mix?  And I'll admit it, there's that skeptical side of me that thinks pet insurance is just a way for companies to cheat you out of money.  I'm sure I heard that on AM radio before or Micheal Moore said it in an elevator.   ePet insurance is linking to this blog as I type, a testimonial to their services! Lesson learned.

Back to my amazing network of friends.  I'll say it again. In caps, so you really get the message. SURGERY IS EXPENSIVE.  The visit to the emergency clinic including the MRI is a cool $2,200.  The spinal surgery, including 8-10 days of closely monitored care, expressing her bladder, administering pain meds, changing her blankets, is around $6,500. Um, sure.  So what do my ladies do?

They start a web based donation page for people to help out with Roo's medical bills:
https://www.wepay.com/donations/fund-roo-ster

They start a Facebook page to make people aware of my problem:
Fund-Rooster

They blog about it:
Social Media Success Story

They post the links to the donation site on their twitter, instagram, and FB pages.  My email box has been filling up  with donations from friends, family members, coworkers, clients from my job and strangers!  Yes, people who I don't even know have started throwing in $5, $10, $25, $50, or $300 (thanks mom!).  Every donation has brought a tear to my eye and I am beyond thankful with the amount of people who are ROOting, for Roo!  As of right now, $3,700 has been donated to my fight for Roo to walk again.  I honestly can't believe how incredibly kind people can be.