Page 17 - Talk of Tequesta - April '24

The Talk Of Tequesta, Page 17

peT maTTers

The Pet Cottage Post

The Pet Cottage Celebrates Senior a senior dachshund. When
Pets And Senior People Pugsley passed away in
We celebrate and protect the 2022, Lisa was ready to
magical relationship between open her heart to another
people and pets by providing dog and Zoey was a perfect
homestyle care for pets who lose their fit. At that point, Zack had
humans due to death, disability, or developed doggie dementia
deployment through our Lifelong Guardianship Program. and was no longer Zoey’s
We provide pet companionship for senior people, and we bonded mate. And Zoey
fully support them by covering all veterinary expenses, was a great candidate for
providing regular check-ins and giving a peace of mind Forever Guardianship in a
that the pet will always have a home with us. volunteer’s home.
A New Bonded Pair Today, Lisa and Zoey Gigi with bone Cynthia and Joe with Gigi
In 2021, Zoey are the bonded pair! They
and Zack, two senior enjoy neighborhood walks, Cynthia and Joe, a senior couple in PGA National, had
Norwich terriers came golf cart rides, service dog been on our Forever Guardian waitlist for about three
to The Pet Cottage after classes and watching TV months. We thought they might be a good match for Gigi,
their senior mom passed together. Zoey has brought so we set up a meet and greet. Gigi had been raised by Owen
away. The woman’s new energy into Lisa’s life. since she was a puppy and so patience and understanding
son contacted The Pet And Lisa showers Zoey for her adjustment period was necessary. The Pet Cottage
Cottage because he with love and attention. has fully supported the relationship with in-person visits,
couldn’t imagine sending his mom’s beloved dogs to a Lisa has made dear friends Lisa and Zoey phone support, vet visits and encouragement. Joe, who is
shelter. The Pet Cottage provided him with peace of mind with the other Pet Cottage in his 80s, takes Gigi on daily walks in the neighborhood
that the dogs would be loved and cherished. While they volunteers and finds and Gigi enjoys sunbathing in the back garden. Cynthia
were sweet and spunky dogs, they were in serious need of meaning and purpose in takes care of all of Gigi’s health needs and makes sure she
medical care and grooming. The Pet Cottage brought them our community. is comfortable and loved. We love creating these happy
to our veterinarian where an initial exam was completed New Hope And New stories in our community for senior pets and people.
and all their medical needs were addressed. Adventures Urgent: Big Dog Forever Guardians Needed
Zack and Zoey initially came to The Sanctuary because Gigi, a 13-year-old If you love big dogs and want to make a difference in
they were a bonded pair and had just suffered a great loss. senior Jack Russell Terrier, the community, please contact us for more information
They fit in well with The Sanctuary pack. recently joined our pack. about Forever Guardianship and volunteer opportunities.
Meanwhile, one of our fabulous senior volunteers When her senior owner, We have room in our pack for you!
named Lisa had recently suffered a string of great Owen, a Vietnam veteran, The Pet Cottage,
losses. First, in 2020, her husband Perry passed away could no longer care for Wendy Derhak,
from COVID. Lisa was devastated and heartbroken. She her due to medical issues, Founder/Executive Director,
found comfort in her two dogs, Pugsley and Angel. In he reached out to The Pet (561) 818-5025
fact, Lisa was a Pet Cottage Forever Guardian to Angel, Cottage for help. Zoey in the golf cart www.thepetcottage.org

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SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH CARE

Fewer patients face traditional open-heart surgery as

minimally invasive procedures continue to evolve.

By Valerie Staggs

When Dr. John Gibbon performed the first conditions is heart valve disease, which, as For Sabbah, these new structural heart
successful open-heart bypass procedure in the name suggests, relates to a defect in a treatments allow him to provide patients
1953, the medical world gained its first heart valve. “The heart has four chambers with the life altering results they are desper-
glimpse at the possibilities for treating this and four heart valves. Their function is to ately seeking. “One of the most rewarding
vital organ with innovative medical inter- open and close in harmony so that blood aspects of my specialty is offering pa-
vention. Today cardiac surgeons perform flows through the heart in the proper di- tients who aren’t feeling well the option
over 900,000 procedures annually and by rection,” explains Sabbah. A “leaky” valve of a minimally invasive procedure. In
2029, cardiac surgeries are projected to can cause blood to back up into the lungs most cases, they are feeling better in as
reach 1.3 million each year. The increase and elsewhere, at times causing significant little as a week. There is nothing better
is attributed not to open-heart procedures, symptoms of shortness of breath, dizziness, than that.”
but to more minimally invasive options and even sometimes chest pain.
now available to physicians.
New procedures such as TAVR (transcath-
While Gibbon paved the way for the use eter aortic valve replacement) enable car-
of open-heart procedures to treat serious diologists like Sabbah to fix valve defects
heart conditions, the introduction of new through minimally invasive methods. The
cardiovascular technologies in recent years TAVR procedure involves a small IV, typi-
has enabled patients to avoid the need for conditions that affect the structure of the cally in the groin area, to allow access to an
open-heart surgery in many cases. Today heart, specifically the heart’s valves, walls, artery. A catheter is then inserted into the
cardiologists are able to diagnose and treat chambers or muscles. These conditions artery and guided through that blood vessel
many heart conditions early before they can be congenital, meaning they have been to the heart where the clogged up valve is
lead to future complications. with the patient since birth, or they can be located. The new tissue aortic valve is then
caused by other adverse conditions in the deployed inside of the defective aortic valve.
“The landscape of cardiac care has body such as high blood pressure, an infec- The average TAVR procedure takes about
changed significantly over the past de- tion or autoimmune diseases such as lupus one hour, and most patients return home
cade,” says Dr. Michael Sabbah, an inter- or rheumatic fever. Simple aging can also the next day. Patients report a significantly
ventional and structural cardiologist at Ju- lead to structural heart defects. About 2.5% improved quality of life after the procedure.
piter Medical Center. “We are now able to of all Americans suffer from structural heart
treat defects and disorders of the heart be- disease. TAVR is just one of the treatment meth-
fore they lead to more serious conditions.” ods cardiologists now have available to treat
Thanks to recent developments in the treat- structural heart disease. Similar treatments Michael Sabbah, MD
The defects and disorders Sabbah refers ment of structural heart disease, cardiol- available include MitraClip and Am-
TM
to are collectively known as “structural ogists like Dr. Sabbah now have a host of platzer Septal Occluder . Both involve To learn more, visit
TM
heart disease,” a sub-specialty of cardiol- different options for treating their patients. putting a device in place to fix a structural
ogy. Structural heart disease is defined as One of the most common structural heart abnormality. jupitermed.com/cardiology.
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