09/13/2024
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Our Doberman Pax passed away a few months after his 2nd birthday last summer after we dropped him off in the trusted hands of emergency veterinarians. When we picked him up the next day to have exploratory surgery with our primary vet since there was still no diagnosis after 12+ hours at the emergency vet, he died in my arms on the car ride there. At the advice of our primary veterinarian, who was equally as confused and shocked as we were when we arrived and he was no longer breathing, we requested the medical records and quickly discovered that he HAD been diagnosed with an emergent and life-threatening condition a few hours after we dropped him off the night before, but was not taken immediately into surgery or even given any pain relief from the condition during his entire stay. To add insult to injury, for some reason the information regarding his diagnosis was not communicated to us when we spoke on the phone with the veterinarian or when we picked him up.
Upon discovering this, my veterinarian and I spent a month attempting to speak with the medical director, with the hope there was some logical or clinical explanation. I so badly wanted there to be an explanation, I did not want to think that those I trusted with one of THE most precious beings in my life could so badly fail him. I did not want to distrust emergency veterinarians going forward, for the sake of our other dog and any other future pets. Unfortunately, when my veterinarian finally spoke with him on the phone, he was unable to provide a clear or clinical reason for what happened.
When I began researching and learning about this type of thing, my eyes were opened to an incredibly broken and outdated legal system.
When I switched the review filter on Google to “most recent” and “lowest”, and looked at the BBB reviews, I was shocked at the number of stories similar to mine, some worse.
When I decided I was going to try to do something about it, I knew it was going to be a battle.
I worried how it would look that I’d be asking people for their hard earned money.
I worried about using my voice to share this story, knowing how controversial it would be, as I’m generally a pacifist (a term derived from the word “Pax”), with my life’s work being healing, and my nature being kindness and understanding.
The pacifist in me tried. I tried to talk it through with the medical director, to find a peaceful resolution that included acknowledgment of mistakes and a genuine desire to fix the issue that caused the mistakes. As we know, that did not happen.
So I decided to move forward with this work, despite my fears and apprehension. To my surprise, I quickly learned that I am capable of maintaining my kindness, compassion, and integrity, while simultaneously standing up for what is right and demanding accountability and change for what is wrong. It does not have to be one or the other.
And so I continue to trudge forward, despite the creeping concern that their pockets are much, much deeper than mine. And I continue to humbly ask for the support of my friends, family, community, and complete strangers. (That part still feels kind of uncomfortable but I’m pushing through 😅).
I set a goal 12 days ago to raise $5,000 in two weeks, to assess how fundraising will likely go throughout the lawsuit, so I can make an informed decision regarding how I move forward.
As of today, I’ve raised $2,040 and I am so grateful for every single donation that went towards that amount. We’re still $2,960 short of the goal, with two days left to reach it. I recognize that’s a daunting number, and yet there’s still a part of me that thinks maybe I can?
Please please like, comment, and share this post. Facebook algorithms are working against me (yes, I’ve also been incessantly researching how that works lol) and every single interaction with this post will give it more visibility, otherwise it will likely get lost in people’s newsfeeds.
Thank you ALL for everything you have done and have been doing to support us, I will always smile while thinking about how so many people have been willing to stand up for Pax, and for what is RIGHT, despite how controversial it might be. I see you and I appreciate you more than you know 🥹🫶🏼