The 'Miracle' Vet

Posted: Friday, January 25, 2008 9:23 AM by Dan Fleschner

TODAY's Jill Rappaport, an animal lover, shares her personal account of an inspiring doctor and her own struggle to help her ailing dog, Jack: WATCH VIDEO

Doctor Jiu Jia Wen is an incredible vet. But to his very special four-legged patients, who come from all over the country to his Long Island practice, he is much more than just their doctor. He is a "miracle worker."

You see, to them, he was their last hope for survival, and in less severe cases a hope for a better quality of life. Dr. Jiu Jia Wen specializes in alternative medicine. Herbs and acupuncture. And while he also practices conventional medicine as well, his true miracles have occurred through holistic therapy.

I came to Dr. Wen when my own dog, Jack, was diagnosed with bone cancer a year-and-a-half ago. As you can imagine I was overcome with grief and fear for my beloved pet.

What I really loved about this man was his optimism and the positive attitude he instills in his patients and their owners, to NEVER give up no matter how grim the diagnosis.

I started Jack on herbs that day. He unfortunately was very resistant to the amount required since he was never a great "pill taker" anyway. Well it was really difficult for me to try to disguise the herbs in every form of delicious food I could come up with, and Jack was becoming more resistant and distrusting of me every time I would try to feed him.

Needless to say this was not working for Jack. Then to my shock, I noticed Jack's tumor in his leg was growing and my heart stopped. It went from horrible to a true nightmare, when Jack ended up suffering a pathological fracture due to the tumor eating away at the bone.

At that point I was given no choice but to amputate my beautiful dog's leg to save his life. But conventional medicine for Jack was a true blessing. Eighteen months later, after his amputation and chemotherapy, Jack's cancer is in remission and he's living a beautiful happy and healthy life.

And as you may know, he is now the "ambassadog" of hope for specialized medicine. He is a true miracle. But trust me when I tell you that I feel it is so important that pet owners know ALL their options, whether it be conventional or holistic medicine.

Whatever works for your "fur angel" IS the right answer. And special people like Dr. Wen prove everyday, that miracles CAN happen despite the odds.

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Comments

I agree 100% with the person----Ferin Huntington----who posted the last comment. Harry A. Dingwall D.V.M. U.Calif. 1957

Dr. Harry A. Dingwall (Sent Tuesday, January 29, 2008 11:07 PM)

Like Ferin, I don't mean to be rude and I am sure Dr Wen is an excellent vet. But, dogs do not get MS, although they do develop a different disease called degenerative myelopathy. It is impossible to reverse degenerative myelpathy and it is also a difficult disease to diagnose. It is much more likely that Rocky has a different neurologic disease that is treatable. Also, as Ms. Rappaport stated, her dog's cancer was successfully treated with surgical amputation, not by holistic medicine. Any vet would have recommended amputation in this case because amputation is the only treatment proven to cause remission of bone cancer. Delaying surgery to try alternative therapies greatly increases the risk that the cancer will spread to the lungs and become untreatable.

Don't assume that "natural" therapies are less harmful than man-made medications. One of the deadliest toxins on earth is botulism toxin, which is 100% all-natural. Nature can be just as deadly as man, and often more so because people assume all-natural or herbal equals safe.

Dr Ann, NJ (Sent Tuesday, January 29, 2008 11:28 PM)

Dear Ferin from Huntington, I think you are reading the article incorrectly. The author explains that her dog would not ingest the prescribed herbs no matter what she tried. If the herbs are not going into the dog's body how do you expect them to work? Since the dog was not getting the herbs or necessary amount the tumor continued to grow and the owner had to resort to western medicine. Also, reread the last two paragraphs:" But trust me when I tell you that I feel it is so important that pet owners know ALL their options, whether it be conventional or holistic medicine. Whatever works for your "fur angel" IS the right answer. And special people like Dr. Wen prove everyday, that miracles CAN happen despite the odds."
The point of the story is not whether or not eastern medicine helped that particular dog but that it has and does help countless other pets( as long as they take what's prescribed). The story's message is that there are complementary/alternative therapies which have proved successful, pet owners have choices which they should be aware of and Dr. Wen and his practice are discussed to demonstrate this. I agree that describing in the article a couple of cases where Dr. Wen's methods were miraculous and successful would have been a good idea, however, I suspect that was done in the video which I have not watched.

Catherine, Austin, Texas (Sent Wednesday, January 30, 2008 1:55 AM)

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