Fred: A Different Open Heart Surgery
“I feel a little bit as an outsider because my Fred does not have Mitral Valve Disease and Congestive Heart Failure.”
Fred, an 1 year old purebred standard schnauzer, has a large atrial septal defect (sinus venosus), not amendable to trans catheteral closure with an amplatzer device. In layman's terms, this means Fred has a hole in his heart and the typical procedure developed to treat this issue will not work in his case.
Because of the atrial septal defect, Fred has already developed moderate pulmonic stenosis and right-side heart hypertrophy. Without an open heart surgery to patch the defect he will develop congestive heart failure (CHF).
Fred was brought home on the day of one year anniversary of the terrible loss of his owner's first standard schnauzer, Peter (aka Petya). Peter was battling two types of cancer during the last year of his life- going from radiation to surgery, and than to chemo. Nothing helped. Raya and her family were devastated. Learning Fred's diagnosis has only added to their stress.
“We were emotionally and financially drained after our first dog’s illness. Fred is our family now. We love him. We will do everything to save him.”
When their cardiologist, Dr. Dennis Trafny, from Animal Medical Center told them that Dr Uechi is the person who could help them, they immediately started looking for a way to get to France. Raya wrote to the clinic and heard from the Bozons a few days later. Dr. Sabine consulted with Dr. Uechi, and he is confident he can fix Fred's heart defect. There is a Jewish saying, if problem can be fixed with money, than it's not a problem, it's an expense. Fred's open heart surgery at the Bozon clinic in Versailles, France is scheduled for September 2017.
