Stella & Dot Trunk Show to Benefit Hope

Ladies! Or Gents wanting to buy for your ladies!

I am hosting a Stella & Dot Trunk Show where 20% of sales will go towards Hope's vet bills. Thank you to my friend & stylist Amy Thistle for coordinating for me! 

Stella & Dot has been seen on celebrities and all the fashion mags ~ People, US Weekly, etc. 

SHOP AWAY! Might I suggest the "Hope" bracelet?!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP TO BENEFIT HOPE!

You can still make donations via the following ways:

1) Go to this PayPal link and make a donation.  This is my own PayPal account which I use for personal & business expenses but the following link will take you to a donation page.  I ASSURE all funds are going to Hope's vet bills in GA.

2) You can send me a personal check to: Erin Strazzulla, 11 River Ave., South Grafton, MA 01560.  Please put "Hope" in the subject line.

**By end of week I will transfer PayPal funds/take checks to bank and put a check in the mail to the hospital to put towards her balance.** 

3) You can make a donation via check or credit card directly to the animal hospital that is caring for her ~ Bethlehem Veterinary Hospital in Bethlehem, GA.  PHONE: (770) 867-2977.  ADDRESS: Bethlehem Veterinary Hospital, 799 Christmas Ave., Suite 100, Bethlehem, GA 30620.  Please specify that your donation is for Hope, the Olde English Bulldogge Rescue with English Bulldog-Rescue of GA.

4) Buy some jewelry!  http://www.stelladot.com/ts/4ntl5

~E

Helping w/Hope's Bill...

Hi all,

As you saw my post yesterday about our foster girl HOPE in GA, today's update is the following...

Her glucose went down overnight but was up again this morning.  She is on insulin.  She is very down in the dumps and not eating so she is still receiving IV fluids.  They are still working on her eyes and respiratory infection.  I plan to touch base towards the end of the day to check in again.

If you are interested in helping us with Hope's vet bills, which are accumulating as she has been in the hospital since Saturday, you can do one of the following:

1) Go to this PayPal link and make a donation.  This is my own PayPal account which I use for personal & business expenses but the following link will take you to a donation page.  I ASSURE all funds are going to Hope's vet bills in GA.

2) You can send me a personal check to: Erin Strazzulla, 11 River Ave., South Grafton, MA 01560.  Please put "Hope" in the subject line.

**By end of week I will transfer PayPal funds/take checks to bank and put a check in the mail to the hospital to put towards her balance.** 

3) You can make a donation via check or credit card directly to the animal hospital that is caring for her ~ Bethlehem Veterinary Hospital in Bethlehem, GA.  PHONE: (770) 867-2977.  ADDRESS: Bethlehem Veterinary Hospital, 799 Christmas Ave., Suite 100, Bethlehem, GA 30620.  Please specify that your donation is for Hope, the Olde English Bulldogge Rescue with English Bulldog-Rescue of GA.

I am working on hopefully another fundraising effort, we'll see...details to follow if it works out!

If there is any overage I am going to see if it can be applied to the outstanding balance of English Bulldog-Rescue of GA to help with their bills.  The ladies have been amazing in helping save this poor girl and they are helping so many other bulldogs in need, with the bills to prove it!!!

THANKS to those who have already donated!  It means so much!!
~E

SAVING HOPE

Where have I been you ask?  No posts and no word about the Etsy shop or store or my projects or the kids?  This is why...

THIS IS HOPE'S STORY...

I was contacted early last week by the Bulldog Club of America Rescue Network to help with an auction they are having.  I was asked to donate an item from my Etsy Shop (of course I did, happily!) for a Facebook auction coming up this week where all proceeds go to bullies in need.  On Wednesday I joined the BCARN Facebook group and while checking out the page saw this...

Her name was "Sweetie" and she was in the Murray County Animal Control Shelter in GA.  She was set to be put to sleep on Friday (2 days from when I saw this) if not rescued.  My entire day Wednesday was spent making calls/emails/texts to the group of volunteers at the shelter, any animal rescues in MA I could think of for help/direction, and a couple of GA Bulldog Rescue groups.  I finally got in touch with the volunteers and put in donations for "Sweetie's" vaccinations and Health Certificate (along with $$ for two other dogs of their choice) as I'm told that makes them more likely to be picked up by a rescue group.  Then, after a long day at about 8:30 on Wednesday night, the phone rang with GA on the caller ID.  Cheryl Ovenshire of English Bulldog-Rescue of GA was calling with her help!!!!!  Cheryl agreed to locally help this girl and approve me as a foster.  The shelter only releases dogs to an adopter or a rescue, so Cheryl agreed to facilitate the rescue end in GA and then we'd get this girl to MA for foster care.

