Bert the Pug’s Marathon Charity Stream

Those of you who know me personally or follow me on Facebook or Twitter, already know that my handsome little boy, Bert has been suffering from some pretty severe medical issues the past several weeks. The out of pocket expenses are really starting to pile up and I’m turning to you for help.

On Monday Bert needed emergency surgery on his left eye due to a “melting” corneal ulcer. This is an incredibly aggressive infection that literally melts right through the dog’s cornea. I was informed by my opthamologist that in many cases, the eye can rupture in less than 24 hours without antibiotics. I was shocked and horrified by this information. Bert is only 7 months old. He’s just a baby.

“Trying to wrestle down a pug every 2 hours for a series of eye drops is a serious battle and while I physically won most of our confrontations, i was almost always emotionally defeated.”

After the diagnosis, our doctor prescribed a series of 6 different medications to be administered every 2 to 3 hours. Many of the medications were in the form of drops, which Bert absolutely despises. Trying to wrestle down a pug every 2 hours for a series of eye drops is a serious battle and while I physically won most of our confrontations, I was almost always emotionally defeated.

Even with the strict medication regime, the ulcer continued to progress through the cornea. We got Bert into surgery as quickly as we could to save the eye from rupturing. Unfortunately, weeks of medications, checkups, and a serious eye surgery has put me in a rather uncomfortable position financially. At this point, I’ve spent somewhere in the ballpark of $5000 in the course of three weeks.

Now don’t get me wrong, being the founder of an independent gaming site definitely has it’s perk, but it’s not the best paying gig. I’ve setup a GoFundMe campaign to try and help alleviate the cost of some of these medical expenses. If you’re interested in seeing pictures of Bert before and after his surgery and if you’d like more information on Bert’s medical issues and what we’ve been through trying to nurse our baby boy back to health, be sure to check out Bert the Pug’s Medical Fund.

To raise awareness of the GoFundMe campaign, I will be doing a special marathon charity stream starting this Saturday at 5PM over on my Twitch channel. My goal is to hit the 24 hour mark, but I’ll be toughing it out as long as I physically can. If Bert can handle a corneal tissue graft, I can handle powering through some video games. I would truly and genuinely appreciate any support you folks could give me. Just doing something as simple as spreading the word about the stream or sharing the campaign on Facebook or Twitter would mean a great deal to me.

“Because this a very special stream and Bert is the official Hour of Power mascot, I want to do something very special for it.”

Because this a very special stream and Bert is the official Hour of Power mascot, I want to do something very special for it. I’d love the folks who are excited about the stream to help choose the games I will be marathoning. I’m definitely leaning towards busting out some old school SNES classics, but I have a hefty arsenal of modern games as well. Here are the games that come to mind for the stream. If there is anything you’d like to see that isn’t on the list, feel free to share!

SNES

• Super Ghouls N Ghosts
• Super Mario All-Stars
• Donkey Kong Country 2
• Mega Man X
• Super Castlevania IV
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Xbox One

• Dragonball: Xenoverse
• Alien: Isolation
• Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode One
• Hand of Fate
• #IDARB

Like I said, if there is anything you guys want to see, that isn’t on this list, let me know and I will try my best to make it happen! The stream is going to be a ton of fun. There will be plenty of surprises, special guests, and maybe even a few giveaways.

This is all to raise awareness and hopefully funds for little Bert’s medical bills. Anything you can is greatly appreciated. In less than 24 hours we’ve already generated over $300 and I couldn’t be more excited about. A huge thanks to everyone who’s supported and anyone who is taking the time to read this post and help me in my time of need. Thank you all so much. I hope to see you all on Saturday!

Miles Dompier is the chief editor and founder of What’s Your Tag?. He is a Seattle native who recently moved to the sweltering heat of Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming a composer/voice actor. When he’s not up writing until his eyes bleed, he likes to play a Prince level of instruments and listen to terrible death metal. Follow his shenanigans on Twitter and be sure to join our gaming community; TEAM XBRO.