Wiley's GoFundMe for Emergency Surgery: Story & Updates
ORIGINAL POST: December 29th, 2023
I'm not great at asking for help, but I've got to be honest with you all...
The day after Christmas, @t_ray_castiway and I noticed that Wiley was in pain. Initially thinking it was due to a bone he had eaten, we were soon faced with a dire diagnosis. Wiley has stones in his bladder, and one lodged in his urethra, blocking his ability to urinate - a condition that is both life-threatening and unimaginably painful. This emergency calls for an urgent cystotomy, a procedure that is critical to saving his life. He's taken countless blood tests, xrays, ultrasounds, as assessments as this is very atypical for his breed.
Once he's home, we'll have to change his diet and daily routine. We're unsure of the expense of this at this time. There is a possibility this could happen again, but we've been learning that there's SO much hope, as there are dogs that live happy and full lives with this set back.
Through all the pain and discomfort, Wiley's spirit remains unbroken. Every vet who has treated him has remarked on his incredible sweetness and gentle disposition. Despite the agony, he has not shown a single sign of aggression - he is truly a gentle soul.
We have already incurred over $11,000 in medical expenses, and the surgery hasn't even been completed yet. The costs are overwhelming, but we refuse to give up on Wiley. He is much more than a pet; he is a beloved family member, a symbol of resilience and unconditional love.
And the cherry on top of all of this - I sent my letter of resignation to Lacuna just a few hours before this medical event began 🙃 (a separate post will come on this announcement too)
We've set up a GoFundMe link so we can keep fighting for Wiley. If you can donate and / or share the link in bio, it'd mean the world to us.
If you can't help financially, no worries, please please share this post 🙏
We will share updates as they happen! We will share everything we learn so that maybe we can help others get through anything similar. NEVER LOSE HOPE. There's always another way.
🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️
January 13th, 2023 Update
Thank you for continuing to help us save one of our best friend's lives 🙏💝
We've raised quite a bit towards our goal and are so beyond thankful for everyone's generosity. But there's still more to go. We've got more medical appointments, blood tests, and vet conversations before this medical event is over.
If you can help us, we'll be sure to pay it forward AND compile everything we learned into a webpage (including receipts) so that if anyone else goes through this, they'll be more prepared and know what to expect.
It is important to know when to fight vs when to accept the inevitable. In Wiley's case, he's still so young and can live a long, healthy life with lifestyle changes. We saved him from the shelter less than a year ago too, so if we are talking about a sweet dog that deserves it, Wiley is the best candidate.
If you're having a hard time with a pet, just know that only YOU can make the tough call.
When I was younger, I lost my cat because I wasn't in a position to do something about it and it never sat right with me. That's what inspired us to originally adopt two shelter dogs. So this time, we don't suffer in silence, we do what we can 💕
Huge thanks to @cadence_animal_hospital and @lvvscsurgery for doing the work to keep Wiley alive 🥰
If you can't donate, no worries, sharing means a lot to us too.
🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️ 🐶 ❤️
Here is a copy of what's written in the GoFundMe Description for ease of access:
Dear Friends, Family, and Animal Lovers,
We are reaching out with heavy hearts to seek your support for our beloved dog, Wiley. A life-threatening medical emergency has put us in a desperate situation, and we need your help to save Wiley's life.
Wiley's Journey to Our Family:
Wiley, a beautiful Husky/Pitbull mix, came into our lives in February 2023. He was a shelter dog, named Beast, and was just one day away from being put down when fate brought us together. Despite his rough start and a bloody foot, Wiley approached us with nothing but love and affection, instantly becoming a part of our family with his first, heartwarming hug. His resilience and sweet nature have been a constant source of joy in our lives.
The Crisis:
The day after Christmas 2023, we noticed that Wiley was in pain. Initially thinking it was due to a bone he had eaten, we were soon faced with a dire diagnosis. Wiley has urate stones in his bladder, blocking his ability to urinate - a condition that is absolutely life-threatening. This emergency calls for an emergency cystotomy, a procedure that is critical to saving his life. He's also taken countless blood tests, xrays, ultrasounds, as assessments as this is very atypical for his breed AND he's a shelter dog with no medical history.
Once he's home, we'll have to change his diet and daily routine. We're unsure of the expense of this at this time. There is a possibility this could happen again, but we've been learning that there's SO much hope, as there are dogs that live happy and full lives with this set back.
