Hazel Radon

Hazel is a brilliant, attentive, and shy Cavachon. She gets a lot of attention but has somehow managed not to get spoiled or pick up too many bad behaviors. When Hazel was 5, her vet noted a slight heart murmur during a routine check-up. Barely audible.

 In the summer of 2018 at the age of 9, she had an infection which the vet mistook for congestive heart failure. Our vet sent us to Veterinary Cardiologist Consultants (VCC) who assured us it wasn’t congestive heart failure. Her murmur was moderate and although her mitral valve was leaking, it was minimal. VCC asked us to bring her back in a year.

 Six months later, in late Feb of 2019, Hazel had another cough. We made a vet appointment for a Saturday morning. Early Saturday morning we woke up to find Hazel panting, coughing, and her heart racing. We spent 10-15 minutes trying to see if we could calm her down. When that didn’t work, we snapped a video and rushed her to emergency. They whisked Hazel off, got her in an oxygen chamber and tossed every treatment they had at her. It was dicey, but she recovered over the weekend and we were allowed to bring her home.

 A later echocardiogram would confirm that several chordae tendineae had ruptured. Her cardiologist at the time, Dr. Christian Weder, let us know that Hazel had suffered a catastrophic failure. A failure that’s usually fatal. We were informed that dogs who survive an incident of this magnitude often do better, and on medication she might live for 9-12 months.

 That same day, with a lot of new medications in hand, we started to research. I found references to mitral valve repairs in various journals. Then, I found Mighty Hearts Project and realized that people were actually going through with these surgeries.

 Unsure of the efficacy, we immediately sent Dr. Weder an email and asked him what he thought of Mighty Hearts Project and the MVR surgeries. Dr. Weder replied early in the morning the next day. We read the email and cried with hope. Dr. Weder had studied with Dr. Uechi at Cornell. Furthermore, he had a patient (JoJo) returning from RVC after a successful surgery. We were told if we went that route, chances were very good that Hazel could live symptom free for the rest of her natural life.

 The next few days were a whirlwind. Dr. Weder connected us with JoJo’s owner. We asked to get on RVC’s waitlist. We put together a project plan based on the guidance from Mighty Hearts Project. We signed up with the Facebook MVD Community group to find how people were handling travel.

 On March 15th, 2019, Hazel was given a surgery date of June 4th. Timing wise, Hazel was extremely lucky. RVC had just doubled their capacity and were able to get us in much quicker. Her surgery threaded the needle between increased capacity at RVC and the suspension of the surgeries at RVC and furthermore, COVID-19.

 We began training Hazel to fly. We practiced using a stroller and travel carrier. We obtained some anti-anxiety medication for her to reduce all of our stress. Hazel did fantastic on the flight. She refused to go on the pee pads and at the very end of the flight ended up peeing on a blanket we had for her, but otherwise did great.

 During the surgical process, we stayed in Harpenden. The apartments there had an interesting vibe. It felt like a tiny dog heart surgery community. People brought food to one another, shared tips, shared rides, and just generally took care of one another.

 Hazel had her surgery on schedule and recovered without incident. I was able to work remotely while overseas. The time difference was very useful. I was able to spend mornings with Hazel in recovery and work in the afternoons and evenings. Once Hazel was released, she had some pretty bad indigestion. Enough that I took her back to RVC one evening to receive fluids. The bypass machine can be pretty rough to recover from and they’ll give the dog anything to keep them eating in recovery.

 The flight home was largely uneventful. My wife had been home for a few weeks during Hazel’s recovery and had prepared the house. Baby gates on the stairs. Furniture she could jump on moved into one room and gated off. Mattress on the floor. Ramp down our front steps. Those steps made the recovery much less stressful. The 4th of July was just a few days after we arrived back home. Hazel is terrified of fireworks, so we booked a hotel far away from any neighborhoods or planned shows.

 As of October 2020, Hazel is now 1 year and 4 months post-surgery. She’s doing well entirely without medication. Her checkups have shown no change in heart size or valve function for the past 6 months. The only lingering symptom is a cough after drinking and occasionally choking on her food. We believe that to be from the time she spent with an enlarged heart pressing on her trachea and esophagus. Raising her bowls (at the recommendation of her cardiologist) and using a slow-feed bowl have eliminated the incidents of choking.

 In the end, we feel extremely lucky to have her well past her initial prognosis. She’s happy, healthy, and very lucky.

Breed: Cavachon Age: 10 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: June 4th, 2019 Hometown: Novi, MI, United States Owner: Jonathan Radon Primary Vet: Dr. Gorbea, Plymouth Veterinary Hospital Cardiologist: Dr. Weder/Dr. DeSana, Veterinary Cardiology Consultants Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Kobe Wong

Kobe is a loving Maltese who wants to constantly be around people, he was formerly named after Kobe Bryant (NBA player). He enjoys watching TV and barking at dogs and cartoons that show up on all the channels. He loves belly rubs, eating chicken and sleeping on pillows like a human. When we first got him as a puppy, he was the only one that sat there and did nothing while all the other adorable puppies were running around like crazy. Even since then, we knew he was the one!

When Kobe's birthday came in January 2019 when he was ten years old, he went completely deaf. The doctor said he had a low grade heart murmur but I never fully comprehended what that meant. Fast forward to June 1st 2019, my parents were watching Kobe for a few weeks as I often work. This day was special as it was our wedding date. Kobe wore a tux to the wedding and he looked very cute. We always envisioned him being at our wedding! Later that day, my parents took him home, but I said to drop him off at my sisters apartment as I wanted to watch him since it's been a few weeks.

Kobe was acting relatively normal at my sisters apartment. Later that evening, while we were driving him home he was breathing quite rapidly. All night his breathing rate was intense and he did not look the same. We were concerned if he got sick and trying to understand what exactly happened. We took him to the vet the next morning and they found that he had fluid in his lungs. The vet told us to see a cardiologist. A few days later after a cardiologist appointment, he was diagnosed with mitral valve disease and that he developed congestive heart failure as a result. We were told he had only 6-12 months to live and that there's nothing we could do to correct this.

We spent the next few weeks crying and feeling sorry for Kobe. I had so many regrets not spending enough quality time with him. I researched mitral valve disease (MVD) and came across the Mighty Hearts Project organization while google searching. Nate Estes was kind enough to speak to me for over an hour and was extremely compassionate. I quickly realized that there was a chance if we flew to London or Japan then Kobe could have a chance.

The financial toll is extremely frightening and my friends and family cautioned against this. Within a few days, I already knew my answer. Kobe has been there for me so many times during many low points in my life. I had to repay him the favor and save his life! Within a few days, I made a website and a gofundme page and was able to raise a few thousand dollars from kind friends and family. We were so blessed to get donations that it gave me enough motivation to fight for him. On December 4th,

Kobe in recovery after MVR surgery

We flew to London for his surgery at the Royal Veterinarian College (RVC). We took him to a winter festival and the Camden market nearby. This was his first vacation ever and gave us quality bonding time together. I was lucky enough to be able to work at my companies London office. Kobe’s surgery was on December 10th where he survived open heart bypass surgery and recovered very well! By the time he was discharged, I was shown a final echo of his heart and it had already returned to its normal size! The staff at the RVC is so compassionate, Dr. Dan Brockman and his staff are truly amazing.

We finally were heading home after a post-op checkup at the RVC to get the all clear to fly home. When we flew Kobe back home, he literally barked at every person at Heathrow Airport, that's how I knew Kobe was getting back to his normal self. After safely arriving home Kobe was quarantined at my parents house for three months and was recovering well. When he finally finished his quarantine three months later, COVID-19 had hit the United States and then we were being quarantined! It was an opportunity for us to spend even more additional time together and he has been attached to us at the hip ever since!

Breed: Maltese
Age: 10
Diagnosis:Stage C
Surgery Date: December 10th, 2019
Hometown: Staten Island, New York, United States
Owner: Matthew Wong
Cardiologist:: Dr. Joshua A Morgenstern, Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island
Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Chockie Deglow

Up until November 15, 2018 Chockie had pretty much been the healthiest dog I’ve known. That is the day everything changed for us. I couldn’t understand why Chockie was coughing... I don’t take him to parks, kennels or around other dogs, so not kennel cough. I knew to count his respiratory rate but didn’t know why or what it meant. I only knew it should be under 30 and his was near 60. I was so lucky that Torrey Pines Animal Hospital got us in same day. I was shocked when Dr. McClellan told us he had a grade 5 heart murmur (from no heart murmur the previous May 2018), his heart was enlarged and he had fluid in his lungs.  This was his first episode of Congestive Heart Failure. Luckily we were able to easily get him out of this episode of CHF. Looking back I felt so naive, uneducated, even stupid. I feel like I’m pretty dog savvy, I ran the Southern California Section of Italian Greyhound Rescue for years, but I had no idea what this was or what I was doing. Chockie was started on Pimobendan and a low dose of Lasix. 

Chockie had his first Echo on November 20, 2019. At that time, on the referral of our vet, we used a mobile cardiologist who came into our vets office. He told me he expected his echo to be much worse with the symptoms Dr. McClellan and I had described. He said Chockie had a murmur is V/VI, severe degenerative mitral thickening but mild leak, mild left cardiac enlargement, normal right heart size and intact atrial septum. The treatment was to add Enalapril, continue the Pimo and the Lasix at a reduced dose or we could go off if we felt his respiratory rate was ok (I later found out we probably shouldn’t have been doing this). He suggested to follow up with a renal panel in one week, chest X-rays and echo in six months and to continue to monitor his respiratory rate.

Chockie held fairly steady until Mid-March 2019. One morning I left for work, Chockie was happy and normal. I came home 4 hours later and immediately new something was wrong, his respiratory rate was between 60-75. I was able to take him into Torrey Pines Animal Hospital for chest X-rays and they confirmed another episode of CHF and he was given a Lasix injection. At that time we also increased his Lasix dosage a bit. We kept having to increase his Lasix dosage for the next few weeks.

Chockie’s six month follow up was April 5, 2019, which could not of come at a better time. Still being naive about all of this I thought his condition would be status-quo.  The cardiologist called and told us he had very bad news, that his valve had completely torn (this is what I heard, not sure if this is what he really said) and he probably had six months to live and to keep him comfortable. We were not expecting this news, I remember this like it was yesterday, we were so depressed. The echo report noted: Severe mitral valve regurgitation and flail leaflet. Moderate left atrial hypertension. Recent congestive heart failure. The left heart size continues to grow larger. Today left atrial pressures are increased. The flail anterior mitral valve leaflet likely occurred recently causing progressive leak and clinical signs of CHF. In addition to lasix, Pimo and Enalapril the cardiologist added Amlodipine. We were told to just keep him comfortable.

After the cloud of depression finally lifted I thought to myself they fix people, why can’t they fix dogs? And that’s how I found Mighty Hearts. I had everything ready to submit to the RVC except for the echo videos and unfortunately my cardiologist didn’t keep them. I was able to get Chockie back in for another echo on May 7, 2019 to get the videos and was able to submit everything to RVC on May 8th, I got a response from RVC on May 9th, and we had our call on May 15, 2019. Everything was still so new to me, I asked Dr. Brockman what stage Chockie was in and he told me B2. We got our surgery date of September 23, 2019. We thought that is far away but he’s stable so this will be no problem. I can’t tell you how wrong we were.

I started having a really hard time getting Chockie to eat, he became very finicky and wouldn’t eat out of a dog bowl.  He would eat something one day so I would run out and buy a bunch of it and the next day he would run away from it.  This frustrated me to tears, I would spend 2.5 hours in the morning and evening trying to get him to eat. Some days he would just eat plain pasta and I thought it was better than nothing. I later found out they start doing this when they can’t breathe.

June 1st - 5th. Leading up to June 1st, in addition to Chockie losing interest in eating he also had another Lasix increase. I noticed a change in his breathing and it started to get upwards of 50. I took him to the ER, hoping we could just have a lasix injection and go home. They did X-rays, put him in oxygen and gave him a lasix injection. I begged the ER vet, Dr. O’Donnell, to let me take him home where he would be much more relaxed. I think she felt there was enough improvement that she discharged him. 

The next day, June 2nd, I monitored Chockie like crazy. He didn’t want breakfast and his respiratory rate ranged from 30 and crept up to the 60’s. I took him to the ER at 8:15PM, this time thinking they would want to hospitalize him and I would allow it. It was a different ER vet, he did chest X-rays, oxygen therapy and a lasix injection and didn’t feel it was necessary to keep him because he didn’t hear much crackling in his lungs. I still kick myself for believing that vet that Chockie was ok. When we got home around 10:30PM I didn’t feel there was any improvement. Between 11PM and 4AM on June 3rd his respiratory rate got up into the 90s. At 4AM I took him back to the ER, they immediately put him in oxygen and admitted him. I later found out his respiratory rate was over 120 when I brought him in. It took him 10 hours in oxygen with lasix injections to get his respiratory rate into the 80s. Dr. Botha and Dr. Itsvan were the critical care specialists looking after him and took amazing care of him. They along with my cardiologist couldn’t understand why his respiratory rate was so high when his lungs were pretty clear.  Chockie stayed in the hospital until June 5th. During that time there was a veterinary cardiology convention and the two cardiologists that are attached to the hospital were away at the convention and no one was available to do an echo. They finally got him stabilized and on June 5th he was discharged. They increased his Lasix again and added Spironolactone. At this point he was on Lasix, Pimo, Enalapril, Amlodipine and Spironolactone. 

On June 7th I was able to get Chockie in for an echo with my cardiologist. He told me it was bad, that he actually saw a ruptured chordae this time. He noted: “Severe mitral valve regurgitation and flail leaflet/ruptured anterior leaflet chordae tendineae. Mild to moderate left atrial and pulmonary hypertension. Recent return of congestive heart failure. The mitral valve is unstable and I assume the recent mild interstitial pattern was refractory pulmonary edema.”  He asked if there was anyway we could get moved up because he didn’t believe he would live to September. I asked him if he could live another month and at first he was hesitant and then said yes. On this day I actually lost hope for a little bit, I felt so helpless and I didn’t know how we would make it to his surgery date of September 23rd, it seemed like we were at the end.

I was so hopeful that Chockie would get his surgery date moved up as I had seen happen to many others. I was keeping in very close contact with RVC and even called them, I was so desperate.  We got his surgery date moved up by two weeks to September 9, 2019 but that would be it as the team was going on a break from mid July-September 2.

June 9th-10th. On June 9th Chockie was very restless, wouldn’t eat, didn’t pee or drink since 9:45am and his respiratory rate was upwards of 60 so at 7PM back to the ER we went. The next morning June 10th, the ER vet called and said he was the same as last night, he was not in oxygen, kidney values were the same, still wouldn’t eat and they were waiting for a cardiology consult (the cardiologists were back, thank god!). Around 2PM, Dr O’Donnell one of my other favorite critical care specialists told me she talked to Dr. Orvalho, one of the cardiologists attached to the hospital, and as soon as they could squeeze him in for an echo he was stable enough to come home.  

Dr. Orvalho (UC Davis Vet Med) called late that evening to go over his findings and he restored my hope. He said if he didn’t know Chockie’s history he would not of thought that Chockie was in as bad of condition as he was in. He said based on his echo he felt his heart was stable today.  The valve was prolapsed and flailing which likely meant there was a chorade rupture (as our other cardiologist saw on June 7th). 

Dr. Orvalho said that we needed a plan/protocol for Chockie. He told me I was chasing his heart failure and having to be reactive because I didn’t have anyone to really follow up with.  Which is true, I did follow up with my vet and cardiologist but obviously my vet is not a cardiologist and I was having to go through my vet to get cardiology info. We talked for 30 minutes and went through all Chockie’s meds and he made a few adjustments. He was concerned with Chockie not eating and his kidneys, his BUN is just a bit high and when I took him for a follow up they would do a more detailed renal panel with SDMA. Dr. Orvalho was so incredibly helpful. He gave me so many suggestions on how to get Chockie to take his meds and said there were still more meds we could play around with.  I told him of my concerns on Sunday, that he didn't out of his bed from 9:45 until 5:30PM, I thought he should at least of been peeing or drinking. He said he is probably very tired and their bladders grow so he was not concerned.  I told him about how restless he is at night and he said they do feel worse at night, just as humans do. We talked about his surgery date in September, I asked if he could make it. He didn’t say yes, but didn’t say no like our other cardiologist did. Dr. Orvalho asked how long he’s had MVD, I told him November 2018 and he said dogs usually live 12-18 months and he thought Chockie would live 18 months so it sounded like a yes to me. He also said that we need to get him stable and in good shape for surgery. I felt so good after this conversation, I felt so hopeful and knew there were still more meds that could help him. 

Dr. Orvalho told me everything happens for a reason. He said obviously if you can get an earlier surgery date that would be ideal but sometimes we are under pressure to do a procedure and we don’t have the exact team we would have wanted and something goes wrong. This really stuck with me and maybe I was just trying to convince myself that we will make it to our surgery date and everything happens for a reason.

July 16th-17th. With the help of Dr. Orvalho we were able to keep Chockie out of the hospital until July 16th with yet another episode of heart failure. He had an overnight stay in oxygen with lasix injections. The next day July 17th, Dr. Orvalho performed an echo and didn’t see any changes from the previous echo, his lungs were significantly better than the day before and almost clear. I asked what brought this on and he said probably from the worsening of the disease.  At this time he switched him from Lasix to Torsemide, Chockie had dosed out on Lasix and was getting it three times a day. The Torsemide would be just twice a day.

Toresmide is supposed to be something like 10 times as strong as Lasix but I didn’t feel we were seeing the results that we were supposed to. Since the switch to Toresemide I noticed his breathing pattern had been quite different. While he was awake it was 40-50’s and dropped drastically when asleep to 20-30’s, while on Lasix there wasn’t such a big fluctuation and it always stayed in a similar range, awake and asleep. It didn’t feel right to me and I scoured the internet to try to find something similar to what was happening to Chockie but I couldn’t.  

July 25-29th. On the evening of July 25th Chockie was back in the hospital because his respiratory rate was upwards of 88.  The next morning Dr. Hodge, the other cardiologist, called me to tell me he had taken over Chockie’s case. He heard a bit of fluid in his lungs but his respiratory rate was sill too high. They were switching off between additional doses of Lasix and Torsemide. He felt that his blood pressure, for his condition was too high and added an additional dose of Amlodipine. The afternoon of July 26th Dr. Hodge called and said Chockie was still in oxygen, his breathing had gone down from high 80’s to 60’s and he still heard some abnormalities in his lungs. On the morning of July 27th Dr. Hodge said his lungs sounded better and his respiratory rate was going down at night but pretty high when he’s awake, like I had also observed. He said they were working on weaning him off oxygen.  When I picked Chockie up at 1PM to bring him home, Dr. Hodge said he increased his Amlodipine to twice a day and started him on Hydrochlorathiazie. While we were going through Chockie’s discharge instructions I didn’t think he was quite right but I thought once we got home he would settle. He did not settle at home. He couldn’t get comfortable, was very lethargic and wanted to be carried to go in and out to potty, something he never did and his respiratory rate was 60 asleep and wake. So at 6PM back to the ER we went. The morning of July 28th the ER vet said his respiratory rate was “mildly elevated” 50-60. Later that morning Dr. Itsvan, one of our favorite critical care specialists, called and said his respiratory rate was still high they were going to start him on Lasix injections (not sure why they didn’t start on them the previous night). She said his disposition was ok he sleeps most of the time. She said he would not pee for them and thought it would be good for us to come take him out to empty his bladder. This was news to us and empty his bladder he did when we went to visit! On July 29th Dr. Orvalho was back in the office and said he seemed to be doing better, respiratory rate was now in the mid 30’s, his heart and lungs sounded better, still a little crackly but not too bad. He said his renal panel was significantly worse and that his SDMA went from 10 to 19 but he had been hospitalized with Lasix injections, new meds and he had not been eating so hopefully when we brought him home it will improve. I asked Dr. Orvalho why his breathing pattern had changed and he told me honestly that the Toresmide 2 times a day was probably not enough and that we would increase it to 3 times a day and also supplement his potassium. I had been starting to think is this fair to Chockie to keep him alive for this surgery and will he make it to his surgery date of 6 weeks from this very day.  I decided I had to ask Dr. Orvalho two realistic (dreaded) questions:

Is Chockie suffering? Will Chockie make it to surgery 6 weeks from this date?

He said Chockie was not suffering but when he is having a hard time breathing he is uncomfortable but not suffering. He said if Chockie was stable he would say yes he could make it to surgery but he was worried given the pattern he had lately.  He said Chockie has not given up yet. This was kind of a low point for me and I started to question what we were doing. I really didn’t want Chockie to suffer.

From the time we picked Chockie up from the hospital on July 29th, when his Torsemide dose was increased, until his surgery date of September 9th he started to stabilize and thankfully his kidneys stayed ok. His respiratory rate was 20-30 and only a few rare occasions of it spiking but no more hospitalizations. We stayed in very close contact with Dr. Orvalho and went in every other week if not every week.  Chockie had an echo a few days before we were due to fly. I was so nervous I could have thrown up, I always felt like we were getting bad news. Dr. Orvalho asked me how I thought Chockie was doing. I told him he seemed ok, his respiratory rate was pretty steady now. I was waiting for Dr. Orvalho to drop the bomb of bad news but he didn’t, Dr. Orvalho said his heart had shrunk not a ton but it shrunk a little bit, I could not believe it. This is where I can look back now to what Dr. Orvalho said - everything happens for a reason. We were desperate to get an earlier surgery date but we didn’t. We had to wait our turn and in return Chockie got stabilized on Torsemide and we could fly with a little less worry. When we left for surgery Chockie was on the following meds: Torsemide, Pimobendan (Vetmedin), Spironolactone, Enalapril, Amlodepine, Entyce, Cerenia and Potassium.

At Chockie’s pre-op appointment Dr. Anne Kurosawa told us she saw two ruptured chordaes and he was stage D but stabilized as if he was stage C.  She told us it’s very good he’s at his best for surgery as they were very worried about him. At a later time they all told us they never thought they would meet him. Chockie had surgery on September 9th, the most nerve wracking day of my life! The surgery and repair went well and by the evening he was sitting up looking around. The next day we were able to briefly see Chockie, Dr. Dan Brockman said he didn’t hear much of a murmur anymore, he was stable and out of oxygen, drinking lots, not eating yet, the fluid coming out of his chest dried up and they were able to remove the chest tube. We visited Chockie everyday. On September 12th (Day 3 Post-op) Dan told us he was still not eating (which is normal) and was feeling more comfortable so they were going to pain score him instead of continuing with pain meds. He told us he could not hear a murmur but his echo showed a very small leak in the mitral valve which is very common. Day 4 Post-op Chockie ate some turkey breast we brought. He had just had an echo and they saw tricuspid leak so they started him on Sildenafil.  We noticed his respiratory effort was greater than the prior day and they felt it was partly because his red blood cell count was still low and felt he had a little bit of what they called the “Friday Blues”.

September 14th (Day 5 Post-op). When we went to visit Chockie the nurse told us they had put him in oxygen overnight because his respiratory rate was high but had weaned him off that morning and he was back in the ICU. He ate a little bit for us but his respiratory rate still seemed very high, he seemed very tired but could not get comfortable to lay. He did not seem right to us so I went to get a nurse and magically Dan happened to be in the hospital even though it was Saturday.  He watched him and said he doesn’t seem as perky. After listening to his heart he said it doesn’t sound the same, I hear a murmur, maybe there is a clot on his valve.  He took him straight back to oxygen and to do an echo. That afternoon he called and said Chockie is a paradox. The repair looked the same as the previous day, a little more leakage and they were putting him on Lasix for the next few days.  He said this could be caused by anemia or a clot. He said the change in the pulmonary hypertension from the previous day could also be from a clot in his lungs. He said his pulses feel good and his pressures are ok. His lab work came back as expected so no transfusion was needed and they didn’t feel he had an infection.  They increased his Heparin dose. Dan felt like there might be a clot interfering with his valve. I did find out much later that Chockie did have a clot or lesion on his valve, you will see Dan’s email to me below. So much happened during Chockie’s post-op recovery I asked Dr. Brockman to summarize it for me when we got back to San Diego.

September 16th (Day 7 Post-op). Chockie lost the use of his right front leg, presumably due to a clot. He was holding out his leg straight and would not walk, only sit. It was heartbreaking watching him be so uncomfortable. He ate quite a bit for us and his respiratory rate and effort seemed to settle but when we tried to get him to lay and relax with us he couldn’t.  He was rolling around on this back, which was not normal.  Dan visited with us and said his murmur had gone down since September 14th but that he probably has a few clots that should resolve themselves. Dan updated us later that day and said he was bright, eating and drinking. They started physio on his leg and Dan was personally massaging it. He was out of oxygen, they were considering stopping the Lasix, the pulmonary hypertension had gone down.  His WBC had gone down significantly and RBC had gone up, indications that things were improving.

The next couple of days Chockie continued to improve. He was walking better, breathing better, his pulmonary pressures were mild on the meds, they stopped the Lasix injections, his mitral valve was stable, his regurgitation had reduced from when the valve reopened on September 14th but still more regurgitation than straight after surgery. His murmur was a 4, the echo showed the regurgitation was hitting in one spot so that might of made it sound louder. There was probably still a clot on the valve and hopefully the body will start reorganizing it.

September 19th (Day 10 Post-op). My heart sank when Dr. Tom Greensmith a Critical Care Specialist, called to tell us he had something to discuss with us, we thought we were going to bring Chockie home the following day. He said he ate a little bit, he was a bit quiet, he was walking but over night he had a fever and his heart rate spiked. Tom he told us all of Chockie’s blood work came back as expected except his CRP (C Reactive Protein a marker of inflammation) had shot back up to 120 then 132, that coupled with the fever, spike in heart rate and clot on his valve were all signs were pointing to an infection and they had started aggressively treating him for Endocarditis (an infection on the valve). They started him on IV antibiotics, Amoxiclav and Baytril and if he didn’t show signs of improvement in 3 days they would get special permission to get him on a very strong one.  They were also culturing his blood to see if anything would grow, this was going to take 3 days if anything would grow at all. 

Thankfully for the next few days Chockie showed signs of improvement.  His temperature and heart rate had gone down to normal. The cultures hadn’t grown anything and they continued on with the IV antibiotics. We brought out his Froggie and he was so excited to see it, he started beeping it and shaking it.  He slept for us, devoured his food and seemed to be responding to the antibiotics. 

September 22 (Day 13 Post-op).  When we came to visit Dr. Inaki Checa told us around 3AM Chockie started to have increased effort in his breathing but his respiratory rate as ok. They put him in oxygen from about 3AM-8AM and gave him a Lasix injection. After doing an echo they saw he had pleural effusion (fluid in the chest, outside the lungs). That was the only change they saw; his heart, valve and pulmonary pressures were the same. His temperature and heart rate were normal so they didn’t feel it was chest infection. Since Chockie was still on Heparin they did not want to take a sample and did not want to stop the Heparin in case he was still going to throw clots. They decided to just monitor it for the time being. His demeanor was the same to us, he ate, walked and played with his Froggie. We felt his respiratory effort had increased but his respiratory rate was about the same as the previous day. 

September 23 (Day 14 Post-op). They gave Chockie his last IV antibiotics, removed his catheters and started him on oral antibiotics that he would be on for the next 6 weeks. They also stopped the Heparin and reduced his aspirin back to normal dosage to see if the pleural effusion would resolve. Dan said his murmur was also reducing and really wanted him to do some more walking and take deep breaths. This was the first time in MONTHS he had eaten out of a dog bowl and didn’t give up on trying to get the pieces of food out of the bowl. The plan was for us to bring him home the following day. 

September 24 (Day 15 Post-op). Anne called and said the pleural effusion had gotten worse, they saw more fluid in Chockie’s chest cavity and he was more symptomatic.  During his echo he went blue, he had not been fighting it rather he was just laying there. They decided they needed to sedate him and drain the fluid. Anne said she got about 20mL of fluid out of him and was not blood, which was good. There was still another pocket of fluid but it was close to his heart so she didn’t want to mess with it. They had sent it off to cytology and to be cultured. He had been coughing a little bit that day and he had crackling in his lungs, which they thought might have been pneumonia. He still eat really good for us.

September 25 (Day 16 Post-op).  Anne called in the morning and told me they kept Chockie in the ICU overnight and they had called her a couple of times over night about his effort as it had gotten worse. She scanned him and saw he had accumulated more fluid. The cytology came back as inflammatory cells so it was consistent with pneumonia or inflammation from the surgery. Tom tapped his chest and they got about 10mLs of fluid out but there was still more in there. They had put the IV catheter back in and had started him back on the IV antibiotics. I met with Anne before my visit with Chockie, she said after my visit they planned to put the chest drain back in. They were hoping once all the fluid was out from around his lungs they could then re-xray them and see how they compared from the previous x-rays.  His murmur was about a 2-3 and his heart size had not increased.  I saw Chockie for about 2 minutes in the ICU as I wanted to close the door to his oxygen cage because he couldn’t breathe, he was gasping for air, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY HEARTBREAKING. His effort had most definitely gotten much worse. This was probably the worse I’d ever seen him during our whole journey, before and after surgery.  When I got back to the apartment I completely lost it, I was hysterical.  It was the first time while being in the UK I felt like that. I am not an excitable person and usually do very well in emergency situations but this day was such a roller coaster.  Shortly thereafter, Anne called and said when they put the drain in they got an additional 120 mLs of fluid out and he immediately stopped gasping for air and ate a bunch of chicken. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

September 26 (Day 17 Post-op).  Dr. Anne called in the morning she said clinically Chockie looked really good. He went running to the front of his cage when she went to see him, he ate really well again for Sarah.  At 2:45 AM they drained an additional 60 mL of fluid, she said he still had a little bit of effort but nothing like yesterday. They kept him in oxygen overnight night, the x-rays of his lungs showed the right one looked ok but the left one was very diseased, not as bad as she thought it would be though. When I went to visit Chockie Anne had just scanned him and she said no new fluid had accumulated since they removed the 60mL at 2:45 AM and they would probably remove the drain that afternoon. His pulmonary hypertension was still stable, no coughing, the cultures hadn’t grown anything and he was breathing much easier. Anne went to go get Chockie for me, she came back and she said I swear he was doing so good all day but all of the sudden he started having an increase in his effort. They took me back to the ICU to see him, he was sleeping but when he realized it was me he was very excited. We took him out for a a quick walk and then took him back to ICU. When he saw Sarah and Alison getting his food bowl out, he started barking and demanding his food! I fed him everything in his bowl, he SCARFED it down. I went to wash my hand and when I came back to say goodbye I knew he was going to start screaming, luckily he kept it down and when I looked back to him, he was craning his neck to see me. These were all very good signs from him, his personality was coming back, what a change from the previous day.  Anne called me that evening and said she had just scanned him and there still no fluid in his chest so they were removing the chest drain. She said they discussed Chockie at their meeting and since he still has effort and was oxygen dependent (he was in at 60%) they wanted to give him Lasix to see if it was pulmonary edema. My heart sank when I found out he was going back on Lasix but I told myself if this is was going to make him feel better then so be it!

September 27 (Day 18 Post-op).  This was my last day in the UK, I had extended my trip from 3 to 4 weeks and needed to get home to our other dogs. The plan was for my husband to stay in the UK with Chockie because we weren’t sure how much longer he would be in the hospital. Anne called in the morning and said Chockie’s demeanor was good, he ate, he was running to the front of his cage, playful and barking. After giving Lasix there were no more crackles, his lungs had cleared up and they were switching him to oral Lasix.  She had scanned him and there was no more pleural effusion,  his heart has shrunk being on the low dose of Lasix and the pneumonia had cleared up but he was still oxygen dependent at 60%. All his blood work looked good, his CRP was normal, the x-rays showed his lungs almost clear so it was pulmonary edema, the clot/lesion on his valve had caused him to go back into CHF.  Anne agreed to meet with me before seeing Chockie so I could see his echos through this whole process.

Echo prior to surgery - obviously massive leakage and huge left atrium.
Echo right after surgery - showed very little leakage. Echo 10 Days Post-op (9/19/19) - The left atrium was large and the leakage was much worse mostly likely due to the clot/lesion that formed. Echo 15 Days Post-op (9/24/19) - The left atrium was still large and there was still a lot of leakage. Echo 18 Days Post-op (9/27/19) - The left atrium had shrunk significantly on Lasix so he was responding very well to it. His pulmonary hypertension has improved as well.

September 28 (Day 19 Post-op) After my husband dropped me off at Heathrow he went to RVC to visit Chockie. Joon was on that weekend and told Alan that Chockie was out of oxygen, all his meds were oral, his temperature and appetite were good and he was very perky.  They had kept him in the ICU because they all knew him too well.  When Alan saw him he knew he was better, he was demanding to be stroked. Two hours into my flight I got a message that Chockie was going home and Anne had approved! They said he was stable and doing really well and thought it would be better for him to be out of the hospital.

Chockie did really well being with Alan out of the hospital. At first his respiratory rate was a bit high 32-38 but it slowly started going down, it wasn’t until he was back in the US for a week or two that it went down to the low 20’s. On September 30th Chockie went in for a recheck.  His lungs were still clear, his heart has shrunk more, his slight cough was either from his trachea or his virus (he had a collapsed trachea a couple weeks prior surgery), they lowered his dose of Lasix to see how he would respond.  This was the first time we really felt he made it! He was feeling so good, demanding attention, very alert with his supersonic vision and hearing. All the things he used to like to eat but started turning his nose up at were interesting again. 

October 3 (Day 25 Post-op) This was Chockie’s final discharge appointment, I woke up at 3AM so I could be a part of it. Anne was very pleased with his progress she said his heart had shrunk, his murmur was a 2-3, his pulmonary hypertension was gone and they had already previously stopped his Sildenafil so the Lasix also cleared that up, his leakage was mild to moderate compared to when his valve re-opened and the leakage was severe. The plan was to reduce his Lasix to once a day once he was back and settled in San Diego and have an echo with Dr. Orvalho on October 17th. 

Chockie came home on October 5th and he was like a new man with so much energy and a new zest for life. He had more energy than I ever remember him having, even as a puppy. He wanted to  run laps with his froggie in his mouth, he had never been that kind of dog prior to having MVD.  When we were home and settle I emailed Dr. Brockman to get clarification on what had actually happened during this crazy journey and this was his response:

“To answer your question, I understand that a lesion was identified on his valve.  If you recall, I was concerned that his murmur got much worse on the Saturday after surgery and suspected a clot (thrombus) on his valve.  I recall a “lesion” was identified at that time and at that time too, he lost the use of his leg (associated with lower blood pressure in the artery of that leg), thankfully only for a very short time.  The “circumstantial evidence” for a thrombus on the valve and thrombus affecting the front leg is pretty convincing. The only evidence that we have for an infection anywhere was a mild increase in body temperature and an increase in inflammatory markers (C reactive protein and white cell count) but we were unable to document bacteria anywhere.  He was given antibiotics as a precautionary measure and that, along with Anne managing his fluid build up was coincident with his recovery. 

Bottom line, in my opinion, he didn’t have an infection on his valve ever.  He may have had inflammation elsewhere (lungs, bladder) that was clinically unapparent that responded to antibiotics but we did not confirm that suspicion with any of the fluid/urine/blood samples we submitted.  Frustratingly, there are a lot of aspects of his clinical progression we don’t understand.  The most pleasing thing, of course, is that he is clinically much better.”

On October 17th we saw Dr. Orvalho for his echo. There was no fluid anywhere, no pulmonary hypertension, no arrhythmia, murmur was 3-4 and leakage was moderate. Dr. Orvalho said his left upper chamber was smaller but still enlarged, he said he was pleased with Chockie’s progress especially with all his post-op complications.  We did a renal panel and his kidneys looked good. At this point Chockie was still on Lasix once a day, Pimo, the 2 antibiotics (which were almost done), aspirin and Plavix. Anne reviewed his echo and felt it was similar to when he left although his heart was still a little large.  The plan was stay stay on the Pimo because of his heart size, stop the Lasix completely and have an echo recheck in one month.

We stopped Chockie’s Lasix on November 6th and other than GI Issues he was doing great! His respiratory rate stayed a steady 18. During this period of time Chockie started having severe upper GI issues, in addition to his lower GI issues. He would eat and then sit up for at least 2 hours after he ate, if he even wanted to eat. Without any invasive diagnostic testing I felt he was developing an ulcer. I discussed this with our primary vet and he advised giving him Prilosec.  We had Chockie’s follow up echo on December 3rd (which also coincided with Chockie being 3 months post-op) we finally got some good news with actual improvement.  Dr. Orvalho said his heart has shrunk; his leakage was mild compared to his echo in October it was still classified as moderate and he felt his murmur is right around a 3 compared to a 3/4 in October. Chockie’s progress was very slow but I was so happy he was progressing in the right direction. I spoke to Dr. Orvalho about the upper GI issues and he felt it was the Aspirin so we increased his Prilosec until RVC was able to review Chockie’s echo. When I sent off his echo images to RVC I asked them if we could stop the blood thinners as we were almost at the 3 month mark. This was Dr. Brockman’s response “Thank you for the update after Chockie’s latest echo with Dr Orvalho, we are please he’s doing so well at home and is full of energy! We have looked at his images as a team and are happy to report there are no signs of any clots and you can stop both Aspirin and Clopidogrel now.” This was the first time I felt like we made some real medical process.

Chockie has never been more full of life! You can just tell he feels so good, his eyes are full of life again and is back to doing everything he used to do before having MVD - making scandals, sleeping comfortably on his back, being the king. We are still dealing with some lower GI and eating issues which I have pinpointed to the US Vetmedin. We are lucky enough to have family in the UK and are able to get it there. Our next echo will be March 3rd and we will see if his heart has shrunk further and if he can go off the Pimo.

From all of this I learned a lot but the two important things are:

Everything happens for a reason. When we were so desperate to get Chockie’s surgery date moved up, he would not of been fit enough to fly. While we waited for his surgery he actually stabilized.  You know your dog best. If you feel something is off with them take them to the vet or if they are in the hospital, be pushy about it. It makes me very uncomfortable to be pushy but I realized I know all Chockie’s little idiosyncrasies and this helped us in his recovery.

Update,

Chockie had his 6 month echo last week, Dr. Orvalho said his heart looked almost identical to his previous echo. I heard back from Dr. Anne at RVC today and she said he Chockie could stop his Pimo. I am going to do an echo in 6 weeks for my own peace of mind since he had so many post-op complications. He is completely off all meds now and I'm hoping his GI issues continue to improve.

Breed: Long Haired Chihuahua
Age: 10
Diagnosis: Stage D
Surgery Date: September 9, 2019
Hometown: San Diego, California
Owner: Megan Deglow & Alan Walton
Instagram: chockietherussian
Primary Vet: Dr. McClellan & Dr. Tannler, Torrey Pines Animal Hospital
Cardiologist: Dr. Orvalho, UC Davis Veterinary Medical Center San Diego
Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Bella Phillips

Bella has been in my life now for almost five years as of May 2020. When I first knew Bella was going to be mine permanently I took her to a regular vet for a basic checkup. Right away the first thing they noticed was Bella had a heart murmur. My Vet took X-rays and explained that she had an enlarged heart and in the future it would eventually cause her to have more issues. A few years went by with no issues and one day everything changed. Bella was getting out of bed and suddenly fainted and began to urinate as she was gasping for air. This lasted for about 5 seconds and then she slowly came to. Bella acted normal as if nothing ever happened. It was a very scary thing to witness.

I took Bella right away to my vets office and they explained to me it was from her heart. I thought it was from having a seizure. The doctors prescribed her a medicine called furosemide and eventually took her off after a few months. Bella was doing well and about 4 months later she had her worst episode to date which ended up being full blown congestive heart failure (CHF). She was very lethargic and started drooling heavily, she was even having difficulties controlling herself from pooping. It was extremely scary to see her in that condition. I rushed her to the emergency room right away and they immediately began to give her diuretics via an IV drip to drain the fluids from her lungs. We stabilized her and checked out of the clinic. Now she was prescribed furosemide again indefinitely.

I made an appointment with a veterinarian cardiologist, Dr. Mikaela Mueller from Seattle Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Mueller explained that Bella was in stage C of her heart disease and that her mitral valve was failing. Bella was officially diagnosed with mitral valve disease (MVD). Dr. Mueller prescribed two more medications in addition to the furosemide, Bella was prescribed Pimobendan and Enalapril. Dr. Mueller explained that Bella would need to be on these meds for the rest of her life (Bella now was given 6 months to a year to live). Dr. Mueller did tell me another option was available, a mitral valve repair surgery in Japan and London (RVC).

I decided to have Bella’s records sent to the RVC to see if she qualified for the surgery and I received word back shortly after that Bella was a good candidate! From there I booked the closest date I could and went through all the hurdles of getting Bella ready to go to London which included the following steps,

1. Registration as an ESA animal

2. Getting an updated rabies shot

3. Getting a health certificate so she’s allowed in the UK

4. Booking a flight that allowed ESA animals to fly into London

5. Book lodging accommodations

I then was told about a Facebook group called Mighty Hearts MVD Community and was introduced to Nate Estes who was a life saver on guiding me through the entire process which allowed me to get everything done. Eventually our date came up and we made it safely to the UK (which was such a blessing but that’s another story all together). Finally Bella got to meet Dr. Dan Brockman and his amazing staff who were very so nice. I felt good about the surgery after my pre-op appointment because they made me feel so comfortable with the procedure by clearing explaining everything.

During my time I met a few other families who were also having the same surgery and I was relieved to see their dogs made it through the Initial procedure. Bella’s surgery day came and she did great. I was so nervous, finally Dr. Brockman gave me the call after Bella made it through the first stage of surgery and her heart was beating on its own. Then I was told Bella was moved to recovery. Bella recovered really well, each day getting better and better. Bella was even released a day early! We stayed for another week as many do to make sure she was going to be ok. Bella was placed on aspirin, blood thinners and continued to stay on pimobendan until they felt her heart was strong enough to not need the meds anymore. Bella had a small blood clot that eventually went away on its own.

We finally made it back home to Seattle and continued to follow the three month recovery instructions given to us by the RVC. I’m happy to say five months later Bella and I received the best news ever at her recent checkup. NO MORE MEDS are needed! Bella is now doing wonderful and plays nonstop like a puppy. This experience was life changing and has given me lots of new perspectives on life. It’s a stressful process to get through no doubt, but in the end it’s worth every step.

Love Nolan & Bella

Breed: Chihuahua/Jack Russell Age: 11 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: September 16th, 2019 Hometown: Seattle Washington, USA Owner: Nolan Phillips Primary Vet: Afford A Vet
Cardiologist: Dr. Mikaela Mueller Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Bailey Grimshaw

Bailey entered our hearts and lives on July 13, 2010 at the age of nine weeks. She was an adorable, but difficult puppy. She had little respect for our house, but we quickly fell in love with this adorable little girl. She is the most special of all of the dogs we have ever had, and that is saying a lot. We cannot imagine our lives without Bailey.

Bailey is a quiet girl, and likes to spend time with us and sometimes plays with her toys. One time she is not at all quiet is when she wants something, and if she feels that she is being ignored, she begins to howl. In fact she just began howling at this very moment. Her howl sounds like a woman screaming, and we actually had someone come to the door one day thinking that something terrible had happened. The gentleman was very surprised when I told him that it was our dog making that terrible racket.

Bailey loves to go for rides in her dad's car. She rides in the back seat, in her special car seat that allows her to look out the window. She does show great concern when he backs up, and keeps her eyes on the rear tire to make certain that he is doing it correctly. She loves traveling under 35 miles per hour, but usually naps during higher speeds.

Bailey has had reasonably good health, but had calcium oxalate bladder stones at the age of two years that required surgery. She has them again, but because of her heart disease, surgery has been put on hold. She shows no signs of them causing any concern at this time.

We decided over two years ago that we would no longer board Bailey, so now we plan vacations that include her. We have always believed that she would not handle flying well, so we drive to our destinations, and we often discuss places that we want to take her. The United Kingdom has never come up during those discussions.

We have had times when Bailey refuses to eat. We always fed her food that her veterinarian recommended, and often prescription diets. She refused to eat in March while we were on vacation, and Ed found information on a raw diet. We switched her to that diet, and she has been excited about every meal since we made the change. Her overall health has also improved.

Bailey was first diagnosed with a heart murmur on July 25, 2018, when she was taken to the veterinarian for a suspected urinary tract infection. She did not have an infection, but Dr. Joel Conn at Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic noted that she had a grade II/VI systolic heart murmur. The technician had listened to her heart prior to the doctor entering the exam room, and found no sign of the murmur. The doctor spent extra time listening to Bailey's heart. Her murmur could have very easily been missed without Dr. Conn taking extra time on this part of the examination.

Bailey was seen by Dr. Thomas Morrison at Coast to Coast Cardiology on August 2, 2018, who confirmed Dr. Joel Conn's finding. Bailey was diagnosed with Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease, stage B2 at that time. She was prescribed Pimobendan. We were devastated by this report, and believed that our time with our precious girl was going to be much shorter than we had hoped. She was prescribed Furosemide during a subsequent visit.

Ed did a great amount of research, and found that mitral valve surgery was a possibility. Mighty Hearts Project provided a wealth of information, and we were impressed that Nate Estes, the president of Mighty Hearts Project, was available for telephone consultations. We began the process to learn if Bailey was a candidate for surgery, and sent all required information to Royal Veterinary College (RVC).

Bailey was evaluated by Dr. Reid Nakamura at Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center in Thousand Oaks, on March 23, 2019, where a recheck echocardiography examination was performed to send to the surgical team at Royal Veterinary College. Dr. Nakamura gave Bailey 12 to 18 months to live, and was very negative that surgery was a viable option. We both firmly believed that he was wrong.

We received an email from the RVC stating that Bailey was a candidate for surgery on April 11, 2019, and that a telephone conference was scheduled for 8:30 AM on April 16. We eagerly awaited the call, and spoke with Dr. Poppy Bristow. Following that call we waited to be assigned a surgery date for Bailey. We received an email on April 23 scheduling Bailey's surgery date for September 9, 2019. On July 5, we received a letter giving Bailey a surgery date of September 2, which we accepted. Waiting for the surgery date was difficult because Bailey's heart disease was advancing rapidly.

Bailey was seen by Dr. Emily Chapel at Coast to Coast Cardiology on April 12, 2019, and was now in stage C. Benazepril and Spironolactone were added to her medication regimen. Bailey was seen by Dr. Jordan Vitt at Coast to Coast Cardiology on August 1, who determined that she was now in Stage D, and changed her diuretic from Furosemide to Torsemide . We were very grateful that we were close to her surgery date.

We are very fortunate that Bailey happened to see Dr. Kayla Walti at Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic during this process, and Dr. Walti became her primary care doctor. Dr. Walti did an excellent job of making certain that Bailey had everything in place in order for her to travel to the United Kingdom for her September surgery date. This doctor even came in four hours early on the morning that we were leaving on a trip so that she could see Bailey before the three of us left town. She also came in on her day off to see Bailey prior to our trip to the United Kingdom. Needless to say, we feel truly blessed to have such a dedicated doctor on our side.

Ed did an amazing job making all of the preparations for our journey to the United Kingdom for Bailey's surgery. I was preoccupied with family members who needed my help, and did not have much extra time to spend assisting Ed with this sometimes frustrating process. Mighty Hearts Project and the Mighty Hearts Facebook Group were very helpful during this often confusing process.

We were very nervous about the flight with Bailey because she had never flown before, and also the fact that she was on a diuretic (Torsemide) made us very concerned. Bailey handled the flight like a seasoned traveler, and had no accidents during our flight. She even used a potty pad for the very first time. Previously, she just tore them to shreds.

We finally arrived into London and settled into our accommodations. We were very concerned about Bailey when we got up the first morning in Harpenden. She was unresponsive, and at first appeared that she might require immediate medical intervention. She was on the floor at the foot of our bed, and did not respond to us when we spoke her name. We stroked her, and still there was still no response. Even gently shaking her brought no response.

Bailey had an appointment at RVC that afternoon for her surgery pre-op, but we considered taking her there immediately if she did not begin to respond. After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, she began to respond. She improved gradually, but was fine after a couple of hours. We could only attribute this issue to the stress of the very long travel day that she had experienced. Bailey had completely recovered by the time of her pre-op appointment, much to our relief.

The morning that we dropped Bailey off at the hospital for surgery was a very difficult one. We knew that she was in good hands, but we also knew that the surgery had its risks. We were very relieved when we received the call from Dr. Dan Brockman that surgery went well, and that he would call again later that afternoon. Bailey's recovery was for the most part uneventful, but she did develop a hematoma during surgery, and also developed arrhythmia following surgery for which Sotalol was prescribed. The level of care that Bailey received after her surgery was outstanding. Dr. Brockman, Alison and Sarah provided expert, loving care for our little girl.

We had our last appointment at the RVC before we prepared to depart home, we were all cleared for travel. It was a wonderful flight home with our precious girl. During the flight home we thought so much about the fact that we had no assurances on the flight to the United Kingdom that Bailey would be with us on the return flight, we felt so blessed. It has now been three months since Bailey's surgery, and she is doing well. It was noted during her echocardiogram at Coast to Coast Cardiology in October that she does have regurgitation of the tricuspid valve, and slight enlargement on the right side of her heart. We were assured that it was not of concern to the doctors, and is somewhat common after this surgery. We just had another recheck recently and we are thrilled to report Bailey is off all medications.

Bailey is more alert than she has been in more than a year, and definitely has more energy. We are very grateful to the surgical team that extended her life, and for the encouragement that we received from the members of the Mighty Hearts Facebook Group. Most of all, we are forever indebted to Mighty Hearts Project for the education that we received about mitral valve disease. We thank the president of Mighty Hearts Project, Nate Estes, for his guidance and direction while we were on this journey. It was the road less traveled, but it was definitely a journey worth taking that we will hold dearly in our hearts.

Love,

The Grimshaw Family

Breed: Pomeranian Age: 9 Diagnosis: Stage D Surgery Date: September 02, 2019 Hometown: Arroyo Grande, CA Owner: Ed & Jacklyn Grimshaw Primary Vet: Dr. Kayla Walti, Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic Cardiologist: Coast to Coast Cardiology Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Spatas Rocky Holm

Our little boy Spatas was born on the 16th of January, 2008 in Vilnius, Lithuania. And his Mommy is a banking consultant and was travelling for assignments before settling down in Denmark, Spatas has had his share of travel and relocation. He enjoys seeing in new places and is extremely easy to travel with, he’s a natural born globetrotter!

For the past 4 years he has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark and calls it his home, though he gets to travel quite a bit to visit his both sets of grandparents that dote on him and spoil him rotten. He has two big human siblings, a 10 year old brother and a 16 year old sister, and enjoys being the only pup in the family, as he loves being spoiled and hates sharing attention and especially food!

Spatas has always been a very healthy boy and as he is inherently a slow and relaxed guy, he has never suffered any major injuries. In 2016 after an episode of pain in his hips he got diagnosed with hip dysplasia, but after a round of anti-inflammatory medication he got better and it has not bothered him since. We know it is a congenital defect and it has not disappeared, so we do our best to keep his little hips warm and avoid swimming in cold water, which, living on an island is sometimes hard to avoid.

On the 4th of May, 2019 Spatas woke up struggling to breathe. He was sitting in our bed and breathing really rapidly, though the weather was cool and he was certainly not overheating. We got really worried, as Spatas is not a morning person, and until we call him for walkies he usually rolls in bed or naps on the sofa, yet there he was, wide awake and struggling to breathe. The day before we had taken him to his “happy place” which is an old military fortress in a shape of a pentagon called Kastellet in Copenhagen. It’s around an hour’s walk and he enjoys it immensely, but in hindsight the exercise might have caused one of his chords to rupture.

As it was a Saturday and we had never had any pet related emergencies, we panicked that our family vet may not be open yet, so we called the only 24/7 pet hospital we found online, which was a 15 mins drive away. While getting there Spatas was sitting on my lap and I could feel he was struggling to breathe and his heart was beating super fast and I already suspected it was heart related. The moment we walked in the hospital’s door, a nurse came and took one look at his gums and scooped him up and ran away. We were left standing knowing that something very bad has happened to our baby boy. We stood in the corridor waiting for someone to come out and tell us what was going on and I was hoping and praying it was something treatable, like pneumonia or infection, but deep in my heart I knew it was his heart.

Spatas spent 36 hours in intensive care as it was weekend and they could only release him on Monday after a full checkup by cardiologists. He was diagnosed with MVD on Monday, the 6th of May, 2019. The doctor prescribed Cardisure (pimobendan), furosemide and Cardalis (Benazepril hydrochlorid/spironolactone) and gave him 6 to 12 months to live. To say we were devastated would be an understatement. This disease hit us completely unexpectedly and we just couldn’t believe that medication is the only thing they can offer us and that we’re running out of time with our sweet and lively baby. That’s when we started searching online for treatment options for MVD and stumbled upon the Mighty Hearts Project page on Facebook and learned about surgery options. The very afternoon we emailed our cardiologist and told him we want to pursue the option of having Spatas operated on and asked him to contact RVC. We got a date for surgery (19th November, which was later changed to 21st of October) on the 25th of May, so there were only 19 days between the devastating diagnosis and receiving a surgery date and finding hope. 

Two weeks before the surgery Spatas had whole body scan and required blood tests. They found that he had some elevated tests numbers (45 while the norm is up to 25) CRP marker (C-reactive protein) and our cardiologists were not sure RVC would still accept him for surgery. We were super stressed as we had no idea what was causing the inflammation as our baby looked happy and healthy and had no diseases or injuries that could explain it. Thankfully, when we repeated the test in 10 days the marker was back to normal and we got the green light to come to RVC for surgery.

We arrived to Harpenden on the 16th October, Spatas met Dr. Dan Brockman and the crew during his pre-op exam on the 17th and we delivered him for his surgery in the early morning of Monday, the 21st of October. Both our cardiologists Jakob and Anders flew in from Copenhagen to observe Spatas’ surgery as our little boy was (and still is) the only Danish patient to ever get this surgery. It was really nice to have them there and know that in case Dan or others are missing any information about Spatas or his condition, our wonderful doctors that diagnosed him will be there to provide it.

Spatas surgery went without complications and he recovered very smoothly. The only hiccup in his recovery was a mild case of diarrhea that resolved itself within a few days. We went home on the 1st of November, Spatas was taken off pimobendan at discharge, as his heart had returned to its normal size. We had our 1 month post-op checkup two weeks ago, which confirmed Spatas has a grade 2 murmur, which is normal and expected, and is otherwise healthy. The only problem we currently have is a mild separation anxiety that Spatas started displaying after we returned from London. After a consultation with a dog behaviorist we have adjusted our daily routine a little and provide him with more mental stimulation and structure and he has started showing improvement.

We couldn’t be happier with the outcome and will be forever grateful to Nate and the Mighty Hearts family for their guidance and support. We’re sure that without Mighty Hearts we would not be where we are today.

 Best regards,

Egle & Spatas Holm’s

Breed: Longhaired Dachshund & Beagle mix Age: 11 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: October 21, 2019 Hometown: Copenhagen, Denmark Owner: Egle Holm Primary Vet: Østerbro Dyreklinik, Copenhagen, Denmark Cardiologist: Dr. Jakob Willesen & Anders Simon Schrøder, Frederiksberg Small Animal Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Sally Fiksman

After a routine check-up, about 3 years ago, meaning Sally was about 5 years old, the doctor heard a heart murmur. The Doctor advised me to take Sally to the veterinarian Cardiologist, he was the one who indicated her pathology. Sally was diagnosed with MVD in B2 status.

Her cardiologist put her on a treatment regimen of (Vetmedin) and explained the disease process. About a year later, I started giving Spironolactone and a few months later, also Amlodipine. All this at the same time deteriorated her kidneys so I also had to change her diet. It was not easy since they had warned me that the disease continued its progress and that at some point some determination would have to be made.

It was at the end of 2018 when Dr. Carpenter already told me that the time had come. Sally was still in stage B2 but the progression of her illness already indicated the ideal time to operate on her.  With my veterinarians and Nate's help, I was able to do all the necessary paperwork for admission to both Japan and the Jasmine clinic. We completed the quarantine process after 6 months.

 We arrived in Japan on June 25 2019 after a long trip from Miami. On the 27th I had a pre-op appointment with Dr. Sayaka Takeuchi and after seeing Sally and how she was doing so well compared to most others Jasmine said the risks outweighed the benefits to the surgery because surgery wouldn’t change her current condition by much as she was asymptomatic. I decided at that time, with the jet lag and as I was very nervous to not operate on Sally. The funny thing is that I paid for the operation even thinking that I would not operate on her at that time.

 Again with the help of Nate who is always so patient and the "mom" of another newly operated dog in japan, I finally decided that proceeding was the best option for us. As many may understand this disease is very unpredictable. Sally was only 8 and the chances of her progressing were immanent.

 Finally, they operated on July 2, 2019. My nerves are not the purpose of this text but for those who want to know, it is not easy. They were days of great anxiety and anguish. I recommend not being alone in your journey, I had the help of my sister and it was a great support.

 Sally survived the surgery and did great. The surgeons actually found a few torn chordae tendineae and were very surprised she didn’t progress further before surgery or show any signs. Sally did not eat until after 6 days of the operation. This also made her not recover as fast as other dogs but she slept in our rented apartment on the fifth night as Jasmine thought this was better for Sally, we would have to come to Jasmine daily for her rechecks.

 Little by little she regained her strength and was eating much better. eventually we made it to our last appointment to verify Sally was good to go back to Miami. On July 13 we were already flying back to Miami. After a month I could say that things were already back to normal as before the operation. Sally was acting very vital and happier, so much that she had to be stopped so that she did not run since she was still in the 3 months of post-op.

At her recent checkup review they were all normal values and the heart was no longer so big. Sally is exactly the same as before her operation in every way, except that the disease is now controlled. Doing this surgery was the most difficult experience of my life yet I have my Sally back for many more years to come thanks to these amazing team of doctors that dedicate there lives to our animals and to the Mighty Hearts Project team and the community that helped us to get to surgery and offer us so much support.

Sincerely,

Fernando & Sally Fiksman

Breed: Beagle Mix Age: 8 Diagnosis: Stage B2 Surgery Date: July 2, 2019 Hometown: Miami Beach Owner: Fernando Fiksman Primary Vet: Dr Covadonga Talavera, VCA South Dade Cardiologist: Dr Carpenter, Jupiter Pet Emergency & Specialty Center Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi & Team at, Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center

Toto Ardila

We rescued Toto when he was about 1-2 years old, Toto is the best chihuahua you’ll ever know. He doesn’t fit the stereotype of a chihuahua, he’s calm, kind, gentle, super clingy and he’s the sweetest boy. He’s a favorite patient according to his doctors. Toto was healthy for all of his life, but on July of 2018 he developed a cough. We didn’t think much of it, but after about a week or so he was still coughing, which is when we decided to take him to a doctor. He was treated for kennel cough first and after that did nothing to his cough. We decided to go back to the doctor’s clinic. After performing x-rays we found his heart was so enlarged that it was pressing on his trachea and that was causing the cough. We were told there wasn’t much we could do and the doctor said that heart medications are bad, so she sent him home with no prescriptions (this was a different doctor not Dr. Dauguette).

What the doctor told us didn’t sound right to me at all, which is when my inner Sherlock Holmes kicked in. I spent hours researching and came to the conclusion that Toto needed to see a cardiologist ASAP. It turns out Dr. Culwell, his current cardiologist is the only board certified cardiologist in the area. I scheduled the earliest appointment they could give us. On August 30th, 2018 the scariest thing happened. Toto had a syncope episode in the middle of the night. He cried out and peed the bed and was not responsive. He was rushed to the ER where they were able to stabilize him with oxygen and he was prescribed Pimobendan (Vetmedin), and diuretics.

In September, 2019 Toto was finally seen by a cardiologist, this is when we got the devastating news and all the details of his heart condition. Toto was officially diagnosed with degenerative valve disease severely affecting his mitral valve, he had developed pulmonary hypertension. The hypertension in the lungs is what caused his syncope episode. We asked the one question no one wants to ask. How long does my dog have to live? “6 to 18 months is his prognosis” said Dr. Culwell. This was a very sad day for me, I cried so much at the doctor’s office. It was very surreal because no one ever thinks this could happen to their beloved pet. Toto was prescribed additional medications to help with his condition: Enalapril, Sildenafil (for his pulmonary hypertension), Spironolactone, Pimobendan, and Furosemide.

I never lost hope after hearing my dog was dying and I’m so glad I didn’t because I continued to do my research and that’s when I found the wonderful Mighty Hearts Project MVD Community. I joined late September 2018 and quietly followed many cases of dogs who had the surgery in the UK as well as Japan, some were successful and others were not, and it was based on that we made the decision to go to Japan to Dr. Uechi who is the person who pioneered mitral valve repair on dogs and has the highest success rates to date.

Toto’s surgery was successful, but he continues to have some issue on the right side of his heart (Tricuspid Valve) this is what’s preventing him from coming off the Pimobendan, but other than that he is doing fantastic and we’re so happy he’s still with us and hope he can live many many more happy years next to us.

Breed: Chihuahua Age: 9-10 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: April 30th, 2019 Hometown: Dallas, TX Owner: Karen Ardila Primary Vet: Dr. Dauguette, Crossroads Animal Clinic Arlington, TX Cardiologist: Dr. Nicole Culwell, Medvet Dallas Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi & Team at, Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center

Samy Rodriguez

In September 2018, Samy had an episode of congestive heart failure. After a visit from his Vet, David made calls to obtain all information he could find on MVR. Fortunately, David connected with Nate Estes who recommended that we contact Dr. Masami Uechi at the JASMINE Clinic as an option for Samy’s surgery. David began researching the requirements and process for a possible trip to Japan for Samy’s procedure.

On October 25, 2018, David sent an email message to JASMINE Clinic, Attention: Dr. Masami Uechi. Samy’s medical information was provided to Dr. Uechi from his Vet Cardiologist, Dr. Yuhas. Dr. Uechi in return sent us information regarding the Quarantine process, payment and screening tests required before a determination can be made if Samy would be a candidate for surgery

On January 8, 2019 we received notification from JASMINE Clinic of tentative dates for Samy. His Pre-op appointment was scheduled for April 18 at 1:00 pm and Mitral Valve Repair surgery was scheduled for April 22 at 11:00 am.

An issue that we needed to address was having to register Samy as an Emotional Support Animal in order to have him in the cabin for the flight over to Japan. On February 7 we registered Samy with ESA Registration of America, completed a questionnaire and followed-up with a conference call with the ES Therapist. This process was necessary so that the Emotional Support Letter could be issued and presented to the ANA Airline special services representative, This was necessary to ensure our Samy could safely travel in the cabin without risking his health during our travel.

Arrangements were confirmed with Ms. Atsuko Kojima for use of an AirBnb apartment in Azamino for our dates requested. During this time, required forms were completed and sent to the Chief Animal Quarantine Services at Haneda Airport, Japan. A very helpful recommendation from Nate Estes was to arrange transportation from the Pet Taxi Services provided by Mr. Izu.

On April 9 we received approval from USA Agricultural Services, with certification and seal on our Import documents for the Animal Quarantine Services.

On April 15 we arrived in Tokyo, Haneda Airport. We went directly to the Animal Quarantine Services area and provided the required paperwork for approval. We were also given the export quarantine certificate form to complete and told to make appointment prior to departure from Japan.

We attended Samy’s pre-op appointment with Dr. Sayaka Takeuchi on April 18. Samy’s surgery date was confirmed for April 23 at 7:00 am. Dr. Takeuchi provided us with a very comprehensive explanation of the MVR surgical procedure. Everything up to this point had been very stressful and something of an emotional challenge. This meeting was just as traumatic. It was here when you realize that the decision that you made regarding the life of your fur baby is really going to take place.

On April 23 at 6:30 am, Ms. Atsuko Kojima picked us up from the apartment and drove us to Samy’s 7 am appointment at JASMINE Clinic. He was shaved and prepped and a few hours after his surgery we met with Dr. Uechi who reviewed the procedure and the before and after images of his heart.

Once Samy started eating and his complete blood count numbers improved, he was discharged on April 28. His discharge medications were Clopidogrel 25 mg for 30 days and Rivaroxaban 10 mg for 6 days. No cardiac medication necessary. He was put on strict rest and given his Post-op review appointment schedule – Appointments were on May 2, 4, and 11. On his last appointment at JASMINE Clinic Samy was cleared to travel back home.

On May 12 we had an appointment scheduled with the Animal Quarantine Service at Haneda Airport for final paperwork to approve export to USA. Mr. Izu, Pet Taxi took us to this appointment.

We arrived at Haneda Airport on May 14 at 9:20 pm for our 12:15 am departure to Los Angeles.

Samy’s first appointment with his Primary Care vet was on May 23. At that time the plan was to keep Samy with limited activity and continue giving him the Pimobendan.

On June 10 Samy had his first appointment with his Vet Cardiologist. The evaluation was very good and our Cardiologist indicated that she would communicate her findings with Dr. Sayaka Takeuchi and discuss future plans for care.

At the August 6 appointment with Samy’s Vet Cardiologist, he was taken off all medication and recommended that he start taking short walks every other day.

Our journey has been a long and stressful one, but we thank God for Samy’s surgery and recovery. We would like to express our appreciation for all the support and prayers we received during our amazing journey. Special thanks to Nate Estes, Drs. Uechi, Takeuchi and Takemura, Atsuko Kojima and Mr. Izu, from Pet Taxi Service.

For anyone with specific questions about Samy’s clinical experiences, please feel free to contact us through the Mighty Hearts website.

May God Bless Mighty Hearts Friends and their Furry Babies.

David and Dolores Rodriguez

Breed: Chihuahua Mix Age: 11 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: April 23rd, 2019 Hometown: Covina, CA Owner: Dolores and David Rodriguez Primary Vet: Dr. Joni Nasser, Community Companion Animal Hospital Cardiologist: Dr. Danielle Yuhas, , VCA Advanced Veterinary Care Center Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi & Team at, Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center

Jager Howard

Jager’s story started in early March of 2019, I began to notice that Jager seemed to be tired and out of breath quickly and each time he laid down to rest, his breathing resembled that of a dog who just ran a mile. Ten months prior, Jager underwent surgery to be neutered and have dental work and had NO health issues at this time. I truly thought and believed that he had gained a pound or two since being neutered, in this case weight gain could have potentially cause his rapid breathing (similar to an overweight human running up a flight of stairs). However, in early March, Jager had a coughing episode that ended with a “goose honk” noise. I happened to have my phone in hand when he had this coughing spell, and I recorded it. I decided to take him in for his yearly visit a few months early. We went in to see Dr. Winter, and Jager seemed well and initially we thought sinus issues and allergies, because in North Carolina, pollen is AWFUL that time of year. Thank goodness for technology and the video of the coughing spell! After showing Dr. Winter the video, she said let’s take a radiograph to be sure nothing is wrong since there is coughing.

Immediately, she had concerns but wasn’t sure what exactly was going on. The x-ray was sent to a radiologist who confirmed that Jager was in congestive heart failure at only the age of 6. Dr. Winter suggested that we see a cardiologist so we took Jager into North Carolina State University a few days after diagnosis. We drove 2.5 hours up to Raleigh to see Dr. Anna MacManamey who did an echocardiogram, new thoracic x-ray, bloodwork, etc. She confirmed that Jager had been in congestive heart failure a few days prior, but it seemed to be cleared up now. Jager’s Mitral Valve Disease was considered to be Stage C since he had already had an episode of congestive heart failure. Dr. Mac also diagnosed Jager with a class 4/6 heart murmur. Jager was prescribed furosemide and pimobendan by Dr. Winter, his primary vet prior to seeing his cardiologist. Dr. Mac made a slight change in the dosages that were previously prescribed and added enalapril. Dr. Mac mentioned surgery being available overseas and that it was very costly. Immediately, I ruled out the option due to finances. After a few days, friends could tell that this was really affecting me and encouraged me to research the MVR surgery and dig deeper to see if it could be an option.

I reached out to the University of Florida Veterinary Hospital who already had 50-70 dogs on a waiting list and had no certain date of when they would start the surgery program. I also emailed the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in London and heard back from them only a few days later. I had everything sent over to them. The RVC quickly setup a phone conference with Dr. Dan Brockman to discuss the surgery. The conversation went well, and Dr. Brockman believed that Jager’s young age would aid in his recovery (and he was right!!!!). Only a day or two later, I heard back from the RVC with a surgery date of only 10 weeks away when I was expecting to receive a surgery date 6 months away. Prior to surgery, Jager did have few episodes where his medications had to be adjusted. There were many sleepless nights of waking up from hearing the slightest noise and counting respiratory rates and crying wondering if he would make it to his surgery date. Along the way, I met a friend who lives only 10 minutes away who had taken her dog to RVC for surgery just a few months prior, and I truly believe this was a sign from God that I was doing the right thing.

She helped me with the paperwork process and even watched Jager for me on some days that I had to work.  I had friends who stopped by my home to let him relieve his bladder while being on furosemide and helped to give him mid-day medications. I truly believe PTSD is real when it comes to having a dog with MVD.  Any cough or odd noise causes worry that this disease could be taking over his heart again. Jagers pre-operative visit, surgery, and all of his post-operative phone calls went amazing. We could not have asked for a better outcome.  Looking back, I can’t believe how fast the time went. Nate has been amazing to Jager and me as I’ve sent so many Facebook messages at all hours crying tears worrying if we would make it to surgery. This is easily the craziest roller coaster I’ve ever ridden.  Many days I felt like I was drowning, but that doesn’t compare to all of the love and smiles we are continuing to share due to a successful MVR surgery.  Thank you for everything you’ve done for us, Mighty Hearts!

Jager is now 8 weeks post-operative MVR surgery, and he is doing absolutely amazing.  He has no coughing spells, resting respiratory rate is continuously in the low 20’s and he has so much energy now, my little boy is back! 

AndreAnna & Jager

Breed: Maltese/Yorkie Age: 6 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: June 11th, 2019 Hometown: North Carolina, USA Owner: Andreanna Howard Primary Vet: Dr. Sami Winter, Capeside Animal Hospital Cardiologist: Dr. Anna MacManamey , North Carolina State University Veterinary Hospital Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Noah Jordan Camper Evitts

Noah had not been himself around the holidays (November/December of 2018). He had a general intolerance for too much activity which was in stark contrast to his usual disposition.

We took him in to see his regular doctor and after a quick listen to his heartbeat it was discovered that he had a heart murmur! That observation threw us into PANIC MODE. We immediately scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist. After an echo that fateful Tuesday the doctor came back to us with the diagnosis of M V D. We were dumbfounded confused and heartbroken. The cardiologist did tell us that surgery to correct EXISTED but as far as she knew it was only in Japan! She pulled a bag of meds from her pocket and said this would help Noah and keep him comfortable.

After tears, long hard sobs, prayers and with great effort I began poking around on the Internet. I found the Mighty Hearts Project and immediately signed up for the Florida project that had not yet taken off. In the interim we were consumed with Noah's ability to stay well long enough for the long long wait. Nate Estes helped guide me through the nightmare obstacle course and shortly thereafter we set forth on the daunting task of preparing for surgery for Noah out of the country. We decided on London after having a phone consultation with Dr. Dan Brockman and Poppy Bristow.

We were completely freaked out when we were told that October 11 would be the fastest appointment for surgery, shortly thereafter September 2 was given to us because of a sudden cancellation. As we were already in frequent dialogue with the R V C - they then offered us June 11 for a surgery date (we got about a week's notice). We were stressed financially to make it all happen and to get everything in order such as, the USDA paperwork, blood tests, type, echoes, airfare, hotel, request (more like demand) for time off from work - but it all worked out!

Dr. Brockman and Dr. Poppy Bristow saved our baby boy Noah. During the day of surgery I stayed inside a church begging and pleading for God not to take him from us. I visited every second I could. Slept next to him for every visit every day for as long as they would let me until they had to throw me out.

Noah came out of that surgery repaired! His heart had been surgically edited and he had an almost immediate change in demeanor. His follow up blood work - great. His follow up echo - a decrease in size of his heart and left ventricle. Is he perfect yet - no. But with lots of tender loving care, close monitoring, education (for us) about what to do what not to do ... holistic intervention etc. - he is doing pretty amazing! We hope to keep him going in that direction. His 2nd echo is in September - we will keep you posted.

We feel as though we were given a great gift from God. Noah is our child (as are our other fur and feather babies). There is NOTHING we would not have done to try to save him. We are just grateful for Dr. Brockman and his team. Grateful for Nate Estes. Grateful for this group and this website. But most of all - grateful to God for saving our Noah.

God bless us all and all of you. I pray everyone's fur babies have the love they so richly deserve, the chance to be loved and for a long healthy happy life.

