ODIN's MEMORIAL FUNDRAISER Allied Veterinary ER ANGEL FUND
This will be long, but there is no way to explain the purpose of my fundraiser other than to give the story behind the story. If you prefer feel free to skip to the end where I explain the basics of the fundraiser
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In August of 2024 I lost my sweet heart dog Bear at 17-½ yrs old. As hard as that was I knew I still had Odin, my big goofy 9 year old husky mix. To know him was to love him, as he had a personality that could fill the entire room. Together we grieved the loss of Bear as I planned the years ahead with only Odin. That included finally moving out of the inner city and buying a house in the burbs with a massive yard that was going to be a huskies dream. I wanted to make his remaining years on earth the best possible. He deserved that. His entire life he was teased and terrorized by the neighbor kids. I was never able to give him that dream yard and house. I lost him before that ever happened. And that broke my heart.
Most of August 2025 he hadn't seemed himself. He was sleeping a lot, didn't really want to eat and wasn't out chasing the squirrels as much. It seemed to be more than just his underlying health issues. On August 11th he became very lethargic and stopped eating. I decided not to take him to the ER vet I had used for the past 10 years for both my pups and brought him up to ALLIED Emergency Veterinary Services in Brooklyn Park as it had been recommended by a friend.
He got the workup and almost everything was normal except a couple labs that were very low. So the thought was it was just a severe flare of his IBD from "dietary indiscretion" i.e. eating crap in the yard he shouldn't have. Fast forward to August 28th. By that afternoon he had become extremely lethargic, had difficulty walking and had a distended abdomen. So I brought him back to Allied ER as I knew something was seriously wrong. Being a retired healthcare worker, I spent the drive up making a list in my head of the possible etiologies of his current state. Never in a million years could I have imagined the diagnosis that was presented to me by Dr York. I was stunned....it was surreal and hard to wrap my head around. He had something I had never heard of in all my decades of working in the ICU..... Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen which was currently bleeding. Without surgery he likely had 1 to 2 weeks to live. But because it is a cancer of the blood vessel cells it spreads quickly so without a full ultrasound to determine if there were indeed other masses, surgery would not be in his best interest. If they opened him up and found masses anywhere else it would have been a situation where they just wouldn't wake him up and that would be it.
They stopped the bleeding and after 12 hours (by then Friday morning) we were sent home with meds to stop the bleeding if/when it started again. And to await an ultrasound, as it was a holiday weekend (Labor Day) and no ultrasound DVM's were readily available. By Saturday Odin seemed really good again. He was out chasing the squirrels and body slamming the 8ft wooden fence to try to get them to drop from the top into his lap. Sunday he woke up and became progressively worse throughout the day, obviously bleeding again. So that evening we headed back to Allied ER.
The news from Dr Llop was not good. Odin was critical, needed a transfusion, and if surgery was to happen it needed to be ASAP. Long story short, because they had used up their blood supply Odin was transferred to Blue Pearl in Golden Valley for the transfusion and surgery. Because the Pre-surgical ultrasound was clear - no masses seen anywhere - I gave the go ahead to proceed. Pre-op they were optimistic that the tumor might be benign. Even post op they were, although less so due it's appearance. After surgery I transferred him back to Allied Veterinary ER in BP for the remainder of his week long ICU recovery.
On September 9th I received the dreaded phone call. Pathology was back and it was indeed hemangiosarcoma (HSA) and it was the most aggressive form. The initial post-op assessment was that even if this was HSA, he likely would have 6-9 months as there was no sign of any other tumors or tissue abnormalities in his abdomen or on his organs. When the pathology report came back that changed to 2 to 4 months. I was devastated.