Wiley's Fight for Survival:
Through all the pain and discomfort, Wiley's spirit remains unbroken. Every vet who has treated him has remarked on his incredible sweetness and gentle disposition. Despite the agony, he has not shown a single sign of aggression - he is truly a gentle soul.
Our Pledge and Plea for Help:
We have been quoted $11,000 in medical expenses. The costs are overwhelming, but we refuse to give up on Wiley. He is much more than a pet; he is a beloved family member, a symbol of resilience and unconditional love.
We are humbly asking for your help to cover the cost of Wiley's surgery and medical care. Any donation, big or small, will make a significant difference in Wiley's fight for survival. We promise to keep you updated on Wiley's progress and are eternally grateful for any support you can provide.
Please help us save Wiley. He's beaten the odds once by finding a family that loves him, and with your help, he can do it again by overcoming this life-threatening challenge.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Tyler and Marilyn "Marina" Castillo
-------------------- 12/30 UPDATES! --------------------
Wiley has SUCCESSFULLY completed his surgery. He is now at home recovering.
By some miracle, the cost of our surgery and emergency room time was reduced by THOUSANDS of dollars thanks to the kind hearts and expert care at the Las Vegas Veterinary Specialty Center (both in the emergency wing and the surgery wing). They originally quoted us $10k for all emergency and surgical services (not including the $1.6k we had to pay our vet before the LVVSC) but when we picked him up today, charges fell off our bill without explanation, even though we KNOW there were tests completed that didn't show up on the final invoice! We've updated the "goal" of this GoFundMe to reflect the exact final bill.
In 10 days when lab results come back, we'll be fully debriefed on what our new diet and lifestyle changes will be.
For the next several weeks, Tyler and I will be taking shifts watching him, as his incisions are quite large and will take some time to properly heal. In the meantime, he's got to learn bladder control all over again.
We are so grateful for the support rolling in, as this has been a very hands on and overwhelming process for Tyler and myself. When we set out to adopt both Wiley and Honey from the shelter, we honestly just wanted some dogs to join our family. We had no idea how deeply profound rescuing dogs can be, and to watch Wiley beat the odds not just once, but TWICE, has really changed a lot of things for our family.
We've raised about $1200 at this point (plus $625 in directly sent funds). We are so humbled, and deeply touched by every single donation. We know Wiley means a lot to a lot of people, but to see the support roll in like this has been life changing for us. It gives us hope.
This also puts us about $6800 left to cover his current expenses. For context about our struggle: having a shelter dog go through a surgery is... complicated. Dropping him off for days when he's feeling the worst made us worry that he thought we abandoned him. We don't know his history. We don't know if this will be recurring. All we know is he is worth every single bit of work.
For those who have asked in order to understand the warning signs of urate stones: Wiley is always thirsty and always peeing... so when he didn't pee at his final outside time before bedtime at midnight, we thought that was weird. The next morning, he was whimpering, which is odd for him, and I felt a tough spot in front of his hip (couldn't tell what it was, later found out it was a swollen bladder). Since he had devoured a bone on Christmas day, we didn't know if that was bothering him or not. By 11am, he laid down next to me in my office (his normal spot at home) and I saw blood starting to drip out of his urethra. I immediately told Tyler WE NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW. That can't be from the bone, we thought... He laid down and shut his eyes in a way that immediately haunted me, so we got him to the hospital ASAP. Turns out, the bone wasn't even an issue BUT the stress of digesting the bone did cause one of the urate stones to leave his bladder and get lodged IN his urethra, which is an unimaginable level of pain for any creature.
Urate stones are not formed overnight. There are two main causes of urate stones: a genetic defect in the metabolism of uric acid, which is most commonly seen in Dalmatians, and a liver disease called a portosystemic shunt (abnormal blood vessel bypassing the liver).
We will be nursing him back to health 24/7, and continuing to share our updates here!
-------------------- 1/14 UPDATES! --------------------
Wiley is recovering well! He finally got his cone off. The next step is getting him back into the vet to take a special blood test to confirm his new diet. We are unsure of the cost of this.
We'd like to remind people that this isn't a "simple cystotomy" because Wiley is NOT the typical breed for it, he had no medical history, and we believed that going into this medical event, that there was a different reason for his pain. If it were straight forward, it would've only cost about $3,000. But it wasn't.
This is why we are creating a full webpage via my blog to put ALL information related to this medical event, including receipts, so everyone can understand what's going on AND pet owners won't be taken advantage of by unfelling business owners. We will share the link here when it is complete.
