Holy bejesus.
Long story, but a great read for those who value their vets!
2 weeks ago when I was driving home from the barn, I hit a dog. 
It was dark, and the little lab cross just ran out of no where and I ran right over her. I thought she was dead. I didnt have time to look for owners, I rushed her right into our local ER.
She was agonal. Dripping blood from her lungs out of her mouth. She wanted to die. I couldnt let her die. The first thing that happened when I got to the clinic is the wonderful technician that ran out, she grabbed the dog from me and wipped her to the back room where the immediately gave her CPR. They didnt even ask if I wanted to do anything, they just started treating her (thank godā¦or she would have been dead right then and there). One of the doctors came out to speak with me and said it was a very bad situation (which I knew), and that ultimately saving this dog, if even possible, is going to require more than a few dollars - asked if I wanted to continue pressing forward with CPR.
Well good God, yes. I hit someones dog, how could I decide whether or not she live or die?!
They had me sign a critical conscent form, stating that they would do everything they could but could not guarantee the outcome. Vet gave me an estimate of $1000 to get her through the night - but with no guarantees. OKā¦sigh.
They get a tube on the dogs throat so they couldbreathe for her. They had to take emergency xrays and she had a numothorax (sp), meaning her lungs had ruptured. They put a tube in her chest and had a technician drain air off of her chest every 30 minutes to keep her alive. Vet called back to say she would need a specialist surgery to fix her lungs. He (God bless him) said it wouldnt be wrong to stop at this point, as financially this could run into many thousands of dollars. I had to move forward, didnt get a hold of any owners.
They continued xraying the dog while giving her ventilation, IV pain medications and preventing her from shock. She also has a broken pelvis and shattered humerus. She also had an abdomal ultrasound because her spleen was ruptured. These will also require surgery but they wanted to stabilize her lung and spleen first.
That night, she went in to get her lungs fixed - again no promise she would live. The fighter came out of it alive!! Thankfully, her spleen looked like it would heal on its own, but she did need a few blood transfusions. She was still in critical condition that night, and for the next 3 days so she had to wait with a broken pelvis and front leg. She had a urine catheter in, a chest tube, and about 5 different IV lines and fluid pumps and an ECG and oxygen through her noseā¦it made me cry!
4 days later my bill was at $14,000 OH DEAR GOD and no owner
So day 6 rolls around and she has recovered well from her numothorax surgery. Her oxygen saturation is holding without supplimental oxygen. Its time to get the rest of her fixed. Quote for pelvis fracture was $4000 and an additional $2000 to fix the humerus. Ive gone so far, I couldnt turn back now.
Surgery goes ahead as planned. She did well in surgery and was in the ICU recovering. They were monitoring her and her oxygen saturation started dropping and she was having difficulty breathing again. Vet called me and told me the bad news. They offered to take her back into surgery to see whats happening at no cost. If it looked bad, we would euthanize on the table but if it looked fixable they would fix it. Well, lucky fāer of a dog - she got fixed.
She spent the next week recovering with monitoring in ICU. I just picked her up tonight, and she is sitting at my feet as I type. I cant thank the hospital enough for saving this little girl. My total bill was over $25,000 but with the generosity of these vets they helped out as much as they could and I walked away with a $15,000 dog. Sheās worth every penny. I visited her in the ICU every day, she was always a fighter wagging her tail and diving into her food dish! The technicians were always amazed at how wonderful she had taken the whole ordeal.
I owe them my life - I have a new family member now, and if it wasnt for their quick thinking and skills I would have never gotten to know this amazing creature 
NOT how I wanted to spend my christmas money - but so glad I did.
PS - Vets told me NOT to call her āLuckyā - so I named her āMoneyā.
