On one of his regular checkups the vet told me Bixby had a low-grade heart murmur. To be honest I didn’t think much of it as my brother had one for years with no issues. Dumb, I know, dogs are not humans. The vet said not to worry as Bixby was at a 2 out of 6. So, I didn’t worry. When he went in for his next well check on July 1st, 2019, the murmur had progressed. At this visit Bixby got a rabies vaccination and was also given some new heartworm injection. Within two days Bixby’s breathing became rapid and he started coughing.

My vet recommended Bixby get an echo with the mobile cardiologist that visits their office periodically. The echo showed significant enlargement and the cardiologist prescribed pimobendan and Lasix with a repeat echo in a month. The repeat echo showed continuing fluid buildup and the cardiologist told me to monitor his breathing but nothing else. In fact, the mobile cardiologist wouldn’t speak to me directly at all, let alone meet with me. At this point, I was very concerned that since he wouldn’t talk to me and just prescribed meds, I really didn’t know what was going on. I insisted on another cardiologist referral and that’s how I found Dr. Sarah Miller at Blue Pearl hospital in Irvine. I was familiar with Blue Pearl because Bixby had been treated by Dr. Barry there for about 5 years for epilepsy. I was able to get an appointment the first week of September. By then Bixby had 2 torn chords and his heart had weakened significantly.

Bixby was losing a lot of weight and I was fretting every day to find something/anything he would eat. Thankfully, when I walked into the examination room there was written on a whiteboard, “if you are interested in surgery for mitral valve repair for your pet please ask us”. Suddenly, there was hope! Dr. Miller told me of Mighty Hearts Project that day. I looked it up and called Nate right away. It was like giving a drowning person a lifeline. Nate took a lot of time walking me through the process, referring me to places for information and generally calming me down. What a godsend!

Sean Pador who was an intern at Blue Pearl started Bixby on his journey to recovery. He forwarded all of Bixby’s records to Japan and the RVC in London. By September 13th, 2019 Bixby had been accepted to japan and London for surgery. This really took a team effort. A vet tech, named Meg at Estrella got all of their records together and helped me navigate all the paperwork. Japan warned me that Bixby’s epilepsy could worsen from the surgery but Dr. Brockman at RVC was not as concerned.

Unfortunately to get everything done for Japan would put surgery off until March of 2020. The Royal Veterinary College, (RVC) was scheduling in February 2020 and having great results with Dr. Dan Brockman so I went with them. His first scheduled available date was February 17th. The challenge was to keep him stable until then. Bixby was on 6 different medications, not eating, epileptic, and by early October had tested positive for Cushing’s. It just kept getting worse.

Bixby was taken off spironolactone to see if his appetite increased in mid-October. He seemed perkier and ate a little more but on October 22nd Bixby was hospitalized with azotemia. He was treated and released after 2 days. The balancing act of cardiac drugs and kidney failure would continue until his surgery. I took Bixby to a nephrologist in November. Drs Miller and Pador notified the RVC of the kidney failure issue and the RVC was able to give me a moved-up surgery date of December 3rd which was only a week away from the time they notified me. My excitement was soon dashed when I discovered that the requirement to enter the UK of a dog being microchipped BEFORE the rabies vaccine that would be used to count days before entry into the country was a hard and fast rule without exception.

Bixby had to be revaccinated (which I hated), to start the countdown to RVC. They then gave me the date of January 6th for surgery. I got all the paperwork together while every day I was praying Bixby would make it to surgery. His breathing kept getting worse and he had lost 6 of his 22 pounds.

On December 27th, 2019 Bixby passed out. At the time he was on spironolactone (restarted after his kidney failure), vetmedin, mirtazapine, zonisamide (for seizures), norvasc, furosemide, and Rena Kate gel. His breathing during this time was 40-50 and coughing a lot. His breathing would get up to 90 at times. Dr Miller who was in Portugal) recommended that I get X-rays done. They showed increased fluid buildup in the lungs. Bixby had to get a furosemide injection as it responds quicker in removing the fluids and then switch to torsemide, a stronger diuretic that is even harder on the kidneys. His spironolactone was also increased on December 29th.

I was trying to keep my panic level manageable by this time as I left on New Year’s Eve for London with Bixby. I had Valium for Bixby which he had to take 3 times on the flight. He was quite agitated without it and peeing so much he went through 10 diapers (which he had never used). When we checked in to RVC on January 3rd they told me they were shocked to see how friendly and perky Bixby was. In fact, they honestly said they didn’t think he would make it. Bixby’s personality is such that he loves meeting new people and I think going out to the pub and the Italian restaurant in Harpenden before surgery made him happy.

His surgery was January 6th. I did not leave the hospital until I heard he made it! Then I went out and had a lot of wine. He is his friendly happy robust self now and I count each day as a bonus day with him. Dr Brockman, Alison and Sarah at RVC are amazing people. I only wish everyone who needs this surgery had access to it. Just a couple weeks after Bixby’s surgery sadly the program was stopped because of staffing issues. A great loss to this community and I hope it restarts in 2021.

With all of the obstacles we encountered, we never gave up hope because of the support I got from my family, the doctors, support staff and especially Nate Estes. Without Nate and this group Mighty Hearts Project I would not have my little man today.

Breed: Bichon/Poodle mix
Age: 11
Diagnosis: Stage D
Surgery Date: January 6th, 2020
Hometown: Dana Point, California, United States
Owner: Diane Morton Primary Vet: Dr. Ryan Bloese, Estrella Veterinary Hospital
Cardiologist: Dr. Sarah Miller, Blue Pearl Pet Hospital, Irvine Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Bixby Morton

Hazel Radon

Kobe Wong