Bailey Byrne O'Brien

 Bailey and his brother Travis are both 11 1/2 years old. Bailey was diagnosed with a grade 3-4 murmur in 2016 but was otherwise very healthy. Both Bailey and Travis were put on Pimobendan as they both had murmurs. In March 2018 Bailey collapsed while out chasing his ball, we rushed him to the ER and they were not too worried and told us to limit exercise (no more ball chasing). Over the next few days Bailey was in and out of our local vet as he just wasn't doing well. His breathing was labored and he was very lethargic. We were told his heart was getting worse and he was put on Lasix. When we inquired about surgery we were told that wasn't really an option and that this disease is progressive and incurable and medication was all we could do !!

We were not prepared to accept that diagnoses and we went online to see what we could do. That's where we found Dr Tom Mullany, veterinary cardiologist. We asked our local vet for a referral and that's when things changed for the better. Bailey met Tom and it was obvious from day one that Tom was going to do all he could for our little guy, whom he nicknamed "the best little patient in Ireland". Bailey was admitted and Dr Tom worked his magic. During our research we also found the Mighty Hearts Project and with Dr Tom and the Mighty Hearts family we knew we could save our baby.

Tom explained all about the surgery adjusted and added new meds and sent all Baileys notes and scans to RVC. Bailey was however not deemed to be a candidate for surgery at that stage. In January 2019 Bailey had developed a bad cough and was having regular fainting spells, his weight was dropping and we was now only 2.9 kg. Back to Tom for more tests. All Baileys updated notes and scans were sent to RVC and this time we got the news that Bailey could have the surgery.

We had our conference call with Dr Dan Brockman on February 28th and within 10 days we had a surgery date of May 13th. Bailey had lots of trips to Dr Tom between February and May including Tom fitting a halter monitor to Bailey on a Sunday his only day off !!. Dr Tom got our little man stable for surgery, with meds changes and lots of care.

Bailey is now 5 weeks post op and is doing really well. He had his first checkup with Dr Tom 2 weeks ago and his heart has reduced significantly and pressures are back to normal. Hes gained weight and is now 3.3 kg. We noticed in the last week in particular that Bailey is back to his old self. While he's not allowed do the usual stuff, jump, climb stairs etc he doesn't look like a dog that's just had major surgery.

At this stage I should explain that we lost our 17 year old son on November 2012 to Sudden Arrhythmic Death (SADS) and unfortunately there was nothing we could do. That made us more determined that we were not going to let Baileys heart take him from us too.

We are forever grateful to Dr Tom Mullany who told us about RVC and kept our baby stable and well enough for surgery. To RVC for saving our baby and to the Might Hearts Project family for answering our many questions and always being there for support.

Breed: Chihuahua Age: 11 Diagnosis:Stage C Surgery Date: May 13th, 2019 Hometown: London , UK Owner: Denise Byrne Primary Vet: Ark Vetcare, Kill Lane. Cardiologist: Dr. Tom Mullany of Nutgrove Veterinary Surgery Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow