Will she be okay? What do I need to know? What do I need to do? Can she make it through?

Day-by-day Stephanie shared little updates as discoveries were made. Her lifelong best pal did, in fact, have Myasthenia as well as Megaesophagus. Her specialist was quite savvy and made the call to start meds immediately rather than waiting for test results. Lucy remained in ICU. We all breathed a sigh of relief when she was moved out of critical care... and eventually with measured improvements ... h-o-m-e for good!

Lucy's Bailey Chair was quickly made and they stepped through all of the adjustments to best help Lucy adjust while their wedding day grew closer. I received the last happy news report just a few weeks ago with this wonderful picture arriving today. It won't be a wedding without Lucy, I remember her Mums sharing when the going was the roughest. Love brought them through. May their days turn into months rolling easily into years with Lucy. Forever, Lucy is greatly loved and treasured.

Dr. Jason Berg at the Animal Specialty Center in Yonkers, NY, was the specialist of choice for Lucy. Her primary doctor at the time, had diagnosed her with an allergy as a result of seeing the mucus in her throat. As a result, as we fed her, the food was inhaled in her lungs which caused a severe case of pneumonia. We almost lost her on New Years Eve.

After Peg's guidance and locating Dr. Berg, Lucy was treated at the Animal Specialty Center for a week and returned to us just as she was before.....an 11 year old puppy. She had lost about 10 pounds due to the pneumonia, but she is continuing to gain it back - her appetite is very hardy. We continue to feed her in an upright position and hold her in that position for 15 minutes; but, other than that, she is a completely normal dog. She has the spunk of a 3 year old dog.

Lucy does use her chair occasionally, but would much rather be held and smooched by her Mommy after she eats as we do 95% of the time Due to her hip dysplasia, she is not completely comfortable in the Bailey chair.

It is so difficult to relive the horror we experienced during those two weeks. Thanks to you, Dr. Berg and our friends and family, we had such wonderful, successful results. You will always be in our hearts.

As a result of pure luck, we were able to capture one of the tremors on tape and brought it right over to the doctor. He indicated that they were seizures and recommended that we begin treating her with Phenobarbital. We asked if there were any tests we could run on her to confirm the seizure diagnosis - just to be sure that it wasn't anything more serious. He suggested that we could have an MRI taken of her brain to be certain there was not another issue such as a mass or blockage in her brain.

We brought her to the Garden State Veterinary Specialists for her MRI (they were wonderful) and the results were clear. We were very happy that she didn't have anything more serious, such as a brain tumor, and began the Pheno treatments. Within a day, the tremors stopped; however, soon after, Lucy began getting a very thick mucus discharge from her mouth and began spitting up her food. Back to the doctor........ he said the mucus was a result of her allergies because he stated the mucus was not a side effect to the Pheno. Lucy has had allergies her whole life, as do many Golden Retrievers, and they have been managed very well with special shampoos, sprays and antihistamines when necessary. After 11 years, we couldn't imagine her having a new issue due to her allergies. The doctor was adamant about his course of treatment and said to wait out the mucus condition and see how she does.

At this point we were monitoring her very closely...we had her with us for the Christmas holiday at all times and between Christmas and New Years her condition worsened dramatically. We called the doctor again and due to the fact that he was going to be away for the holiday, he offered to have his associate in the office check her again. By Friday, December 28th, Lucy was not doing well at all and we brought her back to the vet. The doctor suggested that her condition may be due to a neurological issue and mentioned the possibility of megaesophagus. She took an x-ray of her chest and throat and the test was clearly positive. She performed two other tests on Lucy - one to determine if she had Addison's disease and one to determine if the megaesophagus was due to Myasthenia Gravis. She informed us that the results would not be back for a few days.

The doctor called us from his trip and recommended that we keep her at home and give her small meals and if her condition worsens, they would admit her into the hospital on Monday. Well...........by Sunday her condition could not have gotten any worse. She was struggling with every breath - little did we know, the meals we were giving her were being inhaled into her lungs and she was suffering from a severe case of aspiration pneumonia. We held her all Sunday night and were certain we were going to lose her. Jimmy and I were getting married on March 15th and always had plans to have Lucy at the church with us to celebrate our new lives together as a family - she really was our child. The idea that she wouldn't be there with us was unbearable. I kept on saying to her, "Lucy, I finally found you the best father, please don't leave us now." This is when we contacted you, Peg.

Thanks to your knowledge and direction we knew we had to get Lucy into the right hands - a professional who knew how to handle this disease and give her the best care possible. A dear friend of ours had a standard poodle who had neurological issues and she spoke so highly of Dr. Jason Berg. She said "if anyone can help Lucy, it will be Dr. Berg." At that time, Dr. Berg was just getting ready to open his own veterinary hospital and had offices in a few different practices. We were lucky to learn that Dr. Berg would be in the Yonkers, NY on Monday, which was only 30 minutes from our home. We were truly desperate. We brought Lucy to her vet in the morning and had them call the County Animal Clinic in Yonkers to let them know that Lucy's case was an emergency and we needed to see Dr. Berg as soon as possible. He told us to bring her right over and that they would be waiting for her.....and that they were.

When we got there, Dr. Berg could not have been more comforting. He and his wonderful associate, Dr. Holland, asked us for a brief history of what was occurring with Lucy, performed a short examination on her and so professionally, calmly and most importantly, in layman's terms, explained what we could expect from Lucy's condition. At this point, Jimmy and I were ready for the worst news. We could never imagine that Lucy would recover from the state she was in. Although it would have been the worst news, we would rather see Lucy go than subject her to the suffering she was clearly experiencing.

Dr. Berg surprised us both. He explained that he received the results from Lucy's doctor and the Addison's disease test came back negative. He said that although he didn't have the results from the Myasthenia Gravis test, her symptoms were reflective of that disease and he felt that we should treat her accordingly. He had the most comforting bedside manner.....he never strayed from his positive outlook and continued to reassure us that he would do whatever he could to help our baby. I will never forget the words he used to describe is prognosis - "I am optimistic, yet guarded, in believing that Lucy will make a complete recovery and continue to live a normal life." Never, ever, ever, did we think we would be getting that news.

Dr. Berg said that if we left Lucy with him at the hospital for a few days they could begin treating the pneumonia, which was the most critical issue at that time, and then begin her treatment for the megaesophagus. We couldn't have been happier to leave Lucy in the hands of Dr. Berg, but still were worried that perhaps she wouldn't pull through, due to her age, and that we may never see her again. On Monday, December 31st we left Lucy with Dr. Berg and his team. We were comforted in knowing that the hospital had 24-hour physician coverage and that Lucy would be monitored at all times.

We called the hospital a few times during the next couple of days and the staff was so kind and responsive to our needs. They assured us that Lucy was resting comfortably and taking her medication well. We missed her terribly, but as long as she was getting the best care, we were content. We had such open communication with Dr. Berg and Dr. Holland - the service they provided was truly remarkable. They returned our calls immediately and gave us a detailed account of what was happening with Lucy. Being a veterinarian is such a special profession. Not only do you have to be a qualified physician, but you have to be able to communicate with the pet owners and comfort them in difficult times. Dr. Berg could not have been any better with us.

After a few days, we decided to keep Lucy at the hospital for a week until she made a complete recovery from the pneumonia. Each day we learned that Lucy was beginning to take in food well, began to get back her strength and started becoming more aware and active again. The news just kept getting better. When we got the call that we could pick her up, we were so excited and nervous at the same time. What condition would she be in? What would she look like? Could we manage her feedings properly? Will she continue to recover as well out of the hospital or will she have a relapse? Everything was going through our minds....the trip to the hospital seemed to take forever.

When we first met with Dr. Berg he explained the treatments that Lucy received and demonstrated exactly how we would have to feed her in the future to assure that her food passed through her esophagus. Although it seemed overwhelming at the time, we knew that we would do anything we could to get her home with us again and keep her healthy. At that point, Dr. Holland left the room to get Lucy.....we were so nervous. When the door opened, we witnessed a true miracle. Our little Lucy came through the doors with the same love, kindness and spunk that she always has when she walks in a room.....just a few pounds lighter. I just grabbed her and cried. We couldn't thank Dr. Berg enough. I don't know if he will ever know what he did for us.... he gave us our baby back.

Since she has been home Lucy has continued to recover and is completely back to her old self. She plays with all of her canine friends in the neighborhood, comes with Mom to work and to run errands and gets spoiled by her new father with tons of kisses and belly rubs each day. The only difference is that we now have to feed her in an upright position and hold her in that position for 15 minutes after she eats - a small task for such great progress. Lucy went for her one- month check up with Dr. Berg at his new hospital, the Animal Speciality Center in Yonkers NY, and she received excellent reports.

On March 15th our dreams came true. We celebrated our marriage and had Lucy there with us to share in our happiness. We could not have been happier and owe everything to Dr. Berg and his superior team of professionals. Words can never express our gratitude. Dr. Berg will forever hold a special place in our hearts and will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

~ Stephaine, Jimmy & Lucy