Over the course of the next month and a half, we made several trips back to ER for various issues that arose. But overall, after he recovered Odin was doing great. Back to daily walks, chasing the squirrels in the yard, soaking up life and enjoying his one on one time on our frequent evening car rides and snuggling on the couch. He knew he was dying. And while he was definitely a VERY dramatic husky, he was also stoic, so some days it was hard to know how he was doing. For whatever reason, I had in my head that he would beat the odds and I would have at least 6 months with him, if not longer. Maybe because he was doing so well that when we would see people he knew they couldn't believe he was dying. Maybe because I didn't want to believe it would be otherwise.......Maybe because I thought there was still a chance for a miracle........ But that was not meant to be
On October 24th he was unusually clingy, almost begging me to stop working on the house project I was in the middle of. I gave him lots of attention but didn't stop as I had a friend over helping me. Hindsight is always 20:20. I desperately wish I had that day back. On Saturday October 25th he did not get up at his usual time - around 8am. He was curled up in his kennel but I thought perhaps that was just because he had a full day and a very late night on Friday. He finally got up around 11am and came into the kitchen to say HI. He didn't look great but I didn't think too much of it..........until he went around the counter to his water dish and started drinking LOTS of water..... Then suddenly I heard a loud THUD! It was just like Dr York and the others had said. He will be great....until he isn't. One day he will just go down and that will be it.
I ran over to him and saw him sprawled out on the floor. He looked really nauseated and his legs were cramping on him. Initially I thought maybe it was just his leg he had injured the previous week. When I couldn't get him to stand up I realized the gravity of the situation. This was likely it. Got him loaded up and drove as fast as traffic would allow, with emergency flashers on, back up to Allied ER - BP. By the time we got there he had to be brought in on a gurney. Something that had never happened before no matter how sick he was. Not long after Dr Llop came out with the news I didn't want to hear - news I knew she was going to say but that didn't make it any easier to hear. His cancer was back with a vengeance and he was bleeding out from his liver.
On October 25th, 2025 I said goodbye to my big sweet goofy husky Odin. aka Mr Crazypants. I was incredibly thankful that Dr Llop was working that day. Her compassionate care of my favorite side-kick and the empathy and sincere concern she showed me during Odin's last hours will be something for which I will be eternally grateful.
The staff at Allied Veterinary Emergency Services in Brooklyn Park is truly amazing. I have had dogs for over 30 years and utilized all of the various ER's in the metro area over that time. And I have never come across any ER that comes even close to their level of compassionate care. On top of that the DVM's are exceptional practitioners. And one of the most important things to me - they LOVE huskies and they truly did treat Odin like he was their own.
A very special shout out to the wonderful ER vets that were Odin's primary care-givers during his many visits & ICU stays there. Dr Llop, Dr. Richter, Dr Schuster and Dr York. You are the best of the best.
****. WHAT THIS FUNDRAISER IS ALL ABOUT *********
I started this MEMORIAL FUNDRAISER in ODIN's HONOR
It is a TRIBUTE to the absolutely incredible staff at Allied Veterinary Emergency Services of Brooklyn Park.
I am hoping to raise significant money for their Angel Fund to help those pet owners who lack the financial resources to pay for emergency care and have no other options. For more on how their Angel Fund works you can refer to the My Balto web page.
During the many visits to Allied ER with Odin, I witnessed several couples who had to make the heart wrenching decision to euthanize their pet because they lacked the funds to pay for the care they needed. This truly broke my heart. I have been blessed to always be able to find a way to pay for whatever care any of my dogs needed. My last 3 all had major chronic health issues that usually cost many many thousands a year. I was fortunate with Odin in that I had insurance for him so it was significantly easier to manage the 10's of thousands he needed in care the last few years of his life.
I also witnessed significant compassion fatigue in the faces of some of the staff and that hit me at my core. Because some of that would not need to be if people had the financial resources to care for their pets. It is something far more prevalent in veterinary medicine because an inability to pay in critical cases often leads to euthanasia. Something that doesn't exist in people medicine. I can't even imagine being an ER Vet and having to euthanize a pet because the owner cannot afford the care it needs. The burden they carry is immense. And compassion fatigue is a major contributor to the dire shortage of Veterinarians that currently exists in most states across the country.
So for all those of you out there that appreciate your vets and their staff, who might be willing to contribute ANY amount to this Angel fund for Allied ER-BP to be able to help not only those who need it most but also indirectly the entire staff, I hope you will consider making a contribution of any size - no amount is too small....,truly...because it all adds up.
This is in Memory of my favorite Husky ever, who died much too young, whom I miss immensely every single day. It's for the staff at Allied who provided such compassionate care for him during the last 2 months of his life....It's to honor the life of the one and only ODIN.
$3,920 raised$25,000 goal
