The Raw Entrepawneur Interviews Mighty Hearts Project

The Raw Entrepawneur

The Raw Entrepawneur looks at the transformative journey of holistic pet service entrepreneurs, overcoming obstacles, chasing their passion and creating a mass movement. This show is for holistic pet service entrepreneurs who are passionate about their craft and want to create an impact and change the world. To help them learn from other entrepreneurs to give them the confidence to start their own journey of growth, self-discovery and creating a movement that's changing the lives of clients and their pets to create a ripple effect of positive change around the world. A raw uncut look at the journey of fellow holistic pet service entreprenuers – their successes and failures.

I was honored to recently be interviewed by Amrys Wang from The Raw Entrepawneur where we discussed how Mighty Hearts Project came to fruition and about my daughter Zoey Marie Estes’s two mitral valve repair surgeries. This is our journey, I hope you enjoy it.

Nate Estes

Zoey Marie's Second MVR Surgery

In this video you will see Nate Estes's daughter Zoey Marie Estes undergo her second Mitral Valve Repair surgery procedure. Nate Estes is one of the original...

I wanted to share Zoey’s second mitral valve repair surgery video. Thank you to Dr. Masami Uechi, Sayaka Takeuchi, Ayaka Chen and the entire Jasmine team for your unbelievable dedication towards saving my daughters life not once but twice. You all have saved so many lives of dogs suffering with mitral valve disease and for that we are forever grateful and hold you all dearly in our hearts. Below is Zoey’s brave second journey story.

Zoey’s second surgery journey

Just after two years since having her first mitral valve repair surgery in France by Dr. Masami Uechi and the Bozon’s team we noticed Zoey was again progressing from this dreadful disease at each checkup things kept looking different. I was actively working with the clinics in France and Japan to understand what was going on with Zoey to cause this. After a few difficult months of piecing it together we realized Zoey may have torn a major artificial chordae that was placed during her first surgery in France in 2016.

Proactively I already started the Japanese quarantine process which is a six-seven month waiting period proving rabies immunity before you are allowed to enter the country. We found ourselves yet again facing the possibility of doing another bypass repair surgery on Zoey, otherwise she probably wouldve only had a year left to live as she was already moving towards congestive heart failure (CHF), she was only seven years old now.

So we prepared for Japan per Masami Uechi’s request. The day came to embark on our second mitral valve repair journey, this time a different continent. Much like the first, we were prepared for what lies ahead. We arrived a week early to acclimate Zoey and had our pre-op surgical appointment with the wonderful Sayaka Takeuchi. We were faced with the scary truths about the risks involved in this second surgery and needed to make a heavy decision on whether we would again proceed. Obviously with Zoey quickly advancing and knowing the road that was ahead we placed our unwavering faith in Dr. Masami Uechi and his team and our faith in god and decided to proceed ahead to save our little daughter again.

We were told second surgeries were rarely performed and they weren’t even sure on how successful it could be. They were not sure why this happened to Zoey as it’s not very common unless a dog was to active early on in the recovery process causing a chordae to detach before allowing them the required three months time to scar and bond over the repair to the heart further reinforcing the repair. Was it a weak heart muscle or stress we will never know. All I know is here we are again faced with the same fears a little over two years ago.

Surgery day came and I won't lie that I was a complete wreck internally, outwardly I was holding it all together for my family that needed me to be the rock. As they took Zoey away from me yet again, a wave of calmness went through my body because I knew I gave Zoey’s little body the best chances at fighting this again and I knew the team cared deeply about us and would save my daughters life again, I had no doubts in my soul.

Surgery started, sitting again in that lobby, knowing my daughter was clinically dead for the second time was the most difficult thing I had to witness for the second time in my life. As you sit in the lobby you find yourself reading each doctors reactions as they come and go gauging how it’s going inside the surgical room. It’s such a heart-wrenching feeling. Sitting in the lobby waiting and seeing how many more dogs are coming in to be examined as future patients is devastating and makes you realize how much of a problem this disease is worldwide.

Finally

Dr. Masami Uechi comes out to bring you back to the surgical theater to explain to you how it all went “heart sinking” he tells us all went as planned and Zoey is off the bypass machine and being closed up by the team. As Dr. Uechi shows us the repair results we are crying in relief and amazement of what this beautiful man and team just did again saving our daughter.

We are lead to the back of the room to see Zoey being stitched up and Dr. Uechi is explaining what the vital signs on the monitor means, blood pressure, heart rate, etc. We are thrilled yet worried as the recovery is just as crucial as the surgery. They did their job and now Zoey’s body and the recovery team start theirs. What a roller coaster and miracle.

