Friday, February 16, 2007

Rosebud's Big Night

It's finally happening!


My pal Sarah Cake hooked me up w/ a great new venue in Los Angeles, the 'D.I.Y. Gallery'. A place where I can throw a benefit show, have bands, sell cheap cocktails and cupcakes, hang art, and dance into the night.. perfect!


For those of you out of the loop, Rosebud is my dog. She was found wandering the streets of South Central when she was 6 months old and ended up in the pound. She was about to be euthanized when a local dog rescue, Ace of Hearts, swooped in and got her just in time. Justin and I had just started volunteering with the rescue, and Rosebud came to live with us on a temporary 'foster' basis. Well, that didn't really work out.. we fell in love after a few months and adopted her. Justin still likes to say 'She's YOUR dog'... yeah, she's a little bonkers. In a good way.


She's 2 1/2 now. Last August she got really, really sick. She started breathing funny, and when the vets xrayed her they found that pretty much her entire chest cavity had been slowly filling with a nasty bacterial fluid. The fluid was crushing her little lungs. They gave me 3 options: massive surgery, trying to get the fluid out with chest tubes, or euthanizing her. It was truly one of the worst moments of my life! I chose the less invasive chest tube treatment:


After 9 days in the doggy i.c.u., she pulled through! She had to be on hardcore antibiotics for six weeks and monitored by the vets to make sure the bacterial fluid hadn't returned. They're still not sure what caused it; maybe a foxtail or thorn that she inhaled while crashing through the backyard. The condition is called pyothorax.


Then, in December, she ate something (a sock?) that became lodged in her colon and caused all sorts of terrible pain and 'gastrointestinal hemorraghing'.. back to the i.c.u. again. This time she only had to stay for a couple of days, but the bills kept adding up. Her total for the last six months is $9,500!!! So, enter the benefit show: a night of music, art, and good times with all proceeds going to little Rosebud's debt. If you live in Los Angeles, please come on by! And tell all your friends!