Breed: Bichon Frise Age: 11 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: June 11th, 2019 Hometown: Illinois Owner: Patricia & Joseph Evitts Primary Vet: Dr Lisa Weaver, River Heights Veterinary Clinic Cardiologist: Dr. Lydia Soydan , VCA Aurora Animal Hospital Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

JoJo Reynolds

It all started with a cough….a cough that occurred when JoJo was excited.  Initially I didn’t think anything of it, as it was almost like he had something stuck in his throat, and at the worst maybe collapsed trachea.  But it persisted, and got worse.  JoJo was in perfect health, ideal weight, and not a care in the world.  We knew he had a heart murmur from day one….but I was uneducated as to what that meant for a dog as I also have a heart murmur, and it is in no way detrimental to my health.  So on the day we brought JoJo in for the cough, I had no idea I would be walking out with a death sentence.  In fact, I had always been the most scared of cancer as a diagnosis…. turns out there are more options for treatment for cancer than there are for this horrible diagnosis we all know as MVD.

My vet took JoJo back for some x-rays and returned telling me that he was in heart failure and most likely would not make it more than 6 months, and that we would medicate with increased dosages as the disease worsened until the medication would no longer help.  I was totally shocked and could not accept that.  Basically I said, “oh, hell no”.  It so happened that same day I had a cardiology appointment for myself and talked with my doctor about all the options available for humans with a similar condition.  Once I heard the myriad of options, I was even more determined to find help.  This was October 16, 2018 and JoJo had just turned 11 the prior month.

I frantically googled, called, googled some more, and found Mighty Hearts Project, made more calls, did more googling, drove my chosen cardiologist crazy, drove my vet crazy, and ended up starting the two quarantine procedures and scheduled surgery dates at both RVC and Jasmine for the beginning of May, about 6 months from the original diagnosis, the dreaded 6 months my vet had originally warned me of.  JoJo was put on the cocktail of meds we are all familiar with by now, and he actually stopped coughing the same day he was diagnosed.  I then started limiting his activity immediately, with the thought that the less his heart had to beat before the surgery, the better chance he would have.  We didn’t allow visitors, closed all our blinds, and hunkered down to as little stimulation as possible.  I made a checklist of everything that needed to be accomplished before May and did everything I could do in advance as soon as was humanly possible, hoping that I would get that option for an earlier date. On January 16th I got an e-mail offering me a date of February 18th.  Needless to say by the end of the day I had flights and lodging in the works and my cardio and vet both informed and on deck for the next steps. I couldn’t have done this so quickly without their complete and generous cooperation and willingness to learn about what was happening.

JoJo had his surgery on February 18th and it was a success. No serious complications and we were back home in early March. The team at the RVC is hands down the best medical team I have ever dealt with human or otherwise. No contest. They made me feel a part of their family and that they really cared about JoJo and me as well. They went out of their way to make us both comfortable physically and emotionally, every step of the way. I will always cherish the time I spent at the RVC and in Harpenden at Harpenden House with Tony McFarland. All the people that were part of this journey, from the taxi drivers to the customs agents, it’s really quite amazing looking back on it…amazing and miraculous. We are now coming up on our 6 month check-up here in August. I will always be nervous about every single check-up that he has from here until our last day together, but I wouldn’t trade the time I have with him for anything. He is back to living his happy life. The best money I ever spent…..JoJo is currently on no medications and we are working him back up to his normal activity level. His heart is in normal size range and was from almost immediately after surgery.

I know I would not have been able to do this so quickly and efficiently without the help and support from the Mighty Hearts group and those who came before me in this journey. There is so much emotion involved in each and every step in this journey. At times it was quite overwhelming. The days leading up to surgery and the surgery day were by far the most difficult days. Some of the most difficult of my entire life if not the most! There is so much support here from this group. I can never repay… though I think of how to every day. How to pay back all the kindness from everyone that was part of JoJo’s journey. I keep spreading the word and supporting those trying to make this an option for all those in need.

Breed: Chihuahua Age: 11 Diagnosis:Stage C Surgery Date: February 18th, 2019 Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI Owner: Shanna Reynolds Primary Vet: Dr. John Drobish, Great Lakes Hospital for Animals Cardiologist: Dr. Christian Weder, Petcardia Veterinary Cardiology Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Peanut Gallivan

 Our little Peanut is a Havanese.  She is sable coloured and very pretty.  We got her as a puppy from Thunder Bay, Ontario in August 2011.  She arrived on a WestJet flight full of life and even so full of energy.  She was tiny but she was mighty.  She was the runt of her litter and only slightly less than 3 lbs when she arrived.  Her sister Sydney was not at all sure she liked her but now they are great friends.

Peanut was always healthy and always happy.   She had a bladder infection in March 2016 and had two very large bladder stones removed a few months later.  Other than that she was completely healthy.

In November 2018 she had a cough.   At first we thought it would go away, it didn’t.  We took her to the vet a week later and were told she had a heart murmur and that there was nothing that could be done except medication to prolong her life slightly.  We were told that this was terminal, there was no surgery or other treatment available and they did not know how long she would live.

This visit was followed by a visit for an ultra sound that confirmed she had MVD and she was given furosemide and pimobendin.

After sitting home devastated for a few days I hit the internet, I could not believe that no one could fix a defective heart valve in an otherwise healthy dog.  That’s when I found Mighty Hearts Project and learned about the Mitral Valve Repair surgery.  I soon learned about Dr. Uechi in Japan and then Dr. Brockman in London. I then proceeded to learn everything I possibly could about the mitral valve, the surgery and the surgeons who performed the surgery.

I was shocked, to say the least, after being told that there was nothing that could help Peanut to find that there was a way to repair her heart.  I then found a cardiologist.  The closest one to us was a three hour drive at the University of Prince Edward Island.  We had an appointment in 2 weeks and met a wonderful team there, headed by Dr. Etienne Cote.  Dr. Cote was very knowledgeable and was familiar with the surgery.  He thought it would be a good option (the only) for Peanut and encouraged us to make contact with London and Japan to see if they considered Peanut a candidate for surgery.

In January 2019 I had my first contact with RVC and knew immediately upon talking to Dr. Brockman that we were in good hands.  Although the decision to go to London was easy, the process was a challenge. 

On April 3, 2019, I flew to London with Peanut.  She had been hospitalized twice during this time with a respiratory rate exceeding 80 breaths per minute.  Both times were short stays and she was given Lasix intravenously and sent home.  She was put on spironolactone during this time and was closely monitored by our cardiology team at UPEI (they called us every two days for updates!).

On April 9, 2019, I dropped her off at RVC and left in tears.  Approximately 5 hours later I received the wonderful news from Dr. Brockman that Peanut had come through her surgery with flying colors and was breathing on her own.  Due to a variety of factors, I actually got to see Peanut that afternoon around 3:00 pm.  She was in the ICU in an oxygen tent with lots of monitors and tubes but sitting up and, except for being a bit groggy, she looked like our Peanut.

From that point forward she improved dramatically every day.  The only complication that they discovered was a mark on her lung that was biopsied.  Although we did not find out what that was, we did find out that it was not cancerous – that was all that really matter since her breathing was remarkably healthy.

Peanut came home to Harpenden House 7 days after surgery.  7 days after that we traveled home to Nova Scotia, Canada.  She has remained on blood thinners and pimobendin for three months.

Peanut had her first post op echo in May and all is going very well.  She will soon have her 3 month echo which we hope will go equally well and hope will result in taking her off of her medications.

We cannot thank, RVC, Dr. Brockman, Dr. Bristow and their team and everyone at Mighty Hearts enough for all they did for us and our girl.  Along the way we met some wonderful people, made some lifetime friends and, had a fantastic time in a small town called Harpenden.

Breed: Havanese Age: 8 Diagnosis:Stage C Surgery Date: April 9th, 2019 Hometown: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Owner: Lisa Gallivan Primary Vet: Dr. Elizabeth Croft , Halifax Veterinary Hospital Cardiologist: Dr. Etienne Cote & Dr. Lynn O’Sullivan , University of Prince Edward Island Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Herbert Roth-Ramsland

Herbert was my father’s dog who lived in Israel. I brought him home from Israel after my father passed away so I could take care of him for my dad. My dad loved Herbert or “Herbie” as he would call him. He used to call me from Israel just to talk about him. I felt that I needed to bring Herbert home with me to America and care for him for my dad. A month after I returned home with Herbert my own dog Spencer passed away. I then knew for sure that I was supposed to take care of Herbert for my dad, and my dad would care for Spencer in heaven for me.  Many years ago, Dr. Joyce Herbert’s wonderful doctor noticed Herbert had a heart murmur while I took him for his checkup. He said that since Herbert was not showing any symptoms we just needed to keep an eye on things. I am blessed that Dr. Joyce picked up on it when he did, and had many conversations with me on what to expect and what we can do to help Herbert. In about 2017, Dr. Joyce noticed that his heart murmur was progressing, and after an echocardiogram he was put on Pimobendan.  About 4 months later I took him to a vet cardiologist who put him on several medications to help him stay stable.

I became a member of Mighty Hearts Facebook group, and I started to consider the option of surgery. Herbert was stable for a year on his medications. October 2018 after coming back from a family vacation I noticed Herbert was coughing a lot. His breathing seemed to have changed, and was more labored. In December, after much prayer I decided to send Herbert’s information to RVC. Herbert was determined to be a candidate for surgery, and got a surgery date of June 29, 2019. Herbert’s condition began to deteriorate, and he was diagnosed with Pneumonia. He was coughing a lot and having a lot of difficulty breathing to the point where we got him an in-home oxygen tank. The vets all told me that it was a miracle that he was still with me because his heart was so enlarged. It was the largest heart they had seen! Because of his heart being so enlarged it was restricting his airway. He also had many syncope episodes. This was a very stressful time, and we all felt Herbert would not make it until the end of June. After contacting RVC on a weekly basis and having a wonderful Cardiologist Dr. Swift advocate for Herbert RVC told me they had a new opening for Herbert April 29th. I will never forget the phone call I got from Dr. Brockman when hearing that Herbert made it through Mitral Valve surgery. I could almost feel my dad’s presence with me it was a very surreal moment.

Since having surgery at RVC Herbert is like a different dog. He has a new life, and is acting like a puppy again. It’s so nice to see him run and play. Before the surgery, he couldn’t make it a few feet without being completely out of breath. My husband had to give him oxygen daily, and I even went as far as buying oxygen supplement for him just so he could breathe. Herbert’s heart is now re shaping. He barely has any leakage of his mitral valve, and his heart reduced in size. We went for his almost 3-month post op check- up, and his heart is normal size again! I never thought that would be possible because of how big his heart was before surgery. We are thankful for Mighty Hearts Project as we would have never known about this life saving surgery without Mighty Hearts.

 I am thankful that my prayers were answered and I can spend more time with Herbie!

 Love and Blessings, xoxo

 Jennifer, David, Samantha, Alexa, Daniella, Stephy, Lola, and Oreo (Herbert’s family)

 Breed: Pekingese Age: 9 Diagnosis:Stage C Surgery Date: April 29th, 2019 Hometown: Palm Beach, Florida Owner: Jennifer Roth Primary Vet: Dr. John Joyce , Regal Animal Hospital Cardiologist: Dr. Simon Swift UF, Gainesville Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Jewel Belsinger

 I bought Jewel from a pet store in 2009 (I didn't know better at the time). I got her when my daughter, Lauren, was 9 years old. I was raising my daughter as a single mom and we wanted a pet to add to our family. We went to the pet store and saw the most adorable Cavalier puppy. We played with her in the visit room. She was quiet and sweet. We put her back in her cage and were going to take the night to decide for sure. Jewel was sharing a cage with a Jack Russell. He was active and jumping all round. When we put her back, Jewel stood at the cage door and looked at us with the saddest eyes that I have ever seen. She wanted so badly to be out of the cage and go to her forever home. Lauren and I took her back out of the cage and she's been with us ever since that day in February 2009.

Jewel has battled health issues her whole life. She has had 2 knee surgeries for patella luxation and has permanent pins in her knees, along with a host of other medical issues. The most serious issue was MVD. Jewel always had a heart murmur. It became more noticeable over the years. I mentioned it to her orthopedic surgeon (who is an avid Cavalier owner). He recommended that Jewel visit a vet cardiologist, Dr. Cober, at CVCA Annapolis to see if she was at a point where she needed medication. I am so glad that I took his advice. Jewel had an echocardiogram and was diagnosed with moderate to severe mitral valve disease. The vet told me that the disease is progressive and that medication can help to slow the progression. Jewel began taking Pimobendan. She was stable on the medication and had the same diagnosis 6 months later at her next echocardiogram. I was relieved but knew that Jewel was on borrowed time. I decided to contact the Jasmine Clinic and sent all of the required testing and results to them. I was so excited when they said that Jewel was a candidate. I began the quarantine process and held onto the hope that the medicine would slow things down.