As Zoey was moved to recovery and we were able to see, I again had to be the rock holding us all together to see her through this. As the days went on we strengthened Zoey with proper nutrition to get her numbers to improve from the natural bodies inflammation response to this intervention. Zoey did remarkably well and eventually was able to check out of the clinic and come back to our Airbnb. She did have to go back to the clinic a few times and the amazing team at the Jasmine clinic were able to get Zoey’s numbers yet again stabilized.

Headed home

Zoey persevered through all the obstacles against her for the second time and we got to go home. After a much needed rest at our home in the US, we went for our checkup with Dr. Emily Chapel at Access Specialty Animal Hospital and she was so impressed with how well Zoey was doing since the last time she saw Zoey before going to Japan for surgery. You always find yourself at each cardiologist appointment holding your breath because we’ve been here before and you never know what they are going to say in the future towards this progressive disease.

It’s been quite a life-changing journey for us and the immense support from the Mighty Hearts MVD Community was just amazing and a remainder of why I helped to create and continue to maintain this important resource. This experience has only further strengthened my determination at dedicating my life to this cause to save more of our babies lives and to continue helping all the families get through this as gently as possible. Mighty Hearts Project needs all of you working together with us for the common cause of advancing this procedure all over the world.

One thing I’ve learned is just how important it is for us to support these doctors learning this surgery. As they make it more readily available throughout the world, we must advocate for them in doing this procedure in the proper manner increasing the lives saved as they all advance in these emerging programs. I truly hate this disease and my resolve is strong to continue to grow our organization towards helping all of those we support. It won’t be perfect and I’m sure many bumps will happen along the way. To learn is to grow and sometimes letting the path lovingly guide you to where it needs you is what I’ve learned.

My little daughter is alive and inspiring myself and many others along the way to never quit in life until your soul is needed elsewhere. I love all of you and and will never quit in my resolve to seeing you all through your difficult journey’s to hopefully come home with your babies on the other side of this terrible disease.

Post-Op Activity

Recommendations for Open-Heart Surgery Post-Operative Activity

 The importance of post-surgery healing process 

For the first, second- and third-month post-op, you would have been given guidelines by your surgery team on what to avoid, what movement is acceptable and how much exercise your dog is recommended. It’s vital that given guidelines are followed to allow a successful healing process to take place. 

The first three months is the most crucial time in the healing process as the heart is remodeling itself. By helping your dog to eliminate certain movement you are supporting the foundations for a stronger healthier heart muscle. It is therefore essential that certain movement is avoided or eliminated from daily life and activities. By planning, preparing and preempting situations, you will make way for a successful healing process. This is not to take place of the advice of your dog’s Cardiologist. 

Surgery recovery postop month 1-3 

•Patients should be kept under strict rest.•No jumping up / No jumping down•No stairs•No abrupt starts and stops.•Please keep your pets separated from other animals in the home. This will avoidplay and other movement that may disrupt healing of repair.•Set up a pen area as this is a great way to keep dog at rest. This will ensure thedog stays calm and resting when you are not around.•Block off furniture - Please keep dog off bed/sofa, so your dog is not tempted tojump off.

Shampoo or grooming 

• No shampoo until 1month post-surgery.

• If skin/hair gets dirty, you may wipe him/her down with a wet towel.

Walking instructions 

• Specific instructions may be given depending on your dog’s post-op condition.

After 3 months: 

• keep dog on leash (even when in yard/garden/walks)

• Allow dogs to meet and greet in controlled environment.

• Begin walking your dog, on lead for 20-30 minutes twice per day.

• No running

• No Jumping

• No stairs

• No abrupt starts and stops.

• Please continue to keep dog off bed/sofa, do not allow them to jump off anyfurniture.

• No frantic play, No zoomies, no chasing wildlife, or animals

• You can allow gentle play interaction with other dogs.

After 6 months 

• Please continue to keep your dogs on lead during this time, due to risk of high energy play with other dogs.

• After 6 months, you may use a ramp when needed, in place of stairs.

• No wildlife and/or animal chases, avoid high energy play, avoid high energy dog sports such as agility.

Remember that you have made an incredible journey by choosing open-heart surgery for your beloved dog, so please take care of the repaired valve as best as you can so that you can enjoy quality time with your pup!

Please contact your surgical clinic for the latest updates in post-op care or if you have additional questions

The Mighty Hearts Project team

Moni and Prudence

Bellissima's Surgery Story

“This is our big story of one small cute girl and the big love between us forever.

—Tomáš Kučera”

We have had Bellissima (Belisa) from the very first day she was born because we also were parents to her mummy.  She has three siblings which were all given to our friends so that they would be in good hands.  We also had new parents for Belisa, but we felt that we belonged to each other so we kept her.

She is typical terrier, excited about everything, angry at everybody, and so much energy - crazy like a puppy.  We had to have her spayed because she was suffering from false pregnancy (or pseudopregnancy).  She was mothering her toys and having problems with her mammary glands.  Our doctor told us that after being spayed, Belisa would be calmer and not so interested in sex with her toys… but that was not true at all.  She wanted to have sex with everything and was even crazier than before.

