Hi everyone!
We hope everyone had a simply delightful holiday season - although it's such a wonderful and magical time, it's a bit sad when it's all over isn't it?
We received a most thoughtful and lovely gift from a group of our friends for Christmas - a visit to a neurologist for a consultation for Connor! As we all know veterinary care can be costly and even more expensive when you're needing care from a specialist and this was something our generous friends knew and didn't want standing in the way of possibly receiving some very valuable information. While we didn't have any diagnostic testing done, we did spend a great deal of time with the doctor discussing options and medications and have a good plan moving forward to try and stop breakthrough seizures, hopefully it works1
After we left it got me to thinking. There are many organizations that help those in need when it comes to veterinary care - just do a search and you will find them. While there are quite a few, most have very specific qualifications such as income limits, what they will treat, etc or are disease specific, not unusual but it was an affliction I couldn't find that I found surprising. Now maybe I just didn't search well enough or in the right places, but I didn't find one organization dedicated to helping those with pets who suffer from neurological diseases/disorders. Many for cancer, which I can understand since it's running rampant through pets, I even lost my very first Schnauzer to it, but not one for neurological illnesses? It's shocking how many pets suffer from seizures, most far worse than Connor, some of these pets have seizures daily, which I cannot imagine and many people have no clue why because they're treating the symptom, which is the seizure, not the disease because they cannot afford to attempt to find out what's causing them in the first place.
I asked how much an MRI would be to confirm or rule out a brain tumor - thirty five hundred to four thousand dollars! I don't know about everyone else but that's simply not doable for me and probably for most people and it's very sad. While it's true that if one was done and a tumor confirmed there isn't much to be done but continue to treat and keep a good quality of life for as long as possible, it would also help to rule out other conditions or help a pet parent make decisions more proactively rather than sit and wait for things to become so bad that they're making decisions while falling apart because they don't know what's happening to their beloved family member.
A friend of mine (who kickstarted the fund for our consult and who's own dog suffers from several neurological diseases) have discussed forming a non-profit dedicated to helping those with pets like ours, who so desperately need the help and answers but simply don't have the funds for expensive diagnostics. Offsetting expenses just a little bit can make a huge difference and I for once would love to make a difference in the lives of people and their pets.
Connor in the lobby at the neurologist office!❤️