Hello.  My name is Annie.   I was born May 23, 1999.  Mommy got me when I was 8 weeks old and weighed 15 oz.  I did't grow up very much.  At 2 years old the most I weighed 2 lbs. 1 oz.   In October 0f 2000 I had a complete set of baby teeth pulled (they were all retained).  Then in early 2001, I started losing weight.  I got down to 1 1/2 pounds.  I looked like a walking skeleton.  My back roached until I could hardly walk. I was seeing vets regularly.

One morning Mommie woke up to find me in a coma.  An energency trip to the vet brought a very grim forecast.  They didn't think I would live another hour.   Mommy decided to try anyway.  I spent the day on IV's, antibiotics and steroids. During the day I would be at the vet.  At night Mommy took me home and stayed up with me.  I had several very nasty seizures, but Mommy was able to give me shots of and antibiotics and solu-med.  At first it was thought I had brain damage.   I gave it a good fight and come out of it.

The diagnosis turned out to be liver shunt.  This is where a second hand computer and some very special people came to my rescue.  Mommy is handicapped and couldn't afford the surgery.  A friend named Harry had put internet service on her computer and paid for it.  So she found Yorkie National Rescue...  Someone there referred her to a website that contained The Fannie Mae Liver Shunt Fund.  This is where I first met an angel named Terri Shumsky and a vet in Tennessee named Karen Tobias.

Karen Tobias did the lab work on my Liver Bile Acid Tests free.  Terri arranged for the Fannie Mae Liver Shunt Fund to raise the money for my surgery.  A lot of wonderful people that I would like to thank very much sent in donations.

The surgery was done by Dr. Douglas Kern in Omaha, Ne.  He was a really great surgeon. I came home yesterday.  I have done really well in my first 24 hours.   An ameroid constrictor was put on the shunt (it turned out to be clear up by my spine).  It will take about 2 to 3 weeks for it to close completely.  A liver biopsy was done.  My liver is very small but the prognosis is good.

Mommy has shed a few tears in this process and is overwhelmed by all the wonderful people she has met.  A picture of me will follow when I am beautiful enough to have it taken. Right now I am having a bad hair day.  Mommy thought about a picture of the scar too, but I'm too much of a lady for that.

Love Each and Every One of YOU!
Annie