After that she started to limp on her left back leg and was diagnosed with a luxating patella.  We found a specialist from Croatia, Dr. Dokič, who gave her a titan implant in her leg.  Unfortunately she had to have an additional operation because the titan implants are made of two pieces and they split up.  She also had a groin hernia which was the first time we saw her crying in pain.  She had never cried in pain before that.

In 2014, she had her first epileptic seizure.  We were shocked because at that time we didn’t know about epilepsy in dogs.  We read a lot of information about epilepsy and learned that there is no true cure.  We finally decided not to visit doctors who would only give her drugs and scare her more.  Every time a seizure was coming she came to us and let us know that something was happening to her, so that we could hold her, talk to her, and try to distract her from what was happening, which worked quite well.

Also in 2014, our doctor told us that she had a heart murmur but it was nothing to worry about. We didn’t know any better and believed our doctor.  In October 2015, Belisa was put on Vetmedin (Pimobendan) and Furosemide.  Again, our doctor told us there was nothing to worry about.  In August 2016, we were visiting our doctor and he told us everything was still fine.

In December 2016, our doctor told us that Belisa was getting worse.  Of course, we thought, because she had started to cough during the night and we didn’t understand why.  We asked him how much time she has left and his answer killed us.  6 – 12 months.  He told us that there was one person in the world that might be able to help us, Dr. Uechi, but it's too expensive.  Nothing is too expensive if our love has just a few months of life left.  We didn’t know the price, but we knew that we could sell our flat, our cars, our company, even my kidney, anything, just to save her life.

We googled Belisa's condition and Dr. Uechi, and thanks to Kaori and her story of Ralph, we found this amazing group of selfless people.  Of course we didn’t believe or understand why there is only one person in the world who could help us.  It seemed so strange to us.  So in January, we flew to France to meet Dr. Sabin Bozon to discuss the surgery and assess whether we were doing the right thing.  We have never ever met a doctor this kind.  She is an angel.  She explained everything to us and spent a lot of time emailing us answers to all of our questions. This was the most helpful thing during this time, when you are losing all hope.

We did all the tests in our country, including magnetic resonance because of Belisa's epilepsy, to ensure that her brain was fine, and then we had to decide whether to do her surgery in March or May.  We knew the risk of the surgery (every surgery is a risk, of course, however, this is not like her leg, it's her heart!), and preferred May.  However, we decided to take Belisa to visit Dr. Sabine so that she could see Belisa and give us better advice about when to do the surgery.  We selfishly wanted May, but this was not about what we wanted, it was about what Belisa needed.

Dr. Sabine gave us advice to go in March because she was not sure if Belisa would stay stable until May.  She told us during that visit that there was another problem called Myocardial thinning, which is another risk with Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease.  She gave us another type of medication for Belisa.  From that visit until the surgery we were giving her multiple medications at specific times of the day.  We were very tired because some of them were very late in the evening, some of them very early in the morning, and most of the time during the night we were not sleeping because we were checking on her to see if she was fine and still breathing.

On March 17, Belisa had her last recheck with Dr. Sabine and she told us that all the numbers of the tests were much better.  On March 21, the day of surgery, I told Belisa in the morning that we belong to each other; we will stay together forever no matter what.  We will be waiting for you in the front of clinic, be strong girl, we know you will come back to us.  I am certain she understood us.

If Marla, Michael, and Dominique were not also at the clinic in the days after Belisa's surgery, we would have just sat quietly for the whole time of post-care (which is seven days normally, and we paid for one extra day to be sure) in the car in front of the clinic.  Car?  Yes, the journey to France by plane takes about 1.5 hours, but we went by car so that Belisa could go pipi anytime she needed to and she wouldn't be as scared of all the people.

After waking from anesthesia post-surgery, Belisa had some problems with breathing because she also has a collapsing trachea.  Even today her breathing is not 100% better, but I am sure it will get better.  Dr. Sabine explained to us that an enlarged right ventricle is not as life threatening as the left side.  The left side is already smaller after the surgery.  The right side will get slightly bigger and it will take some time, but it will get smaller again.

Our journey back home was also not easy.  We left France at 1:30 am because we knew Belisa would be calmer at night.  When we were about 400km from France, and 600km from our home, Belisa started to cry and kept her right back leg (the healthy one) up.  We turned the car around and drove back to Dr. Sabine.  She gave Belisa some drugs for pain and we started our journey again.

When we arrived home, she was not able to walk normally.  Even the front leg was bad.  Today, we don’t know exactly what happened to her (all the doctors we spoke to about it have different ideas – orthopedic, spinal, neurologist etc.), but she is now walking almost like normal and we are sure it will just take some time to be 100% good.

This is our big story of one small cute girl and the big love between us forever.