Madison Lawson-Fairfield

In May 2019, Madison went to her primary vet, Dr. Katrina Johnson, for a routine visit and I was shocked she discovered a heart murmur. I was shocked to say the least. I was there 2 weeks prior for a cyst on her back, and there was no mention of a heart murmur.

Immediately my heart fell! Dr. Johnson took x-rays and performed a few other tests. Madison was only 8 years old. How could this be so? I knew I had to see a cardiologist.

There are not very many cardiologists in the Chicago area. I scheduled an appointment to see Dr. Luethy at Medvet of Chicago. He determined Madison was B1 and stable without medication.

Shortly after her initial appointment with Dr. Luethy, I saw Madison start a downward pattern of coughing while excited, often being tired and panting after a short visit outside. All these changes happened rather quickly. I moved her appointment sooner and found out just shy of 3 months, Madison had moved to B2 and started vetmedin.

The very next day, I started the quarantine process. I did have a phone consult with RVC in England and was advised that since Madison was B2, she could be bumped for a more severe dog. At the same time, I also had my cardiologist send my records to the Jasmine Clinic.

Shortly after, I receive a March 2020 surgery date from the Jasmine Clinic. As weeks went on, Madison continued to go downhill, and her heart murmur was 5/6. I asked Jasmine to please move my date sooner and was advised their English-speaking surgeon was out of the office until March. I told them I would use an application for translation, and they agreed to the February 24, 2020, surgery date. My case manager was Dr. Chen.

I watched Madison continue to decline and suffer during the hot summer months. I was so scared and nervous and just prayed that we could keep her stable until our arrival date for surgery. Nate was so kind to help with diet changes and provided so much help, support and guidance.

Madison had cardiology visits every 2 months and moved to moderate B2, with her heart pressing on her trachea. Finally it was time for our travels to Japan. I knew about the Covid virus and armed myself with plenty of masks and hand sanitizer.

We arrived in Japan on February 18, 2020, and Izu picked us up from the airport. I do recall going past the Diamond Princess ship that was offshore Japan with many covid passengers. That felt so leary to me, but here we are. Izu dropped us off to Atsuko's Azumino apartment. Atsuko gave us a tour and we settled in.

Finally. our pre-op visit was 4 days later, and Dr. Chen advised that Madison's valve was severe. I just burst into tears. She performed an echo and all bloodwork, and I signed all appropriate paperwork for Madison's surgery. I knew Madison was in the best hands possible.

Madison in the final stages of heart repair surgery, closure.

February 24th arrived, and we were the 3rd surgery of the day. We arrived and they shaved Madison and brought her back out to me for a while. Surgery time arrived, and I knew it wouldn't be long until I saw her again. I kissed her goodbye and told her that mom will see her in just a little bit.

We went to a local restaurant close-by and was given a time to come back to the clinic. Madison was out of surgery after 3.5 hours. 7 chordae were replaced, and she did well during surgery. They did allow me back to see her and I knew the worst part was over.

We took the train daily to visit Madison and her numbers improved day by day. We brought her cooked chicken breasts daily, feeding her, and spent a little time with her. They released Madison from the clinic after 5 days. She was so excited to be released to me and it was so hard to keep her calm. Madison's heart returned to normal size by the time we left japan.

Madison Is released from Jasmine

We continued with our follow-ups until the day arrived for us to fly back to Chicago. By this time, covid took hold in the US and flights were being shut down. We arrived home just in time.

Madison continued to improve leaps and bounds every single day. Our cardiology visits were great and Dr. Luethy could barely hear a murmur.

Madison stopped all heart medications after her surgery in Japan. Here we are, almost a year and a half later, with no heart medications needed. She has remained stable, and all cardiology visits remain positive.

First and foremost, I thank God. I also thank Nate, Dr. Chen, Dr. Masami and his team. I thank Dr. Luethy and my vet, Dr. Johnson. We all worked hand-in-hand for a successful surgery for my precious baby Madison.

Breed: Shih Tzu
Age: 9
Diagnosis: Stage B2
Surgery Date: February 24th, 2020
Hometown: Crete, IL, United States
Owner: Michelle Lawson-Fairfield
Primary Vet: Katrina Johnson VCA Forest South Animal Hospital
Cardiologist: Michael Luethy MedVet of Chicago
Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi & Team at, Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center

Bixby Morton

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mom visiting Bixby in recovery

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

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

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

Luna Brice

Luna was diagnosed with mitral valve disease (MVD) September of 2019 after a very touch a go episode of congestive heart failure on that fateful Friday the 13th. The diagnosis came as a real shock to myself and the RVC team given Luna’s breed (Labrador) and her only being four years old. Nonetheless this was the hand we were dealt and we needed to deal with it. , Luna was diagnosed with MVD, stage C. Our only option for a long term survival was for her to have the mitral valve repair surgery at the RVC..

Luna pulled through that episode and I knew I had to do everything in my power to make sure she could have that surgery at RVC by the amazing Dr. Dan Brockman and his wonderful team. We were on the wait list and received the good news that we had a date of January 21, 2020. Only now do I realize how incredibly lucky we are to have had that date given the programs suspension as of Jan 24th 2020.

Luna has now had her surgery which consisted of the replacement of 5 chords and an annuloplasty. She is currently 8 days post surgery and doing well so far. I don’t like to be too overly optimistic as I am a bit superstitious about these things but all signs are pointing towards a good recovery. She will head back to RVC in a week for a blood test and then in another 2 weeks for her 1 month post op echocardiogram. Fingers crossed for a positive outcome and my thoughts are with everyone who is going through this, especially those waiting for this life saving surgery. To Dan and his team - we are all so incredibly grateful to you and hope the program resumes soon as it’s very much needed as many are waiting to be saved.

Update - We’ve just comeback from our Monday RVC follow up appointment and we are happy to say all of Luna’s blood work looks excellent, kidney’s look very good now.

Lara & Luna

Breed: Labrador Age: 5 Diagnosis: Stage C Surgery Date: January 21, 2020 Hometown: Esher, Surrey, United Kingdom Owner: Lara Brice Primary Vet: Beech House Cardiologist: Dr. Inma Cerrada Serra, Surgical Team: RVC, Drs. Dan Brockman & Poppy Bristow