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| Welcome To Winston's Site
Who is Winston?
We would love to hear from you! Will You Please Click Here To Sign Winston's Guestbook?! Winston is our beloved nine year old English Bulldog. He leaves quite an impression--any one that meets him will never forget him. He has been a part of our family since he was four months old. He is a happy, bouncy baby boy who loves playing with his "tenny" ball and knocking around his basketball with his paws. He can even pass with his big bulldog head! (He desires to be on the next UNC Championship Basketball Team taking over for his hero, Tyler Hansbrough..lol). He also loves his little sister, Gracie, who we rescued and nursed to health and happiness after being abused by multiple families when she was two years old. The two quickly became inseparable friends. (Gracie, who is also an English Bulldog, is now nine years old). Then there is JJ! He is a five year old French Bulldog. JJ is full of life and has nothing but love to offer. He is a sweet and adorable Frenchie that is easy going and loves everyone. He and Winston are BFFs (best friends forever) as Winston loves to groom him and take on the responsibility of caring for him as if he were a puppy and Winston was his mother. Our bullies, who are our children and are treated that way, are happy, loving and mean the world to us. We strongly believe when you adopt an animal it's no different than having a child in the sense that you must care for that precious animal for life! It's not a 1-2 year commitment or "put them down" when they get sick (would you do that to a child?), but a lifetime commitment. We are all animals created by God! A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs." Proverbs 12:10.
What Is Winston's Illness? Our little family was so healthy and happy until Monday, March 30, 2009. We left for a business conference in Chicago a few days earlier and returned to find Winston in good spirits as always. Unfortunately, the next day he started vomiting out of the blue and over the course of two days, his vomit changed from yellow to green to brown and foul-smelling. Honestly it smelled like death (as the vets confirmed as well). Our usual vet didn’t have the time or personnel to see him (which came as quite a shock), but a second vet who we had seen before took him in right away. Unfortunately, this vet had to wait for labs to make a diagnosis and made a temporary diagnosis of pancreatitis, something that would turn out to be incorrect. By now, Winston had become severely dehydrated, although he had received IV fluids to help alleviate this. They sent Winston home with us with the intention of returning Friday morning April 3 for more fluids. By now, Winston hadn’t eaten anything since the beginning of the problem on Monday. About one hour after we got home on Thursday April 2, Winston vomited 5 times in the span of 45 minutes, prompting an emergency trip to the 24-hour emergency vet in Durham (affiliated with N.C. State University ’s excellent vet program). It turned out that Winston, apparently while we were away, had swallowed a piece of a Nylabone-brand toy and it had become an obstruction in his small intestine. (The Nylabone was full size and new, so it had no reason to break...Winston's teeth are not strong enough to break it). A barium swallow showed that nothing was moving even past his stomach and he needed immediate, emergent surgery to remove the blockage. His life hung in the balance at that point. Our surgeon, Dr. Grafinger, who has lovingly cared for Winston throughout his tough time, successfully performed the enterotomy (intestinal surgery) on Friday morning. Winston continued to receive fluids and medicine on Friday and Saturday as he recovered from his surgery. He was still refusing food, but by the time Saturday afternoon rolled around, the emergency clinic felt he would be okay to come home. At home, he was still recuperating as you can imagine, but also continued to refuse food. We thought we had a breakthrough on Sunday around 2 AM when we managed to get him to eat some of his favorite foods – boneless, skinless chicken, peanut butter, and even a few Cheez-Its (see picture! =). Unfortunately, this would be the last time he would eat for several days.
Winston's pain continued to increase throughout Sunday afternoon and evening, and by Monday morning, his wound site was leaking blood and was very inflamed. It actually worsened significantly in just a couple of hours, prompting an immediate return to Dr. Grafinger. Winston had developed a serious complication, but everyone was unsure of what exactly it might be. He had a 103 degree fever and severe cellulitis at the incision site, but this could mean anything from a fairly simple wound infection to a septic belly and intestinal leak (the worst-case scenario).
He was put on round-the-clock antibiotics and we continued to visit him, though he didn’t seem to know really who we were and he still refused food. He was still in a lot of pain even on powerful pain medications given via IV, but the inflammation seemed to be improving thanks to Dr. Grafinger and the other vets’ and vet techs’ dedicated care. We knew he could need surgery at any moment and had been warned that he could lose his life. We had a 50/50 chance if this happened or a 0% change of survival if he didn't start to show any signs of improvement with or without more surgery. However, all the signs showed he had a better change of survival with more surgery if he could survive the anesthesia (which is very dangerous for bulldogs, especially older ones). Needless to say we just held each other and cried for days. The vet told us we needed to consider the alternative and at what point we would allow that, but we knew we could not let this precious sunshine in our life simply die because he swallowed a piece of a toy. We didn’t know how we would possibly afford more surgery, or even more care from day to day, given that our resources had already been exhausted from the previous surgery, vet visits, and critical care. Having an animal stay at a hospital is just as expensive as when a human is in the hospital and it adds up very fast! All we have to rely on are prayers & we ask everyone we can to please pray for him. On Thursday April 9th, for the first time in 10 days, Winston voluntarily ate his first bowl of dog food (at the hospital even!). We hope to bring him home soon and will once again begin the process of recuperation. All of his other organs and systems continue to function well, and we're confident he’ll be back on his feet and going cow-tipping again (see picture! =) in no time. God is so good and Winston's fate is and will be in His hands always.
