Helping One of Our Own

Helping One of Our Own....

As you may know, our beloved rescue partner, Lori Crosby, has fallen terribly ill. Several tests results are still pending, and without those, we do not know what the future holds for her in regards to a treatment plan. Focusing on the *Right Now*, we know she has been hospitalized for a couple of weeks, and we would like to help her alleviate some of her stresses during such a trying time. All pertinent info will be provided below, and can also be found on the ChipIn, and WePay website links. Lori has done SO MUCH for the animals and now its our turn to return the favor.

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Around this time last month, Lori embarked on her journey from Southern California to Kentucky, with goals to spend time with family, expand The Animal Pad to the Midwest, and enroll in Veterinary College. Within less than two weeks, she presumed she was exhausted, a common symptom of over-exertion, which she was easily able to contribute to packing up her things and across the states in three days. That exhaustion quickly escalated to being gravely ill, which led her to an emergency room in Kentucky. Lori has tried throughout this time to keep many people updated (and even tried to save a dog while hospitalized) giving details as she's able to, albeit being somewhat vague in order to avoid causing any additional stress to her child at home.

As many know, Lori has dedicated her life to animal advocacy. She's invested a great portion of her time, and her savings in order to save the lives of many, many dogs. She has been involved in charity work since she was a young teenager working with children who have special needs, and those involved in social services. Due to a very unfortunate turn of events, she has been forced to place her goals on hold in order to fight for her health.

What had started off as a trip to the ER for dehydration, it led to numerous tests, and her being poked with so many needles that on the 8th, the nurses were unable to find any good veins left. She had X-Rays, Ultrasounds, MRI's, HIDA scans, and every other test under the sun. Lori has been hospitalized for nearly two weeks now, and on October 5th, she had surgery which we pray will be the start on her road to recovery. She has requested that her privacy be respected during this sensitive time, primarily due to the sensitive nature of things. She is a single parent and has stressed the importance on the emotional well being of her loved ones. For that reason, we will be very selective as to whom we will share personal details with in regards to anyone wanting to know hospital/home information, as well as posting diagnoses online (we will respond to private messages as we are able to).

What we know at this time is what was discovered on her scans, and results that are still pending. The initial results from her first visit had shown highly abnormal labwork which led the physicians to look at her pancreas, in doing so, numerous suspicious lesions/masses were noted. Another test was ordered to look closer, which led to additional findings; a tumor of the liver, as well as inflammation of the gallbladder. In addition to the things mentioned, her second week hospitalized she ended up with C Diff (which was likely contracted at the hospital, and certainly didn't help in her recovery).

Lori was originally scheduled for surgery around 3pm, but they took her in early around 1pm. They estimated an hour in the operating room to remove the gall bladder, and to remove lesions/masses, as well as take biopsies of surrounding tissues, and do an exploratory surgery to check out everything else. Evidently Lori wanted to make an impact there, because she stole the show in the recover room where they struggled to stabilize her for over five hours. Her blood pressure was dangerously high, and despite giving her every single medication they had to offer, they were unable to control her pain. Sometime around 8pm, they were able to get her BP to a safe level and take her back to her hospital room. Despite her struggles with pain management, she's kept herself in relatively good spirits, all things considered. The biopsy results can take anywhere between 1-3 weeks to come back, which at that time and more definitive treatment plan will be in place. In the meantime, she will be on bed rest and recovering with 5 abdominal incisions. She's hoping to be discharged home soon, which they will do as long as her WBC continues to lower, BP is stable/normal, and her pain can be controlled with oral pain medication.

We are calling upon the same community that Lori has loved, and been loved by, to please show your support. We are trying to raise funds to help alleviate at least some of her stresses while she is faced with such a trying time. She is already facing tremendous medical expenses, which there will be many more to follow. In addition to that, she's unable to work while being sick and she's worried about her child, dogs, and other living expenses. We ask that you help where you can, if even just sharing words of encouragement. She's living in a new state, surrounded by new doctors, and an abundance of stress.

We know that she's a fighter and has overcome so much already. She hasn't let a few days pass without discussing her plans to conquer puppy mills, and expand the rescue. We will do our absolute best to keep everyone up-to-date as we're able to, or whenever Lori isn't feeling well enough to update her Facebook page. Please contact us directly through The Animal Pad's Facebook page if you're interested in a mailing address (for cards and the like).

We are extremely grateful for all of your support.

Here are just a handful of pictures of Lori and some of the dogs whose lives she has touched. 

Lori Crosby has rescued an outstanding number of dogs from Devore, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, and many other places. She stood in the rain with pneumonia to make sure the Devore staff would bring Florence, "the brain damaged beagle" inside, so she'd survive until we could rescue her. She was the only person who had shown interest in Valentino, "the chemical burn dog" (the same dog she went to spend time with and pay $3,500 out of pocket toward his bill; on her birthday). She's one of us (crazy, haha); we all do these things that many outside of rescue could ever understand. 

It was the same way we were brought together, making TAP what it is today. 

Don't Think, Just Rescue