Jewel's health started deteriorating while I was waiting out the quarantine process. She was diagnosed with severe MVD during her next echocardiogram visit and she started taking Lasix. Surgery was scheduled for January 2019. I found out that she had Cushings Disease in December 2018, which needed to be under control before the surgery. I was devastated. Jasmine was busy and the surgery was postponed until April 1st. In the meantime, Jewel was continuing to go downhill. Her Cushings Disease was regulated, however, the MVD was getting worse. Jewel was coughing a lot. She would look at me and I could see the fear in her eyes. Her heart was so big that it took up her entire chest and was pushing on her bronchioles. I could feel her heart pounding when she was on my lap. She was lethargic and panting constantly. It was so hard to watch. I cried and prayed that she could hold on for 2 more months.

Late March finally came around and I was cautiously optimistic. We flew to Japan and met with Dr. Sayaka for a pre-op appointment. I felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders after the visit. At that moment, I knew that I made the right decision about the surgery and that if anyone could save Jewel, it was them. Jewel had surgery April 1st. I was a nervous wreck but felt relieved after meeting Dr. Uechi. The surgery was a success! Dr. Uechi said that Jewel had several broken heart chords, a hole in the atrium wall and her mitral valve wasn't closing. The hole in the atrium wall actually helped the blood equalize and may have prevented her from going into heart failure. It's a miracle that she had not gone into heart failure. I visited Jewel in the ICU and prayed for a good recovery. Jewel developed 2 blood clots in her heart during recovery. I was terrified but put my trust in Jasmine. They knew exactly what to do. Jewel was placed on blood thinners and the platelet count slowly went back to normal. I was so happy when she was discharged and cleared to fly back home!

We flew home and went to see Dr. Cober. The blood clots were stable. Jewel continued blood thinners and saw Dr. Cober a few weeks later. One clot was dissolved and the other was smaller! She is currently still on blood thinners and hopefully the last clot will be gone at the next visit. Jewel was tired the first few weeks home. She gradually became more active and is now like a different dog! She loves to be outside (she used to get too hot before surgery) and hardly pants at all. Her breathing is so quiet that I often look at her to make sure she is still breathing! Her eyes are sparkly and she is much more interested playing and enjoying things that she has not done in years. I am so grateful for Jasmine Clinic, Mighty Hearts and everyone's support. This experience has given me a whole new perspective on life. The dedication and expertise of the Jasmine team saved Jewel and provided us more time with a dog that has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. She's been with me through everything over the last 10 years. Each day is a gift. I am forever thankful for the chance to spend more time with Jewel.

Breed: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Age: 10 Diagnosis:Stage B2 Surgery Date: April 1st, 2019 Hometown: Baltimore, MD Owner: Jennifer Belsinger Primary Vet: Dr. Vander Veen, Pulaski Veterinary Clinic Cardiologist: Dr. Rick Cober, CVCA, Annapolis, MD Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi, Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center

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

Rupert Schmidt

 Rupert was first diagnosed with a heart murmur October 2018 . He showed no signs of illness but I was concerned about his rapid breathing. On examination I was told he had a heart murmur and a subsequent X-Ray showed fluid in his lungs and an enlarged heart . We couldn’t believe it as he’d shown no real signs of illness before this . Our cardiologist then determined that he had leakage from the mitral valve and had one episode of heart failure ! He was prescribed Vetmedin, Cardalis and diuretics. These seemed to stabilize him, Rupert was reacting well to the medication. I was relieved by this .  However I wanted to learn about mitral valve disease (MVD) and started googling the disease and I was horrified to learn that even with medication Rupert would probably not be alive next Christmas!.

Through my research I saw that the RVC in London was doing this surgery, however I was not sure if I was comfortable with this procedure. This was when I found the Mighty Hearts Project website which I initially thought was just for Americans but thought I’d email Nate Estes just in case he could help me in England. Nate and all the wonderful people on this site gave me the knowledge and courage to go for surgery.   On March 4th 2019 Rupert had his surgery. It was performed by the amazing RVC team ..... incredible people whose compassion skill and care helped both Rupert and I have our hearts mended .   Within a week of surgery Rupert was off all of his heart medications , his heart  was back to normal size and his regurgitation is minimal .

Ruperts first month cardiogram confirmed this . We are so pleased we were able to take the surgery route as now we hope that Rupert can live a normal healthy life with his brother and sisters. It has been however a very difficult and emotional journey not for the faint hearted but a journey I would do again and again to save one of my babies .  I have been humbled by the love ,support and kindness of all we have met and have gotten to know . I will be forever grateful to Nate and the Mighty Hearts Project community group who have supported me through this entire process and to the RVC team. Rupert is now happily home with his brother and sisters thanks to so many wonderful people who we will always be remembered fondly in my heart. Again, Thank you so much .

Love from Rupert and his humans

Breed: Long Haired Chihuahua
Age: 7
Diagnosis: Stage C
Surgery Date: March 4th, 2019
Hometown: London , UK
Owner: Suzanne Schmidt
Primary Vet: Dr. Robert Short
Cardiologist: Dr. Babis Koffas, The Neighborhood Vet
Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Vasco Maximov

Vasco had a mild level three murmur with no enlargement discovered April of 2018. He had his first Cardiology exam and echo and was cleared by Dr. Timothy Hodge for his May dental, they were to pull 16 teeth!  June 30th we rushed him to the ER for labored breathing and discomfort. He was immediately put into oxygen and given pimobendan and Lasix. After 36 hours he was able to come home. We were shocked. Radiologists couldn’t conclude if it was pneumonia or heart failure. We kept him on a light dose of the medications and his appetite got worse and worse. Vasco went from 6.8 pounds to 5.3 pounds in a month. Even our cardiologist wasn’t sure if it was CHF because of how normal sized his heart was back in May. We decided to wait four months for another echo because Dr. Hodge said it would take time to see changes in the heart. In October it was confirmed he was in heart failure and it was bad... he’d developed pulmonary hypertension as well and was given 16 months left to live. 

 Through the tears... after being told there was nothing to be done except medications... Vasco developed hypocalcemia tremors and seizures due to the pimobendan and furosemide doses. We were in the ER over a dozen times between June 30th and January 12th. Only our neurologist Dr. Levitski and holistic vet Dr. Nespor would believe us that his tremors were due to hypocalcemia so we had Dr. Levitski prescribe us a calcium carbonate compounded medication and Vasco immediately stopped tremoring and seizing and put half a pound on. In October, through  all of Mommy’s research she finally found Mighty Hearts Project and a surgery to save her baby! Mighty Hearts and Nate Estes were an immense help and without them we’d have never been able to do what we did to save Vasco!

 We reached out to both Japan and England with all of Vasco’s records and waited for a response. Vasco’s records of tremors and seizures had made the surgeons very cautious about proceeding with surgery since they had never dealt with this issue before. Finally in January our amazing neurologist Dr. Robin Levitski wrote us a letter clearing Vasco of any neurological disorders and giving her approval for surgery. We immediately heard back from Japan and London and chose London because we were able to get Vasco there sooner.  The RVC was honest and kept us in the line up from the date we contacted them even though we had the big calcium delay! 

 We arrived in London a few days before surgery. Vasco had surgery April 1st of 2019. It was the most amazing miracle we’ve ever seen! His heart began to shrink almost right away and within a week he was eating and putting on weight. ALL of the medications he was previously on were stopped... calcium carbonate, pimobendan, furosemide, spironolactone and sildenafil. He’s now only taking blood thinners for the required three months to prevent blood clots in recovery. 

 We are beyond grateful to the Mighty Hearts Community, Nate Estes, our brilliant surgeons Dr. Dan Brockman, Dr. Poppy Bristow and our nurses Sarah, Ali and all of the incredible teams who saved our baby! It was the best decision we’ve ever made and without it, we were certain to lose our angel. 

 We encourage everyone who has a dog in CHF to start the quarantine process immediately and consider surgery. After so much heartache, so many tears and so many visits to specialists and the ER we are so so so happy beyond words our baby was saved! Surgery works and Vasco continues to improve day by day. 

 Fight for what you believe in and always question what your intuition says may be false. We know our babies best! Find the best doctors who work with you and your baby and don’t always listen to the black and white book! It took a team of east and west doctors and specialists and a mother’s intuition to keep Vasco going! 

 We send all our love and gratitude. 

 Xo

Vasco’s family 

Breed: Yorkshire Terrier
Age: 13
Diagnosis: Stage C
Surgery Date: April 1st, 2019
Hometown: Del Mar, CA
Owner: Shanna and Anton Maximov
Instagram: @yorkstars
Primary Vet: All Creatures Dr. Picht and Tiglio and East West Animal Hospital Dr. Nespor for our holistic needs
Cardiologist: Dr. Timothy Hodge, DVM, DACVIM, UC Veterinary Medical Center, San Diego
Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow

Molly Bieber

Molly was diagnosed with a heart murmur when she was eight years old, but remained a happy, active dog with no signs of her condition for a long time. One week before she went into congestive heart failure, she took a five mile 3 hour walk. Unfortunately, on Sept 11, 2018, Molly began having difficulty breathing. We rushed her to animal ER where we were told she had congestive heart failure with fluid in her lungs and a severely enlarged heart. We were told she had a short time to live, would need to be on medications for the rest of her life, and that there was absolutely nothing we could do. 

Fortunately, we found Dr. Simon Dennis at Hope Veterinary Specialists. He adjusted her medications to the appropriate dosage (the meds from the ER doctor were too high of a dose) and informed us there were surgical options.  Without surgery, Molly was given approximately 8-12 months to live. We immediately contacted Royal Veterinary College in London and were able to schedule a surgery date of January 28, 2019. Molly remained stable on Vetmedin, Enalapril and Lasix along with a number of supplements during the five month wait for her surgery date. She also remained very active, walking as far as we would allow and playing as much as we'd permit.  We found Mighty Hearts Project as well, and were able to get very helpful advice that helped us prepare to go to the UK. 

On the Wednesday prior to her surgery, Molly flew with us from Tampa, Florida to Washington Dulles to Heathrow. She enjoyed her flight greatly. She had successful heart surgery on January 28 and four hours after her surgery, I received a picture of her sitting up and alert in her ICU cage. She was looking around. The next day when we were able to visit, she came strolling out on a leash to the waiting room to meet us, tried to escape RVC by making a break out the exit door, and gobbled up a plate of chicken. Her post-surgical recovery was mostly smooth with one bump in the road on the Friday after surgery when her heart rhythm became abnormal. RVC took immediate action and she was temporarily put back into the ICU and by Sunday she was back to her old self. 

The entire RVC team was amazing throughout Molly's recovery and Molly, who has always been very frightened of vets, came to love her life-saving surgeons and her nurses (Sarah and Allison), as well as the ICU nurses at RVC who gave her such excellent care. She was discharged the Wednesday after surgery with a significantly smaller heart. She was also off of Enalapril and Lasix and remained only on her Vetmedin dose. She had a great appetite and was very excited and eager to walk around Harpenden where we stayed in the UK. We flew home Saturday morning and she had a very smooth recovery process with no complications. 

On March 4, 2019, we visited Dr. Simon Swift at University of Florida Gainesville (we split our time between Florida and PA). Molly had only a soft murmur and mild regurgitation and her heart had shrunk back to the upper end of the normal range. The surgery was pronounced a "great success." Molly was also taken off the Vetmedin and is no longer on any heart medications. We are forever thankful to the RVC team for saving Molly's life and to Dr. Simon Dennis for advising that we contact RVC and for helping us to facilitate the surgical option, as well as to Dr. Dennis and Dr. Swift for keeping Molly stable leading up to the surgery. 

Breed: Beagle
Age: 12
Diagnosis: Stage C
Surgery Date: January 28th, 2019
Hometown: Pennsylvania / Florida
Owner: Kyle and Christy Bieber
Primary Vet: Dr. William Latter, All Creatures Animal Clinic
Cardiologist: Dr. Simon Dennis, PA Hope Veterinary Specialists in Malvern and Dr. Simon Swift, University of Florida Gainsville Small Animal Hospital
Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow