First I want to THANK Donna and Pat from the bottom of my fuzzy filled
heart! I had NO IDEA you two wonderful beautiful people posted to help
me because I have not been on here since I last posted due to my own
health issues. There truly are some kind hearted people in this world
filled with evil.

I am very embarrassed about my financial situation. I hate the thought
of asking for help of any kind especially monetary. It is something I
am not use to because when I was able, I honest to God worked 3 jobs
at one time to make ends meet. Now I am filled with embarrassment and
shame even though I am NOT the reason I am in my current situation. I
have nothing to hide so if anyone desires to know what happened, I will
gladly answer your questions if you write to me personally.

Please read my idea at the end of my post that may be the answer to my
situation.

My dad finally agreed to apply for Care Credit for me with the
understanding I make the payments. That means the balance with the vet
is ZERO since it was paid using Care Credit. My problem now is I have
to come up with the funds to pay Care Credit which is like looking
for a needle in a haystack given my low monthly income. My parents
have been supporting financially me which is mentally killing me.
They have given so much of their hard earned money for my needs (NOT
my "wants"...but my needs) that I will never be able to repay them.
But if the tables were turned, I would do the same for them in a
heartbeat.

Before I continue, here is the UPDATE on TOMMIE:

Tommie finally had surgery Monday, 10/28/08. They removed a HUGE
HAIRBALL in his stomach!!! They actually gave it to me in a little
plastic baggie. It was calcified and is very thick compacted black hair
balls. I am thinking of taking a picture of it and to email to those
who wish to see it - or possibly post on a ferret health group. It will
take time since I use a film camera; not digital, so I will need to
have the film developed which I need to save some money for that.
Anyway...Tommie also has right adrenal disease and will need monthly
Lupron injections which will also cost money. (I should just give up
on life)

Tommie came home yesterday afternoon! :) OMG!! I am SOOOO ECSTATIC..he
is EATING for me!! The first time he ate hard food since February when
all his symptoms began! So...is it possible he had this hairball since
then??? I suggested to my vet some time back that maybe it could be a
hairball and they said not since he is pooping. (I was going to reword
"pooping" but realized I am talking to fellow fert owners and we all
seem to be immune to that word. haha) Seriously all he ate for me since
Feb, was a mixture of baby food, AD canned food, Pedialyte, Pediasure,
Ferretone, Felivite, Nutrical and occasionally I would mix in mushed
up Totally Ferret but he fought me to eat when I put that in so I gave
up on that idea. I didn't put ALL those in each feeding, I would
alternate.

I don't think a day went by that I did not cry from worry over Tommie
being so very ill and literally on death's door. The past week, I had
to force feed him. I had to do that several times over the past few
months. I would like to think my love for Tommie kept him alive.
Because I do believe if I hadn't fed him "duck soup", he would not be
here today. I KNOW he wouldn't! I just wish it would have been figured
out sooner what was wrong with him so he didn't have to suffer as long
as he did. But I couldn't afford an ultrasound, so I guess that was my
fault. If I hadn't broke down bawling my eyes out to my parents for
money to get him an ultrasound, he still wouldn't have got one. But I
could not deal with that desperation deep within my heart any longer
knowing my baby boy was going to die. I felt as if I were slipping
into death myself at the thought of losing Tommie. My "baby buppy" (as
I sometimes call him) is on the road to recovery!!

Okay so where does that leave me....

I do not owe the vet anything; but owe Care Credit. I have to somehow
come up with the funds to pay my father's Care Credit bill which
considering they are helping me with virtually all my other expenses,
I don't see that happening.

For those who have written asking about my vet accepting payments, etc:
I have to pay in full at the time of service. My vet does NOT and will
not set up payment plans! It sucks cuz at one time (when my *financial*
life was good) I had 17 pets!!! Now I am down to 7. I do not believe in
"getting rid" (something you do with a cold) of my pets because in my
mind, FIRST, they are MY CHILDREN and second, no one will love and care
for them like I do. I may not have money, but I have LOVE to offer
them! And they are cared for even before myself. And there is no
guarantee IF they would end up in a shelter that the next owner would
not abuse them. I KNOW could NOT live with myself knowing that.

Back to my vet, I asked the vet's office manager what they would do if
anyone sent the funds to them to be used for my pets and she said IF
anyone sends them money, they will add it as a credit to my account.
**The vet did specify to be sure include who it is for: ie. name of
pet & their Patient ID # as well as the full name of the owner of the
pet and Client ID #.

I will provide my vet's and/or my address to anyone who is interested.
I do not think I am allowed to post that information on here. I can
also email a copy of Tommie's surgery bill to anyone who wishes to see
it. I was AMAZED it was actually cheaper than the estimate. Thank God
for small miracles. The total cost for Tommie's surgery was $860.30.

I have no idea how Care Credit handles payments being sent by other
people?? I could contact Care Credit and see if it could be done and
how they want it handled. However, it is my father's account so they
may not even talk with me about it. And being it is his account, I can
not give out his account number. I know for a fact that my dad will not
look into payments being sent by other people. He made it clear he does
not want to be bothered with one more thing than he has to and I don't
blame him. He had a stress test Monday so I do NOT want to put more on
his plate and him get a heart attack. He already had triple bypass a
few years back.

As far as repayment to anyone who wishes to help, the unfortunate thing
is I will NOT be able to monetarily repay anyone. IF I am ever able to
work again and get my parents paid off, I will gladly repay everyone
who would help me.

MY IDEA: So....I've been thinking of a way I can possibly make some
money to pay off Tommie's surgery and save up for future vet care and
repay my parents at least some of the money they lost due to me. I make
memorial pics of loved ones and pets who have passed before us. I am by
no means a "professional" but I do take great pride in creating these
pics among other creative pics. If this is something you would be
interested in please contact me for more info. I would need a picture
(JPG format) emailed to me at [log in to unmask] If interested I
could email you samples of what I have done so you can see for yourself
what I am talking about. PLEASE NOTE: Due to my current health
problems, I can only do these as I am physically able. Meaning I might
be out of commission for days, a week, etc and then able to create
these pics for a day or so and then unable to function again. I would
let you know if I foresee it taking longer than a reasonable amount of
time or by when you would want it. I will add that I am scheduled to
have surgery on my right wrist. I will be unavailable from Nov 6, 2008
until possibly after Nov. 19, 2008.

Again thank you so very much Donna and Pat. You are angels in disguise!
I hope I can some day repay kindness to you! The thing is, these 2
lovely ladies do not even know me and wrote posts to help me out of the
goodness of their own heart. "No one ever helps ME." This is new to me.
I am a bit overwhelmed! But so very appreciative for their support.

Tommie still needs prayers while he recovers.

Sincere regards from ~ Melanie

"A cat or dog steals your heart, but a ferret steals your soul."

[Moderator's note: Posting vet info here is OK. Posting other personal
info about people is usually not OK without permission. BIG]

[Posted in FML 6139]