10/20/2026
An Update from Dr. Slovis & the Lake Anna Veterinary Hospital Family đź’™
First, I want to thank everyone for the incredible amount of support, kind words, thoughts, prayers, and messages I received after my original post. My family and I truly appreciate every person who has reached out.
For those who may not have seen my earlier post, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in early September that will require surgery. Thankfully, it is treatable, and after a lot of research, consultations, and some difficult decisions, I now have a plan and a surgery date.
My brain surgery is scheduled for November 18th at Duke University, and I plan to be out of the hospital beginning the week before surgery. Ultimately, I chose Duke because of the surgeon’s extensive experience with this type of procedure. I feel very confident in the decision and am ready to get this behind me and get back to work.
My hope is to return to Lake Anna Vet part-time, working half days toward the end of December, and then return to a full schedule at the beginning of January, assuming my recovery goes as planned.
During that time, Dr. Lephew will also remain on maternity leave through the end of the year, which means we will essentially be two doctors down each day for several weeks.
We are continuing to work on adding relief veterinarians to help cover that period, and our entire team will be doing everything possible to make sure pets with medical problems are seen when they need us.
The good news is that over the past six weeks, despite already working with a reduced doctor schedule, I don’t think most of you have noticed much of a change in your ability to get your pets seen when they are sick. Our goal is to keep it that way.
There may be times when routine or wellness appointments need to be adjusted so we can prioritize sick and urgent patients, but we will continue doing everything we can to take care of our patients and our community.
I also want to thank everyone for your continued patience and ask for a little extra kindness toward our staff during the next couple of months. I truly believe we have the best staff in the world, and they have been doing an incredible job keeping everything running while our doctors’ schedules have been stretched thin. They will be carrying an even bigger load while Dr. Lephew and I are both away. Please be patient and kind with them—they are working incredibly hard because they care about you and your pets just as much as we do. 💙
And there is more good news coming in January. 🎉
By the beginning of the year, Dr. Lephew and I should both be back on the floor, and we will also be welcoming a new veterinarian to the Lake Anna Vet family who brings many years of experience with her. I’m very excited about what she will add to our hospital and look forward to introducing her to everyone soon.
There may be a few challenging weeks ahead, but we have a plan, an incredible team, and some exciting things to look forward to in the new year.
Thank you again for your patience, your trust in our hospital, and especially for all the support you have shown me personally. It has meant more to me and my family than I can adequately put into words.
đź’™ Dr. Dan Slovis, DVM, CVA
Lake Anna Veterinary Hospital
