On August 28, 2019, Grayce, my beautiful three-legged golden retriever, was diagnosed with Thrombocytopenia (low blood platelets) and Epistaxis (nose bleeds).
We took her in to the vet on multiple occasions due to the bleeding, then my life turned upside down with more bad news…

On January 4, 2020, Grayce was coughing and having a difficult time breathing. Chest x-rays were taken that revealed a large mass in her trachea that nearly blocked approximately 90% of her trachea. A tracheoscopy was performed on January 10th. The surgeon took several biopsies of the mass and debulked (approximately 70%) of it to help Grayce breath in the meantime. The diagnosis from the biopsy was Stage 5 large cell lymphoma. One option for treatment was chemotherapy, which might prolong her survival for 1 year, but because she was on prednisone for the bloody noses, she was already on one of the medications and might not respond well to chemotherapy. Graycie’s veterinarian, suggested a second option, which was to do 3 treatments of high dose Vitamin C IVs, change her diet to organic meat and vegetables and see Dr. Yoza. We did not want to put Grayce through chemotherapy as we were told that about 50% of dogs have adverse reactions. We immediately changed her diet and started going to Dr. Yoza weekly.

We were happy when Grayce’s nose bleeds stopped, but in March we had another set back, Grayce had dislocated her left hip and with multiple failed attempts to reset it, we had to prepare her for surgery on March 12th. Because of Grayce’s history, they had to take extra precautions due to the cancer, but low and behold, no traces of the cancerous mass could be found!

On May 20th, Grayce was taken to emergency again for labored breathing and retching. X-ray of her chest and abdomen were taken again due to her previous history and she was held overnight due to a large amount of gas in her stomach. We thought the cancer was back. Remarkably, the doctor did not observe any structural trachea, lungs and heart. Her blood work showed a normal platelet count and mildly elevated liver enzymes consistent with chronic prednisone therapy. The doctor was surprised to see Grayce’s clear X-rays and told us to continue whatever we were doing!

It has been 11 months since Grayce started treatment with Dr. Yoza and she loves seeing Dr. Yoza weekly. She is breathing better and walking well. She done a complete turnaround and is getting healthier every day. We are so thankful to Dr. Yoza and his staff for each and everyday we get to spend with her.

Kristi M.