Mika (pronounced Mee'-ka) is a Service Dog.
Her human is Sharon Johnston, Sandusky, Ohio.
Sharon's detailed description
of Mika's critical condition is below.
Mika was rushed to Med Vet in Columbus,
and the bill has exceeded $8,000!
Mika is Sharon's best friend in every sense of the word.
"She is a service dog, so she not only takes,
she gives back," her human, Sharon said.
Sharon is a vet tech and works at Paw Patch Veterinary Clinic.
She recently obtained a part time job to help her with Mika's huge bill.
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This is a difficult email to write. I hate even thinking about asking others for help, but I am in between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't let Mika die. I just couldn't.
I want to offer thanks to whoever might be able to donate ahead of time, but as I told Barb, I bet people might think oh well, the surgery is over and the dog is safe.
Trouble is, I have well over a $8,000 bill at Med Vet, not to mention the bill at the emergency clinic in Cleveland. I have no idea how I am going to pay for all this, but I couldn't let my best friend die. I just couldn't.
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Letter from Sharon
I want to share this story with everyone. Prior to her becoming ill, my niece had asked me to bring her to her school as a presenter for her English project on services animals. Unfortunately due to all this we were unable to go.
My niece, Katie came over the day after Mika came home to take some of my gear to her school. One item was Mika's vest. When Katie came into the living room Mika was laying on the couch, full of pain meds, over a foot of staples in her chest (they had to cut and wire her breastbone together) and bandages still around her.
She saw her vest , got up and went running over to the door all excited waiting for me to take her to "work"!
Isn't that amazing???... the poor girl had just had a second surgery the day before.
I hope this helps people understand
just how special she is.
Thanks for any and all help!
I will send frequent updates on her progress to anyone who donates even $1.00. Every little bit helps!
When I first took her to Cleveland (Animal Clinic Northview) her bill with the recheck was almost $2500.00. I was able to pay that with credit cards etc, but I was maxed out. When she got sick again, I applied for care credit and got $500.00 in credit, but I knew that that would not be enough to take her to med vet. They would not see her with that amount so I called Laurie and she let me take her down on her account so I could make payments. The first quote they gave me was for $3900.00 for her hospitalization and first surgery. When they had to keep her longer and do the second surgery I knew that it would be more but I didn't expect it to be over twice as much.
I guess it doesn't really matter as I would do anything to make her better. She is doing very well so far and at this point do not expect any more surgeries.
Donations can be made directly to
Med-Vet in Columbus
by calling Lisa in Med Vet's Finance Department
614-431-4414
or snail mail:
Med Vet Medical Center
Finance Department:
Attention Lisa - Mika's Account
300 E. Wilson Bridge Rd
Worthington, Ohio 43085
A few people have said I shouldn't have spent the money if I didn't have it. I'd do it all again. Mika is my friend. A genuine friend, and I love her. She is a service dog, so she not only takes. she gives back.
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Mikas’s Medical Condition
On Easter Sunday Mika was having difficulty breathing. I took her to an emergency clinic in Cleveland where they found she had a pneumothorax (air in the chest cavity). They placed a chest tube to drain the air monitored her for the next 6 days. They took x-rays when I first brought her to the hospital which showed the air in her chest as well as a couple dense spots in the lungs. They took x-rays daily and on the last day there she showed marked improvement and the spots on the lungs appeared to be disappearing. Her chest tube was removed and I took her home on antibiotics and pain medicine. We were unsure of the cause of the pneumothorax at that time. The most common cause is trauma; however this was not the case for Mika. Other causes could be cancer, fungi, parasites, or spontaneous (unknown cause). As I had Mika out in the woods training 2 weeks prior to this and her blood work indicated possible parasites, we decided to use a dewormer for lung parasites as normal heartworm prevention would not take care of those.
I took her back 3 weeks later for a recheck and they repeated her x-rays. They x-rays still showed some dense areas on the lungs and a small amount of air on the chest. We sent them out for a consult.
3 days after her recheck she started breathing heavy again. I spoke with Dr.Hirt and she agreed to let me use her account to take her to Med Vet Specialty Clinic in Columbus. Mika had pneumothorax again. They placed a chest tube and scheduled her for exploratory surgery the next day.
During surgery they found 2 “blebs” or boulli (sp?) which had formed on her lungs and ruptured causing air to leak from the lungs into the chest. They also found a lung lobe that appeared to be non functioning. They believed that that lobe was probably the cause of her first pneumothorax. They removed ½ of a lung lobe and a portion of another and left the non functioning one. Surgery went well however she had some trouble breathing during recovery so they kept her in ICU for 2 days. She was better the next day and I had hoped to bring her home within a day or 2.
Three days after her initial surgery, her chest was filling with air again and they had to take her back to surgery. One of the original surgery sites was leaking air so they had to remove the entire lung lobe. On a good note, the non functioning lobe had healed and was working again.
They sent biopsies of the areas which came back negative for cancer. We are still unsure of the initial cause. The doctors did say that this happens frequently in northern breed dogs.
So far her prognosis is good and keeping her quiet is a chore as she is a very active girl. I do not know what the future will hold for search and rescue at this point. The most important thing is to help my special girl get healthy again.
I want to thank whoever might be able to donate ahead of time, but as I told Barb I bet people might think oh well, the surgery is over and she is safe. Trouble is, I have well over a $8,000 bill at Med Vet, not to mention the bill at the emergency clinic in Cleveland. I have no idea how I am going to pay for all this, but I couldn't let my best friend die. I just couldn't. She is like a child to me, and I don't care if people understand that or not.
Thanks for any and all help. I will send frequent updates on her progress to anyone who dontates even $1.00. Every little bit helps!
With Heartfelt Thanks,
Sharon Johnston & Miss Mika
Sharon's email address is sjohnstonrvt@gmail.com. Feel free to email her with any questions or well wishes!
