This past January Dr Amy Cordner and staff performed an ultrasound and guided needle aspiration of a deep abdominal node on my eight year old service dog, Barley. The diagnosis was lymphoma. Due to his age I opted against surgical resection of the node, electing instead to begin the CHOP protocol hoping it was the more treatable B-cell variety and not the aggressive T-cell lymphoma that had taken a previous dog from me far too young.

Barley responded to chemo almost immediately. He finished the protocol in July and we were able to enjoy a motorcycle trip to Montana together. He is something of a celebrity in the long-distance motorcycling community and hundreds of riders followed his battle with cancer. Attending the BMW Rally in Billings was therapeutic for him, and I wanted to circle around to thank all of you for the fast diagnosis that gave him the opportunity to see all of his friends again. We’re not sure how long remission will last, but we cherish every day, every ride. Barley now has over 55,000 sidecar miles under his collar.

With eternal gratitude,

www.TravelsWithBarley.com

I wanted to send everyone at BEVS an email to let you know how grateful my fiancé and I are for everyone that participated in saving our little Ciel’s life.

We brought her in a couple of months ago after she was attacked by one of our other dogs and seemed to be in not-so-good shape. After spending the night for observation, her health seemed to worsen when everyone was hoping she would be good to go the next day. It seemed as though anything that could go wrong with her health did because of the trauma she suffered to her neck. She battled with fever, swelling, not being able to eat, low white blood cell count, and finally pneumonia in both lungs. As the days went on we became more and more terrified that we were going to lose her. We stayed up for days just holding onto every bit of hope we had so that our little Ciel could come home. After the 3rd night of her observation & treatment, she finally started to eat food again little by little and her attitude started getting better as well. After walking on eggshells for days, not sure, if she was going to make it, there was finally light at the end of the tunnel. On the morning of the fifth day, we were able to bring her home. She was not up to 100% yet, but she battled a lot while she was in the hospital. After many days of close observation, handling her with gloves, and giving her the prescribed medication, she was back to herself in no time.

I cannot say thank you enough to Josie Mallinckrodt, Tom Hecimovich, and all the staff that watched over our baby while she was there. You see, we do not have any children. Our dogs are our kids, so you can imagine how painful it was for us to be unsure if our Ciel was going to make it.

We are so grateful for everyone who helped bring our Ciel home.

Fondly,

Hello,

I just received the nicest card from all of you regarding my dog Macy!  When I left your facility after putting Macy to sleep,  I couldn’t stop thinking about how nice and professional the whole staff was.  Looking back at that night,   I could have never imagined having to go through that and how hard it was…  But honestly , as hard as it was,  and knowing the decision had to be made,  I know I couldn’t have been with anyone better in the process.  Everyone was so nice and considerate and helped to  make the process  and decision acceptable. It’s a strange feeling ,  but What little time I spent with all of you built a bond that feels like family…  I have such a profound sense of respect for all of you and I know ,  this is all part of owning and loving a dog…  But I also know without a doubt – There is nowhere that could ever compare – for a place that I send my dog to heaven!!  You are all the best at what you do!!

Thank you so much,