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