The PetsitUSA Blog

Pet insurance association appoints Laura Bennett as Chairman, Board of Directors

Posted: 25 Feb 2010 12:45 PM PST

Laura Bennett from Embrace Pet Insurance has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors for North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA).

February 19, 2010 (Las Vegas, NV) During the Western Veterinary Conference, The North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) announced that Laura Bennett, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Embrace Pet Insurance has been appointed Chairman of its Board of Directors.

According to Loran Hickton, Executive Director of NAPHIA, "Laura Bennett has earned an excellent reputation within the pet health insurance industry. Laura Bennett has been a prolific communicator of the positive principals of pet insurance as a means of support for better pet healthcare for all pets. Her efforts speaking in countless venues around the country, as well as her daily blogging have earned broad and positive recognition. These efforts are in addition to building a great team and solid brand at Embrace Pet Insurance. While serving on the NAPHIA Board, it has become clear that she has extraordinary leadership skills and a desire to build consensus among all stakeholders. As an industry, this is the key to unified standards and that will support the robust growth in our industry".

[..]

"It is important that the industry adopt unified standards and provide greater transparency in our products and services. While we are pleased with the consistent double-digit growth of most leading companies, this makes it all the more critical that we all work together. I am thankful to my colleagues serving on the Board, and the many leaders in the industry that support the NAPHIA mission," added Laura Bennett.

See the NAPHIA website for the rest of Pet Insurance Association Appoints Laura Bennett Chairman, Board of Directors.

Laura is a prominent pet blogger. She blogs about the pet insurance industry and pets in general at Embrace Pet Insurance Blog. She’s a real advocate for keeping pets healthy.

Congratulations, Laura!

Technorati Tags: pet health insurance, Embrace Pet Insurance, NAPHIA, pets

Update on Lydia: a new lump removed

Posted: 25 Feb 2010 12:06 PM PST

recovering from veterinary surgery

Lydia went in for a recheck last week and while she was there the vet found a lump in her leg. My stomach started doing somersaults as soon as the vet said the word lump. Then he said it felt like the lump was in a lymph node, and my whole body ached. Of course lymphoma immediately came to mind, which is not a good thing. (Insert expletives here and you’ll probably be right on with what I was thinking!) We’ve been down the lumpy, canine cancer road before and it’s not a fun road to spend time on. I hate cancer, but I also hate even the possibility of cancer!

The vet tried to get a few cells with a syringe but he wasn’t able to get enough to say conclusively if it looked like cancer or not. So, after two or three tries with the syringe, he gave up and said we should take it out. So, yesterday Lydia had surgery to have the lump and lymph node removed. Since the tumor was in the lymph node, canine lymphoma is a possibility. After the surgery though, I got a call from the vet, who said that while the lump did look abnormal, it didn’t look like the typical lymphoma tumor. One possibility is that the tissue was bruised from when they tried to get the cell samples with the syringe. That is what we’re hoping for! We do not want lymphoma or any other type of canine cancer!!

Last night was a bit rough for all of us. Lydia wanted desperately to sleep on the bed, so that’s where she spent the night. (notice I didn’t say that’s where she slept?) Neither of us slept all that well. She was up and down quite a few times, and so was I. She has pain meds, but I know from experience that doesn’t always guarantee a good night’s sleep. She’s feeling a lot better this afternoon, although I’m thinking it might be about time for a nap.

So now we wait until next week sometime when the vet calls with the biopsy results.

I’m thinking, hoping, and praying I’ll hear the word benign!

Visit Lydia’s Facebook fan page to follow her throughout the day.

Technorati Tags: canine cancer, lymphoma