Our Trinka is now a healthy, happy 13-year-old miniature schnauzer thanks to Dr. Brockman of the RVC and the Mighty Hearts Project team.  

At age 10 which she developed a heart murmur which worsened over the next year.  The night of August 22,2022 she had labored breathing, and we took her to the Emergency vet.  She was in heart failure with severe mitral valve regurgitation.  She had x-rays which showed that she was in pulmonary edema and had an enlarged heart.  The Dr told us that she may have ruptured some chordae tendineae (the ligaments that attach the valves to the heart.) 

We took her home and she slept with us as she always does. I cried long into the night.  A wonderful veterinary internist, Dr. Gary Anthony, did an echocardiogram the next day.  He talked to us with a solemn expression and said she did indeed have ruptured chordae tendineae and that she would live 9 months to a year.  He started her on Pimobendan, Enalapril, Lasix and Spironolactone.

Shortly after she started on the meds, she started having more problems.  The heart meds were stressing her kidneys and creating a medication related kidney failure.  Her creatinine and Bun levels (blood values that are indicative of renal function) soared.  Because of the elevated kidney values, she lost her appetite.  She wouldn’t eat anything.  We tried to feed her boiled chicken and steak and other delicacies. She turned up her nose at everything. 

They gave her fluids twice to try to bring her kidney values down.  I thought, “She’s in heart failure, kidney failure and she won’t eat.  This could be the end.”  But I was in warrior mode.  I continued my research, found amazing Mighty Hearts, and discovered that there were 3 places in the world at the time where you could have a mitral valve repair done - Royal Veterinary College in England, Dick White Referrals, also in England, and Jasmine Clinic in Japan.

There is no veterinary cardiologist in our town, so we took Trinka to the LSU Veterinary Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The wonderful doctor MaGee did another echo on her. She also took her off Enalapril and put her on Benazipril, a med with a similar action but which is less toxic to the kidneys.  Doing this totally cured her medication-induced kidney failure, which, in turn, cured her appetite.  Dr Magee’s office took responsibility for submitting all Trinka’s medical records and echocardiogram to all 3 of the places that performed mitral valve repair.

It wasn't long before we heard from RVC in England that she was a candidate for surgery. We were thrilled and immediately accepted. Not long after. We heard that DWR, and Japan also had accepted her.  We went with RVC. Her surgery was scheduled for June, but they were able to move her up to April 24.

The thought of my baby girl having heart surgery and being on a heart lung machine terrified me and my resolve wavered a few times.  But I forged ahead with the protocol, working with our great local vet, Dr Bridges.  So many times, I thought, “Oh how I wish this was behind us and we were on the other side with a successful result!”

We went to England in late April of 2023. Her pre-op appointment with Dr. Brockman was on Thursday. April 20.  After meeting him, we felt a sense of peace and that we had done the right thing. He exudes a sense of capability and kindness. We expected to fall apart when we dropped her off for surgery, but we didn't. Doctor Brockman took her back in his arms and we left with a sense of calm that we were doing the right thing.  

She did beautifully during the surgery and Dr. Brockman called us right afterward and said she had done very well. He cautioned us that there were still post operative hurdles still to be gotten through.  He kept in close touch with us throughout her recovery and we got to see her daily starting the 2nd or 3rd day after surgery.  We were very fortunate that Trinka turned out to be a model patient with no complications other than a picky appetite right after surgery.  I knew she had turned the corner when they told us she had begun wolfing down her meal.  We picked her up exactly 1 week after her surgery.  It was so wonderful to get her back to our apartment!! 

They aren’t supposed to overexert themselves for a while, so we barricaded off the couch and beds at Harpenden House where we stayed.  Trinka and I slept in the couch/cage.  We enjoyed taking her around Harpenden in her stroller.  We did have one scary stroller incident.  My husband was pushing her stroller, and we had the lid zipped closed so she wouldn’t try to jump out.  Trinka was getting hot, so we headed back to Harpenden House. 

My husband was walking at a fast clip when he tripped over something.  He took a hard fall and basically tackled the stroller on the way down.  It broke the plastic piece that was holding the pet carrier portion in place, and it went flying with Trinka inside and landed on the sidewalk!!! Definitely not what the Dr. ordered!  Her sutures were fine, she was fine, and her echo was fine! Thank God!! A testimony to Dr. Brockman’s sturdy repair!

She is 13 and 4 months old now and looks and acts 10 years younger than that.  She is off all meds, her post op echo looks great, her kidney values are great, and her heart has returned to normal size.  Dr. Gary did her post op echo and this time, when he talked to us, he had a big smile!!  I have to pinch myself every so often to realize we did it, she’s doing great, and we did make it to the other side!

Thank you and God bless you, Dr. Brockman, Mighty Hearts Project, Nate and Isa, the Facebook support community, and our local vets and cardiologist, Dr Magee!! Also, a big thanks to Harpenden House and Manor Cars.

Breed: Miniature Schnauzer
Age at surgery: 12
Diagnosis: Stage C
Surgery Date: April 24th, 2023
Hometown: Little Rock, AR USA
Owner: Karen Silvoso
Cardiologist: Dr. Aliya Magee
Repair Surgical Team: Dr. Dan Brockman, RVC