02/07/2024
Life isn’t measured by the amount of breaths we take, but by the amount of things that take our breath away
Good evening everyone,
First off, what a ride I’ve been on. There wasn’t enough ashwaganda in the world to deal with that s**t!!!!
As I watch Jeff lay next to me quite happily snoozing away for the evening, I feel like the 2 weeks has been a complete nightmare. What I find really interesting is that he doesn’t hold on to the emotion behind his own trauma, doesn’t show pain and just gets on with life with no complaints. Time for a little self reflection and introspection tonight.
In a world where I learned through life lessons not to rely on anyone, not to take charity, didn’t know how to ask for help, determined to do everything on my own and be fiercely independent, that view of the world all came crashing down around me in the blink of an eye. I don’t begrudge anyone for doing it, it just wasn’t for me
I didn’t know about the Go Fund Me page until it was too late. It was done and my dogs story went absolutely viral as over 170 people gave what they could to help save my boy. There were no words, there still aren’t. Some people gave twice knowing Jeff had to have a second surgery and I had exhausted all of my savings in the first 4 days of him being hospitalised. The entire experience completely humbled me in ways I cannot put a language around and even now I still cry when I think about it. I’m not sure if it’s because my dog almost died twice, or if because in the moment where I always believed humans failed me and I learnt to simply do it alone, I didn’t have to. So many people stepped up with support in different forms and continued to do so even after the second surgery. Completely recognising the fact that I was flat broke, didn’t know how I was going to pay the bills that continued to roll in, all I needed was my dog to be okay. That was all I could ask for.
Being rallied around by the community there were certain moments that were super powerful for me personally.
One lady popped in, handed me a small donation and said “I’m sorry this is all I can afford but I really wanted to help”… I also know her dog is not at full health with kidney issues and while being managed by diet, it’s not easy financially or emotionally to deal with that.
Another gentleman popped in asking about his dogs appointment that was coming up and to tell me that on this upcoming visit there would only be one dog coming as one of his boys had crossed the rainbow bridge after having health issues for quite some time. He still threw money on the desk and said “see ya next week”, promptly walking out as I burst into tears on the poor bu**er.
A 10 year old child drew me an excellent picture of Jeff and gave me some money also wanting to help. (I’m not good with kids but in that moment I forced myself to suck it up and not cry on her) it was such a lovely gesture and I’ll be having that picture laminated and up in the salon the first chance I get.
The stranger who doesn’t know me or my dog, but managed to snag some photos I put up, make a tictok video and raise an extra $1000
The 2 silent assassins who sat in the background and both said to me, do what you need to do to save his life, i will foot the bill and figure out a payment plan later, both knowing it could have ran up to a further 20k (thankfully not needed)
I cannot thank every single person enough who had something to offer, whether it be through financial aid, sharing the GFM, dropping in to check on me, feeding me, calling and messaging (sorry to anyone who did not hear back, not only was I trying to prioritise, I had 2 business to try and keep going, plus manage my other 3 dogs, and my disabled mother at home)
Thank you will never seem like enough for me personally. And maybe it’s because I’m a prideful, stubborn person. But I don’t take the lesson lightly. Believe me, I’ll be paying this forward as soon as I’m able to do so financially. I’m also now acutely aware than even the most dog savvy person can screw up. We are all human and sometimes mistakes are made. This one was mine. (Although not the dog who I thought would do this out of my pack)
I’m lucky enough to still be able to work in both my businesses and continue to look after my dog who really doesn’t know what all the fuss is about but appreciates being handfed multiple times a day as I try to reset his gut flora and get some weight back on him.
I am told many of you woke in the middle of the night and automatically checked Facebook for updates, I’m sorry if there were none.
I’ve always said it takes a village to raise a dog and by that I always meant the professionals such as our vets, nurses, trainers, groomers etc. I’m now adapting that view to include everyone. Without a community I would have lost the most precious gift that just keeps on giving. (Me a headache mostly 😂)
With Jeff no longer bombed out on meds, he’s bright, alert, happy and tries to decapatate me with that cone of shame he will continue to wear until he’s all healed. He continues to improve daily and now that we are 5 days post surgery I think he will be absolutely fine.
There are still a number of people to thank…
My sister who checked in twice daily
My vet and vet nursing mates Lisa and Mish
Sammy, who I can always count on to give it to me straight
Kirsten, Jeff’s breeder who rallied and supported as much as she could, who also raised him for the first 15 months of his life before entrusting me with him (are you sure there’s a no returns policy on this dog? 😂😂)
Buffy, who organised the go fund me behind my back and told me to shove my prideful head where the sun doesn’t shine and smashed the link as much as possible
Jasmine who also smashed the hell out of the link at every given opportunity.
Susie- the creator of the bow wow store which I own with pride who’s been super helpful in the background with my other dogs when one was particularly distressed
My nameless canine nutritionist (her choice, not mine) who’s been super helpful with all the things (the flying messages at random o clock when my brain is not able to shut the hell up
Donna and Mick who kept me distracted the night of the first surgery
Jen, who was thrown in the deep end in the dog world and ran some deliveries for me to lighten the load when I was struggling and put up with me losing my tiny mind 400 times a day
The vets and nurses at AEC Frankston for keeping my boy comfortable during his first 4 days (and had so much clean up as things came out of both ends)
Kellie- who happened to be the first person I met at VRH who was on reception and had followed the story on Facebook, and realised she had owned Jeff’s half brother Corona who has since crossed over the bridge
The surgeon, head vet and vet nurses at VRH who continued (and still are as we still need staples removed) to look after him for a further 4 days
Our vets and nurses get such a bad rap when it comes to what has to be charged for their care. Please consider the fact that this industry has the highest rate of sui€!de of any industry and we have a critical shortage Australia wide.
Years of study with a schooling bill of up to 200k, and that’s for general vet care. To go and specialise in something specific has an even higher price tag. Our nurses do all the grunt work and are paid peanuts for it. Please think about this the next time you need to take your dog to the vet, or come and see me and my 30k dog.
And lastly, to my boy Jeff, who never gave up even at his worst point. The spirit you showed coming out of that door when we found out that first surgery had failed, you ran out to me warbling your head off as if nothing was wrong. For every single moment when you’ve sat by my side during hard times even when I was trying to do it alone the forced love was there (not even extra tall baby gates can keep you out 😂) it was in that moment I knew I couldn’t give up and just hope that you would pull through and throw everything possible at you. You are worth every cent and more (even if you refuse to 💩 gold nuggets for me 😂) just keep being you, you blonde numpty 🥰 I love you to the moon and back.
If you’ve managed to get through all of my waffling tonight, thank you for reading and supporting. You’ll truly never know what it means to me.
I’m just a girl who loves her dogs and says f**k a lot (sorry, no filters here)
