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HOPE'S STORY

Pictures

A Story of Boxer Love 

Hope's Memorial
Medical Fund

A sad little girl lays
on Tina's Couch

With only a 25 to 30% chance of surviving
the operation

She was prepared
for surgery.

Hope showed her boxer determination and made it through the surgery, but sadly went to the Rainbow Bridge
11/17/02

11/17/02 - It is with great sadness that we must tell everyone that Hope went to the Rainbow Bridge this morning.  She spent her last few days being loved and cared for by a host of wonderful BAR Volunteers. 

11/16/02 - Hope was moved to the emergency animal hospital last evening for surgery. At 12:30am surgery started and at 2:30 am I received a call that Hope had survived her 25-30% chance of survival and made it through surgery. This girl is fighting multiple organ failure and still had the strength to make it through. Hope was the perfect name for her.

I phoned the office at 3:30, 5:00 and 7:00 and found at 3am Hope's heart had stopped beating and they had to resuscitate her.

She is now resting comfortably and has even taken in a bit of food and decided she did not like the vet taking her temp at 6:30 this morning :o))

I plan on going in shortly to sit with her. I will send in an update as the time goes on.

I would like you all to say a prayer for our Hope that she will make it through this mess.

Hopes vet bill at this moment stands at approx $2500.00 we are asking for donations to help us cover her expenses as they are still mounting. We want what is best for this girl and hope that you will help us. Donations can be sent by  PayPal or Mailed to : Boxer Angels Rescue, PO Box 4298, Middletown, NY 10941. All donations are greatly appreciated and the donor will be listed on our donations page. Thank you from all the volunteers at BAR!

11/13/02 - This is a story that started early this week and is still going on. This will also show what Boxer Angels Rescue (BAR) is all about. Without your donations we wouldn't be able to help dogs that are put into these poor situations.

This past Saturday Gary, a BAR volunteer, went to a shelter to evaluate an approximately 18 month old brindle female they had there brought in as a stray. They told him she was not doing well, she was very sad, and had been curled up in the corner of the kennel for 4 days, and was not eating much. He figure that lots of boxers do not do that well, so made the plans to go see her. Well, she was a bit on the thin side, nothing really bad, but a bit thin. We tried to get her to eat, and when we put some canned food over the dry, she ate a bit. We thoroughly temperament tested her, and she passed. She was, however, going through periods where she would just kind of stare down at the floor and hunch down a bit. We really did not like that posturing....but I did not know what this girl had been through.
We made plans to get her out over the weekend. Wednesday, around 4ish, Gary received a call from the shelter manager, who had been off for a few days and told him that the girl is not doing well at all. Seems she has been throwing up A LOT, not eating, and is in bad shape. He said the recommendation was to put her down, as she appears to be jaundice, with a yellowing around her eyes, her time for adoption was up and the vet does not work on the dog anymore and the shelter would not pay for it. Well, Gary told him that we do not want her put down and that he would come tonight and get her. The shelter worker graciously agreed to meet Gary after hours, and he arrived there at 8pm. When they opened the shelter and walked to her kennel, he looked inside, and for a moment thought we were too late. She did not move, and couldn't tell if she was breathing. We called her and called her, and nothing. Finally, when the worker opened the kennel, she lifted her head. She looked terrible. She had apparently been throwing up just foam all over her kennel. She had lost a lot of weight since she was seen on Saturday, and she was out of it; totally dazed. It hurt to see her like that. She tried to walk, and was limping while she walked. Gary picked her up and put her in the car and drove her out of there and on to her new and better life.
Gary met another volunteer, Tina, at 10pm that evening to take her into foster care.  She was so upset when she laid eyes on this poor girl. She was all of 35-40 lbs and should weigh approximately 60-65 lbs.  She could barely stand so she was carried from one car to the other.

Well this girl made it through the night. Tina was able to get some water in her periodically with an eye dropper. About 8-10 oz of water at a time is all she would take. She got up about every hour or so to do this. The girl moved between the couch and the tile floor in my bathroom. She was a little congested, drooling quite a bit and trying to throw up but nothing is there.
First thing in the morning she was taken to our vet and she was immediately rushed in and given an IV. They took x-rays and it was determined she has two foreign metal objects (most likely nails or pins) imbedded in her stomach wall or liver. Dr. Fischer said she is so thin that it is hard to tell. He has to get in to do surgery as soon as possible and is hoping that the fluid from her stomach or intestinal track is not leaking into her abdominal cavity which can cause Peritonitis. This can be detrimental. She is very dehydrated, as we figured, and they were pumping fluids in to her to get her stabilized. Doctor said he will keep an eye on her and is hoping late this afternoon he may be able to do exploratory surgery.
Thursday afternoon, she is still much too week to have surgery yet, so it will have to wait until she regains some strength. They put 2 IV bags in to her today and gave her shots of antibiotic to help with the infection.
When you look at the white around her neck...it is not stains...that is her yellow skin showing through from the Jaundice! Her tongue, gums, eyes and skin are all yellow...the office said they have never seen a case so bad!

A special Medical Memorial Fund has been established help defray the cost of Hope's Medical Care.
To Donate, please click on  PayPal Donate.
Thank You.

BOXER ANGELS
Gary Berg
Andrea VanderWiede
Mary Cleet and family
Jackie Noble and family
Denny and Laura Scullin
Cyndi Kucera and family
Darrin and Lori Harte
Gary Berg and Family
Mindy Curley
Kelly Conway
John and Pamela Little
John and Susan Manzi
Daivd & Debby Gramza
Gina Matturro
James & Diana Tipping
Diane Maze
Berti Katz
Duft Family
Susan Corrente