Today on the podcast I’m talking through the shitstorm of 2020. Jackson’s 16-day health scare, the VRCC vet that failed him, my friend Jess getting hit by a car, and the corona virus that has taken over the world. Even though this sounds like a podcast of sadness, it’s actually a podcast about hope. Because if Jackson can make it through leptospirosis, kidney disease, GI bleed, blood clots in his lungs, and more; well we can make it through 2020.
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Wow, Juli….I think you’re incredibly strong for enduring this nightmare of a year. I’m so glad you had a podcast today because I have been thinking of you and Jackson every day. I can’t believe what you and he have had to go through…and I can’t believe how awful VRCC has been through this entire ordeal. I’m so proud of you for listening to your gut and taking Jackson to CSU. I totally get what you are saying – it is SO HARD to challenge authority and speak up when you feel something is not right. As awful at VRCC has been, it was really heartwarming to hear how well Jackson was treated at CSU, and how quickly he rebounded while in their care.
What happened to Jess is unbelievable. Just unbelievable. You fought for her just like you fight for Jackson, and that is why you have the biggest heart. I hope you can find some time during this craziness to do something enjoyable, because heaven knows, you deserve some joy. Wishing you all the best xo
it’s been a pretty insane month hahaha! thanks for the love, Bethany! you are so incredibly sweet for saying that!
Hi Juli,
Thanks for sharing your story. I do want to provide you with a little feedback on your story about your friend, Jess. Why did you feel the need to talk so badly about the police officer’s appearance (her eyelashes) in your story? I recall not too long ago you were telling all your Instagram followers to stop making comments about people’s size. What is the difference? You lose your mind whenever anyone comments about your hair, eyebrows, size etc. Why are you doing it to others? Maybe something to stop and think about. Thanks for your consideration.
such great feedback, Julie. you’re so right. it definitely comes from a place of anger. this woman could have cared less that jess was hit by a car, she cared more about the man who hit her. and she let him drive off and now jess’s insurance can’t get a hold of him. when we asked her questions, she acted like they were stupid questions that weren’t worth answering. she was unprofessional and unhelpful, so i feel very angry. my feelings about her lashes come from the fact it feels like she cares more about getting her lashes done then answering simple questions about a situation she knows more about than us and her ignoring them. that anger would be the same if it was male and i would be blowing him up, as well. i think your feedback is totally precedented and correct, but that anger has not left me. she was an unhelpful, terrible cop that did nothing for the victim in the crime, so my feelings have not changed. but thank you for that feedback, i will definitely continue to work on those feelings moving forward.
Hi Juli – just wondering if you could elaborate a tiny bit more on your insurance plan with TruPanion for a Jackson! We are picking up a 2 month old Frenchie this Friday & I want to make sure he is covered from the start! Thanks in advance!
I know you’re busy and may not read this, no biggie. I have followed you a long time and was so invested in Jackson’s health scare. I’m soooo happy he’s doing better. I wanted to tell you my crazy story because I though you might understand my pain. I used to be a veterinarian, I don’t practice anymore mostly because of this story. About 11 years ago our dog died of lymphoma, we were so upset. We got a new puppy a few months later (his name was Drifter). He was a sweet red pitt bull and was so good with my 10 month old son. About a month after we got him he started to act like a couldn’t poop. I thought he might have eaten something that got stuck in his intestines, so I preformed surgery on him to remove the blockage (it sucked so bad to operate on my own dog), but nothing was there. We took him home and he kept getting worse so we took in down to an emergency hospital in Fort Collins (we were living in Cheyenne). They took him in and didn’t know what was wrong with him. He was there for about a day and a half when they called to tell me that he was having trouble breathing and would need to go to CSU. We took him to CSU where they told me he would need to go on a ventilator (about $1000.00 per day) or he would die. Well, I wasn’t about to let my dog die and we still didn’t know what was wrong with him, so we put him on the ventilator. The doctors proceeded to give me their best guess of what was wrong with him, they thought be might have botulism, a very serious illness but they said he could recover. We were like “great, let’s save our dog!” So almost everyday for the next 3 weeks we drove down from Cheyenne to CSU to visit him in the ICU. Everyday we were told he was no better but no worse (still on the ventilator). They took great care of him and called me often to let me know how he was doing. He died while we were visiting him, we told them to not try and resuscitate him, he’d been through enough. We had racked up about a $30,000.00 bill which I paid with no complaints, after all they did their best. We were fortunate to know somebody that had Pitt bull puppies available not long after Drifter died, we got a male and named him Moose. We had him for about a month before we started noticing the same symptoms that Drifter had. I’m like “what the fuck is going on!”, one of my colleagues at the vet clinic I was working at was like “oh, it looks like he might have blah blah blah”. So I called a specialist at another vet school and he tells me all about this awful disease. Well, it turns out that they misdiagnosed Drifter at CSU. He had a terrible disease that basically totally destroyed his spinal cord and it was going to do the same thing to our new puppy. There is no cure or chance of recovery, so we decided to put Moose down so he wouldn’t suffer. The reason I was so pissed was because the veterinarians at CSU never even mentioned this disease as a possibility. The puppies caught it from our yard and if we would have know we would have never gotten another puppy until we moved (it doesn’t seem to affect older dogs). I’m not wanting to make it sound like CSU is bad, I know they saved Jackson’s life (twice). It’s just so crazy how the situation can be different if just one element of a scenario changes. If a different doctor had been on the ICU rotation when I had taken Drifter in, maybe they would have thought of that disease as a possible diagnosis. Anyway, that whole ordeal turned me off to my own profession.
Hi Juli- I believe you’ve said that during Jackson’s health scares you started losing your hair. Did you find any products to help the regrowth? I lost my pup Manny of 15 years last month and the stress of having to make the decision it was time and losing my best friend, during quarantine when no one but the vet could be in the room and no one could hug me when it was all over, I’ve started losing my hair. I appreciate the help.
omg i am SO FUCKING SORRY. i can’t imagine going through that alone. just remember, the hair will go back as you heal. it just takes time. I used Phyto shampoo and conditioner to help regrow, but it was honestly just time for me. but that brand is definitely known for helping with hair regrowth!