Today was an incredibly emotional and difficult day. Sophie, our 10 year old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She has reached her final moments and is comfortably getting ready to transition from this life. Although today was the worst day I have emotionally experienced as a pet owner, I can say with joy in my heart that Dr. Shatila and his wonderful staff were the best part of the day. I can't thank them enough for their abundant love and care for animals and their incredible service provided for Sophie today.
I started noticing some significant changes in our sweet dog, no appetite, no will to go outside and last night she started to vomit bile and was having trouble walking. So this morning I took her to her usual vet, and he did some x-rays and blood work and then in a very stoic manner informed me of the results. Sophie has a very large tumor on her spleen and we had 3 options: give her antibiotics and fluids and watch her over time (bandaid approach), send her to an oncologist and pay a hefty price for a bunch of tests, MRI's, biopsies, etc. or have that Dr. do an "exploratory" surgery that would cost $800 just to see if the tumor is removable or if the cancer had already spread. I decided to get a second opinion because I left completely unsatisfied with the service/advice provided. I found TierraMesa Vet Clinic via Yelp, (thanks to all the positive reviews) and decided to give them a call. As soon as I told the receptionist my situation, she made me an appointment for this afternoon. I picked up my 2 year old from day care and ran to the clinic. The doctor and nurses were incredible. They looked at the the X-ray I brought and paperwork (forcefully provided by the other clinic), the nurses were entertaining my son and even gave him a toy to play with. We even got moved from the small exam room to their private back area so we could have more space. At this point there was 2 doctors and 2 nurses aiding, petting, and loving on my dog. Dr. Shatila pointed out that Sophie's belly was full of liquid, and the inside of her ears were very pale. Along with her low blood count, he explained that those were signs of internal bleeding. He said that before I made any decisions, I should get an ultrasound done. His team called the clinic that provides the ultrasounds but was unable to get us in before Thursday, Dr. Shatila got on the phone with the Ultrasound tech himself and pulled some strings, and explained the severity of our situation and got us in immediately. We ran to the other clinic and as soon as they were done and I was loading everyone up in the car, Dr. Shatila called me. Mind you this was way past their hours of operation. He said he got the results and wanted me to come back. I was so shocked that he not only pulled strings for us to get seen so fast, but also stayed behind so he could get and deliver the results to me immediately rather then waiting until tomorrow. As soon as I walked in, I could see by the look on his face that it wasn't good news. He explained that his assumption was correct. She had severe internal bleeding and the cancer had already spread to her other organs. There was no need for surgery as it wouldn't really be helpful in our situation. I obviously took the news with a heavy heart and started to cry, but I wanted to let the Dr. go home as he had already done more than enough. Instead of gladly ridding of us, Dr. Shatila gave me a hug.
I apologize for this being so long, but I wanted all the details to be put out there so that you could clearly see the truly wonderful character of this man, and his team. Dr. Shatila, if by any chance you read this, I want you to know how desperately needed that hug was. It has been an incredibly long day, and a very difficult last few weeks. Todays chain of events could have easily pushed me over the edge, but your sympathy and kindness truly helped.
Thanks to you, we won't have to put our poor baby through any more suffering with unnecessary surgeries or tests. Thanks to you, her last days will be spent doing her favorite things, like swimming at the beach, going through McDonalds drive through's and getting a whole bunch of snuggles.
To anyone looking for an incredible vet and a great team, this is the clinic to go to. They don't overcharge you or even charge ridiculous prices. They are fair and kind, and by far the best vet clinic I have ever been to. (And I have been to a lot since we moved a lot). read more