Quick backstory - those of you who know me know I've been begging the hubby for awhile for a second dog, or to foster a dog, anything dog or animal related.  This time I wasn't looking.  By chance and I think for a resaon this girl sort of "fell" into my lap and I knew I had to help.  My amazing husband knew how important it was to me and agreed to let me help and take this girl in as a foster.

There were 16 other dogs on the list to be put to sleep on Friday morning and I TRIED however I knew to help and was up until the 1AM deadline for their rescue online with the local GA volunteers trying to help.  I made a donation to help two additional dogs get to rescue, and my friend's Mom wants to foster one ~ we are working on that separately.  Happy to say all 16 dogs were rescued but this list comes out EVERY WEEK of these shelter dogs needing homes/rescues or they will be put down.

Back to "Sweetie"...the last couple of days I've spent on the phone learning MA regulations for bringing dogs in out of state and learning the laws.  I spent time on the phone with two very helpful ladies at the MA Department of Agriculture, who is responsible for animal rescue regulations.  I called SEVERAL facilities looking for an isolation/quarantine for our girl as she needs to come directly off transport and go into a 48 hour quarantine in MA and receive another health approval before she can be released to me.  At about 3:30 Friday afternoon I made some headway and talked to the amazing Karen at Pets LLC transport.  Karen is helping on the transport end AND helping me to coordinate a quarantine for this girl when she comes off transport.  So as of Friday if all worked according to schedule and everything fell into place this girl would be picked up in ATL the Thursday after Thanksgiving, make her way to MA for a 2 day quarantine, and then be released to us for foster.

At 2PM yesterday/Saturday Cheryl was scheduled to pick up our girl from the shelter transport and bring her to her home/rescue.  After a warning call from the transport service who she knew, the sight she saw was horrific.  "Sweetie" was so weak they had to lift her from transport to Cheryl's vehicle, she couldn't lift her head, she was covered in her own poop because she was so weak she couldn't get up, bad respiratory infection, ruptered and draining left eye suggesting she might become blind in that eye, nose and eyes full of goo and boogers from her infection.  Cheryl's colleage said that in 10 years of bulldog rescue she has never seen a dog come in so messed up.  I was thinking of naming her Gorjie but after learning of her dire situation "Hope" came to mind ~ and come to find out Cheryl & Joyce thought the same thing and had named her HOPE.  (We after found out she'd only been in the shelter for 1 week).  These are hard to look at if you're an animal lover (keep in mind the picture above when she arrived at shelter)...

 

 

Cheryl and her colleague Joyce got her cleaned up in a warm bath and she was looking better...

 

At 6:45 last night she was on her way to Dr. Tomlinson at Bethlehem Animal Hospital.  She was immediately put on antibiotics for her respiratory infection and fluids.  Her blood sugar was high suggesting she may be diabetic, and her white blood count was high due to her infection.  She was so lethargic she just laid there and let the Drs. do their magic...

 

I spoke to Dr. Tomlinson a short while ago and her update today is that she is stabilizing.  She is still very weak but receiving fluids to keep her from dehydrating.  As far as her respiratory infection ~ she is receiving antibiotics; her lungs are clear but she is FULL of mucous; no respiratory distress however.  As far as her blood sugars ~ her glucose level is down from last night but still high; she has had some diarrhea because of the diabetes but not too severe; the Dr. is looking for her glucose levels to come down to normal today and stabilize over the next several days; she is receiving insulin and is most likley diabetic. As far as her eye(s) go ~  her left eye was ruptured and the outlook for vision in that eye is not good; she is likely blind in her left eye but for now seems comfortable with it; they are looking for the infection to clear up and down the road may or may not need to have that eye removed.  The overall prognosis from Dr. Tomlinson this morning is that she is stable but not out of the woods yet - by Tuesday/Wednesday he will feel better if the respiratory infection clears up and her glucose levels stabilize.  He said she is SO sweet and just lets them do whatever they need to in order to help her.

More updates to follow as I am in contact with EBRGA & Bethlehem Animal Hospital...

Hope's vet bills are escalating and while I have committed to her vaccines, health certificate to leave GA, spay (we are finding out though that she MAY already be spayed, vet will confirm when she's feeling better), transport to MA, and MA quarantine, I did not anticipate these vet bills.  But I am committed to paying and doing whatever I can to save her precious life.  She's made it this far so she's clearly a fighter. 

If you are able to make a donation towards her vet bills I have set up donations to go to my PayPal account.  I ASSURE everything will be used towards her well being.  Please visit my PayPal donation page I set up for her. *Donations to SAVE HOPE* I assure all donations will go to her well being!!!

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=GKFEG389TYLKG

As long as she is healthy and cleared for transport, she will make her way up here the Thursday after Thanksgiving...but her stable health is the priority first.

MANY THANKS IF YOU CAN HELP!

