I'm writing to let you know about the extraordinary experience I had at Alameda East this past Saturday. Mandy, my fifteen year old cat has been suffering from chronic renal failure for over a year. Although she was getting quite old, she still was very alert and had a lot of energy. Per our neighborhood veterinarian's advice we had Mandy on a special diet and kept her hydrated with weekly under-the-skin fluid injections. Up until this past weekend, Mandy responded well to her diet and the weekly hydration therapy. We knew that she would succumb to the disease eventually, but were determined to have her treated as long as her quality-of-life was good.

Last Friday afternoon Mandy received her weekly hydration therapy injection but this time it did not seem to help her. On Saturday morning she was refusing to eat, lost her energy and began to have trouble with her breathing. Her veterinarian was out-of-town, on vacation, and his back-up was unavailable. I immediately made the decision to take Mandy to Alameda East for an emergency evaluation. Mandy was suffering and I knew that she needed immediate care. Mandy was evaluated by Dr. Erin Miller. Dr. Miller sat down with me to discuss the options that were available for her treatment which involved putting Mandy on an IV to hydrate her, giving her oxygen, etc. She let me know however that Mandy's prognosis as not very good and that the treatment might not help her. Instead of going the treatment route, I decided that it was time to let Mandy go. We've had little Mandy in our family since she was found in a dumpster at the age of three weeks and because of her difficult beginnings, she has always been even more special to us. Deciding to have her euthanized was a difficult and painful decision even though it was obviously the right thing to do. Dr. Miller was wonderful. I know that she did everything possible to make sure that Mandy was comfortable until the end. She also showed so much concern and care in helping me deal with the situation.

After making the decision, your grief counselor, Sandi Coffin, came to sit with me and offered her help. She provided a shoulder to cry on and gave me the support that I needed to get through a very difficult time. I told her at that time that I thought she truly has a gift for helping grieving people. Having her there made a difficult time easier to bear.

The fact that your have a person like Sandi on staff to help people with their grief is something that sets Alameda East apart. My mother died of cancer in 1992 and I can honestly say that the support that I received from Sandi and the staff of Alameda East was better than I received from the oncology unit at a local hospital when my mom died. Thank you so much for providing such extraordinary care and support at Alameda East.

Sincerely,

Tracie