Who are Winston's Parents? Sharon and Nathan (aka..Mommy & Daddy) are just two Christian "bullie parents" that love their bulldogs unconditionally and would do anything to ensure that they are healthy, happy and cared for. Winston is quite a Mama's boy and has been by his mother's side since she lost her own mother at just twenty one years old. He has also been with her through the loss of her father (his PaPa that he loved dearly & was the light of his life even while he was dying) and the untimely loss of her sister. He loves to lick tears to make you feel better when you are sad. He holds his own pain inside while showing love for others. He stood by Mommy's side and became "the man of the house" to protect her and Gracie while Daddy was serving another year in Iraq during his second deployment. He has dressed up in patriotic colors to show his Daddy and all the troops how much he supports them. He loves playing basketball with his Daddy and is so glad Daddy is home to play with him. They also play with stuffed animals, wrestle and sometimes just cuddle. Winston is the most loving dog. He is like the most loyal, loving and dedicated human that is in the form of a dog! His personality is so amazing. When he looks up at you with those big brown eyes and curly little eye lashes you can't help but give him a big hug (and you'll get a big kiss from him in return). He is so affectionate. We wish everyone could meet him and see the child-like, kind and loving spirit he has.
God has truly blessed us by bringing these little fur babies into our lives. They make our family whole and without Winston we are broken. Gracie and JJ are heartbroken as well and can't understand where their "Winnie" is at and why he has not came home yet. We have never asked for anything before, but we need help in order to save Winston's life. This is not for us---it's for Winston. If we didn't love him so much we would not swallow our pride and ask for assistance. It breaks our hearts, but seeing him suffer breaks our hearts even more. We have exhausted all of our savings and borrowed all the money we can. We're desperately trying to raise the funds we still need so we can pay for his care. His vet bills are getting larger and larger each day and if something goes wrong and he has to be rushed back to surgery that is going to add another $2,000 - $4,000 to what is already about a $6,000 bill. (If you wish to see the last vet bill we received before his last inpatient stay from the emergency clinic, please click here. We are awaiting the other bills, but will post them as soon as possible. Also, feel free to contact the hospital at 919.489.0615 to verify any information. The name of the hospital is Triangle Veterinary Emergency Clinic and is located at 3319 Durham-Chapel Hill Road, Durham, NC 27707). Currently his Mommy is unemployed after losing her job from an illness that required surgery. His Daddy, who is now in the inactive Army Reserves after serving over four years of active duty in the Army, works at a major transplant center in the Triangle area of North Carolina and is bringing in the only income. We understand everyone is struggling in this economy. But if you can and wish to donate to Winston's Fund, even if it's $1, to help with his care and recovery, please click on the donate button below. (You may also donate directly to the clinic by calling the number above and telling them it is for "Winston--The Bulldog"). 100% of the funds received will go toward his bills and if there is anything remaining we will donate it to the clinic to help another family that might find themselves in our position. (We will show documented proof). We are hurting emotionally, physically and financially and have been since Winston became ill. We need your prayers very badly. We would greatly appreciate anything you can do to help us save Winston's life. We would be forever grateful to you for your kindness. If you can't help financially, can you please say a prayer to help Winston and our family? We strongly believe in the power of prayer as well as the love of friends, family and strangers, who are simply friends waiting to happen. Thank you for letting a little bit of Winston into your heart by reading this. May God bless you and your family. Love and Blessings, The Bitner Family Nathan, Sharon, Winston, Gracie & JJ
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at bulldogwebmaster@yahoo.com
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Thank You To Everyone Who Has Donated. You Are Truly Winston's Angels & Heroes. Unfortunately some donors requested to have their initials and states removed as they wished to remain anonymous. To respect their privacy, we removed the listing of donors. However, we still have the total of all donations and fundraising monies listed below and will update if it increases. We apologize to those of you that would like to be listed. If you would like your name and donation posted, please let us know and we'll be glad to do so. As of 06/28/09 at 12:57 PM our total and exact vet bills for Winston (not including the high % fee added to the funds we borrowed) totaled $5,968.90. (You may view the bills on our "Vet Bills" page of this site). We have received $1,783.00 in donations and from fundraisers. (After the PayPal fees were deducted the amount actually received was $1,717.95). We are still working to raise more funds as our outstanding balance for the base vet bills remains at $4,250.95.
We thank each and every one of you for your kindness, love and support. God truly sent angels to watch over Winston! We know angels come in human form because each of you is an angel. God Bless You!!!
Don't Forget To Sign Winston's Guestbook! Click Here! Thank You
Copyright 2009. All Right Reserved.
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