~E

Soapbox...

OK here it comes again...but I'll make it short...

MICHAEL VICK....

HATE HIM.

WITH A PASSION.

HATE HIM FOR DOG FIGHTING AND ANIMAL CRUELTY.

HATE THE NFL FOR LETTING HIM COME BACK.  HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM THE LEAGUE.

HATE THAT NIKE SIGNED AN ENDORSEMENT DEAL WITH HIM LAST YEAR.  SO BE AWARE IF YOU ARE A FREQUENT NIKE BUYER & FELLOW ANIMAL LOVER.  I WON'T BE BUYING.

HATE HIM FOR NOW OWNING A DOG!!!!!  HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BANNED FOR LIFE.

He is gross, his behavior was gross, and is gross for now owning a dog.  I'm sure there are other reasons to hate him but mine are animal-related.

THERE YA GO.

~E

THINK PINK: Rita Hurley ~ Renewed Home

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month, I have added some pink items to Rita Hurley ~ Renewed Home in order to promote the cause! It is a very dear cause to my family and my in-laws. We are very lucky to have many survivors between my family and my husband's family. So as I've said before, if sometimes I can use my blog to promote a cause ~ I will do it SHAMELESSLY!

THINK PINK! Take a peek at my PINK items via Rita Hurley ~ Renewed Home. CHECK IT OUT HERE!

~E

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! It is an opportunity to remind women about early detection. To all of the ladies in my life ~ THINK PINK! Self exams, mammograms, whatever you can do! Due to my family history, I am "lucky" (double-edged sword...) in the sense that I am covered via insurance for mammograms at such a young age. I had a baseline mammogram at 25 and this past August started annual mammograms. This week I had a visit with a genetic counselor for a Health Risk Assessment to calculate my lifetime breast cancer risk and determine if I am eligible via insurance for MRI as well. With my Mum and both her sisters as survivors, DUH, I am. So for me I am able to alternate mammogram with MRI every six months, and then in between I will stagger my primary care and OB/GYN exams ~ so every THREE months I will have some kind of "professional" exam. But everyone out there who may not be eligible for testing at my age needs to do self exams! INFORMATION I'VE LEARNED RECENTLY...

*A doctor recently told me that WHAT MAY NOT SHOW UP ON A MAMMOGRAM FOR TWO YEARS, YOU CAN IDENTIFY VIA SELF EXAM IN TWO MONTHS!!!

*The BRCA 1/2 gene accounts for only 50% of breast cancer cases. There are a variety of other genes (many of which aren't even identified yet) and environmental factors that come into account. For some reason our environmental factors are such an important play that women in other countries have a lower risk but after moving to the US, their risk increases! (Also told this by a doctor recently).

*About 1/8 (I've heard 1/7 lately but the information at the Newton Wellesley Cancer Center this week said 1/8...) women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime.

*There are over 2.6 MILLION breast cancer survivors in the US!!!!

*Each successive year, a woman's LIFETIME risk of developing breast cancer decreases; although with AGE our short-term risk increases.

*Hormones play a role in many cases of breast cancer, i.e. estrogen. So for someone like me with such a strong family history/higher risk, I should AVOID hormone/estrogen therapy to relieve menopause symptoms when the time comes. Hormone therapy after menopause increases your risk of getting breast cancer!! (Again, learned this week via Newton Wellesley Hospital Cancer Center).

We all need to live our lives and enjoy ourselves, and there is no way to prevent breast cancer. BUT we can take care of ourselves as best we can while still enjoying life (UM YA they tell you alcohol increases your risk but I'm not giving up my wine or beer any time soon?!) ~ and MOST IMPORTANTLY, FOLLOW EARLY DETECTION GUIDELINES!! Self exams, clinical breast exams, and mammograms AS SOON AS YOU ARE ABLE TO START BASED ON YOUR FAMILY HISTORY. READ MORE ABOUT EARLY DETECTION HERE. With early detection, the likelihood of successful treatment is at its greatest.

Ya, ya, I'm on my soapboax again...but if I can bring some awareness due to my own family history and personal circumstances, well, I'll try.

~E

A MUST SEE...

On Facebook this morning, this is one of the first things I saw. It's pretty incredible 1) that there are assholes like this guy out there - ADULT assholes, and 2) that this woman took the time to stand up to him and make such a strong point about bullying. It's scary to me that if something like this can happen to a grown woman in the public eye - what is going on for the kids in our schools and society today?? Weight, race, sexual preference...IT NEEDS TO STOP. How many child/teen suicides do there need to be before guys like THIS get the message? WATCH THIS VIDEO!

I, for one, want better for my kids so if by sharing this video it brings awareness to even one person, that's fine with me. Sometimes I just need to get on my 'blog' soapbox!

~E