Printed in the Virginia Gazette on 1/21/2012
Exceptional Veterinary Care
I wanted to share a recent experience I had at the Animal Clinic & Wellness Center in Williamsburg, specifically with Dr. Julie Scaccia.
I have a 12-year-old Shetland Sheepdog named Merlin. On Christmas Day, we found a mass on his jaw about the size of an acorn and immediately made an appointment with our vet, Dr. Scaccia, for the first available opening. Two days later, we had scary news. The mass had degraded his bone on his lower jaw and was likely cancerous.
Dr. Scaccia referred us to a local surgeon to have a biopsy and more x-rays. During this period I was frantically researching the web for information on the most likely culprit - osteosarcoma, a highly aggressive form of bone cancer. I e-mailed several questions to Dr. Scaccia regarding some inconsistencies I had found on different sites, expecting to hear back during business hours. I received an e-mail back at 9 p.m., with pages of information and assurances about what we could expect and addressing the issues I had encountered.
Since then, there have been several more late night e-mails and frantic phone calls. The last few weeks, my family and I have spent hours on options and second opinions, trying to find the best course of action for our Merlin. When things have looked the darkest, Dr. Scaccia has been compassionate and helpful, and our cheerleader when things have gone well. She has been available at times when other vets might have let things go until office hours. She even put us in touch with another family that had recently had a similar procedure done in order for us to be able to ask questions of someone with a shared experience.
We are lucky. It looks as though we may have a happy ending for Merlin. Against all statistical likelihood, the mass appears to be a benign tumor. But without Dr. Scaccia's commitment to a tremendous level of care for her clients and calm approach, we might have acted rashly and made decisions that would have robbed us of our dog.
The staff at the Animal Clinic & Wellness Center are also exceptional. Throughout this experience we have met with many other vets and worked with their staffs. None have been as friendly, helpful, or competent as Amber, Danielle, Sarah, and the entire staff at the center. Knowing that a fax would get sent when they said it would, or that the paperwork would be pulled for our records, or the correct amount would be charged to our bill gave us the peace of mind we needed to focus on the critical medical questions at hand.
My deepest thanks for all at the Animal Clinic & Wellness Center for exceptional care. Would that all medical professionals be more like them.
Rachel Spence, James City