Lucas Bustillos
I adopted Lucas when I was 22, right out of college. He quickly became the love of my life. Over the last 12 years, Lucas and I have been through everything together. Lucas helped me get through a divorce, a layoff, grief over the loss of a loved one, heartbreak and many, many, panic attacks. He has been my protector since day 1, barking at anything that came near me in that funny, ferocious way only chihuahuas know how to :)
Lucas was a relatively healthy dog up until December 2021 (he started getting yearly seizures around the time he turned 6, but luckily, they were mild and very sporadic). On December 29th, 2021, we had the worst night of our lives as a family. The situation that was unfolding required me to quickly reverse roles with Lucas: He was the one who needed saving that night.
Earlier that day, we had arrived in Telluride, Colorado. We were a few hours into our vacation when we noticed our little guy wasn't breathing properly. He was panting and walking around aimlessly, he was dazed and confused. Lucas wasn't himself. I called his ER vet and sent them a video and they told me he needed to get to a hospital ASAP. They told me he seemed to be in respiratory distress.
After a 2 hour panicked drive to the nearest ER in Grand Junction, CO we were given the news: Lucas was in congestive heart failure. It was a huge shock. Lucas seemed to be doing so well for his age before that night. We had even proactively taken him to the cardiologist a few months before and they had only seen a level 2 murmur. They didn’t start meds then, because they told us he didn't need them - he didn’t have heart disease. How could everything have changed so quickly?
My husband and I didn't sleep for the next 3 days. Lucas had to be put in an oxygen chamber and was started on furosemide. We were told he had skipped from Stage B1 of MVD all the way to CHF... Likely an acute tear of his chordae tendineae at high altitude... But they couldn’t know for sure. He was discharged on NYE. I spent all of January 2022 taking him to different cardiologists in the greater Denver metropolitan area. We went to 3 specialists in fact - and it was very confusing because one cardiologist told us she didn't think he had ever really been in CHF and that it may have been something else (and proceeded to lower his furosemide dosage)... two days later another cardiologist told us he was indeed in CHF and it was getting worse, re-upping his meds. Eventually the consensus was CHF with a few months to a year on average left... I was devastated, confused, frustrated and exhausted.
Nevertheless, something inside of me pushed me to get one last opinion. Don't ask me why... I had a feeling everything wasn't set. So, at the recommendation of a friend, I drove almost 2 hours to Fort Collins, CO to the CSU Vet Cardiology department. There, one of the residents on their staff finally mentioned the Mighty Hearts Community... my reaction was one of both relief and shock: "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THERE WAS A REPAIR OPTION BEFORE THIS APPOINTMENT"? The anger turned into hope. There was no time to waste being upset or looking for blame. I went home and started the process to get Lucas to Japan right then and there.
The following 6+ months would have been impossible without the Mighty Hearts Community. Their website and their Facebook MVD Community group held answers to nearly all of my questions surrounding the actual repair procedure and the process to get to Japan and secure a surgery date. They helped me every step of the way - from the moment I introduced myself in the group all the way up to the week prior to travel where I was panicking to make sure I had all of Lucas’ documentation in order to get into Japan. Not only would they answer my questions via FB, many many times the amazing volunteers in this community made themselves available over the phone as well - reassuring me even when things looked really tough and convoluted.
Lucas had successful surgery on Nov 22nd, 2022. As you can imagine, we had a ton of ups and downs along the way. The process was arduous. It tested my husband and I and pushed us to be the most organized we had ever been... about anything in life. But we made it and Lucas made it. He recovered so well from surgery - we were in awe. Day 2 he was already wagging his tail and trying to bark at the nurse when he caught a glimpse of me on the other side of the room. The team at Jasmine was incredible - everyday we went to visit Lucas post-surgery, we had the opportunity to see up close the state of the art facilities and care they apply to each dog that is recovering from this life-saving procedure.
Unfortunately, a few months after Mitral Valve Repair surgery, Lucas was given a few unnecessary vaccines at his primary vet in DC (at District Vet, for those wondering) without our consent (the vaccines included ProHeart12 and a rabies booster he wasn’t due for). Those errors set off a series of events that ended up with him having to get Ventral Slot surgery at VRA Gaithersburg with Dr. Kaiman - we still don’t know exactly what happened, but we know he wasn’t the same after those shots… he could barely walk and was yelping in pain for almost a month before we were told he needed spinal surgery. For a second time, we were faced with the need to trust our furbaby to the medical experts, only this time we had a bit of PTSD given what had happened with his vet in DC to get us here.
The surgery thankfully went well and Lucas was back to his normal self the next day. However, it made us realize how important it is to continue to advocate and be on top of his care even after successful mitral valve repair surgery. We realized we couldn't lose our focus now that we were back home. At the end of the day, we each know our furbabies best - advocate for them as much as you can and trust your gut. That would be my main recommendation to anyone reading our story. It is possible for you and your beloved pets to live longer, happier lives... but it does require patience, research, time, energy, focus, care and above all unconditional love.
Lucas is doing great btw! we are almost a year out from his MVR surgery and 4 months out from his spinal surgery and he is acting like he is a puppy - getting zoomies, eating treats and playing with his sister Mila everyday. Thank you to this amazing Mighty Hearts community, to the entire team at Jasmine and to Dr. Kaiman at VRA Gaithersburg - words cannot express how grateful I am to still be enjoying quality time with the love of my life.
Breed: Pomeranian - Chihuahua Mix
Age at surgery: 11
Diagnosis: Stage: C
Surgery Date: November 22nd, 2022
Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Owner: Dilianna Bustillos
Cardiologist: Kendra LaFauci DVM
Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi & Team at,
Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center
