up to speed...

before i get into future updates, i wanted to summarize what we've been thru thus far...

end of june - this all came out of the blue when i had her yearly blood panel ran.
a dog's red blood cell count should normally be around 45-50%
...sway was 29%
this was strange but not too alarming, so we planned to run another CBC to verify that this wasnt a mistake.
it wasnt.
over the next few weeks she had dropped to 21%

this is the disease we are looking at...
AIHA (auto immune hemolytic anemia)

july 27 - sway was at 18% and we decided to go ahead with an ultra-sound.
this was to basically rule out any tumors or internal bleeding, 2 potential reasons for the drops.
the ultra sound revealed no red flags, so as it was great to know that there were no tumors/bleeding, we still had no specific reason as to why this suddenly was brought about.

from there we looked to rule out another potential reason...
ticks.
she was put on doxycycline, which ideally would take care of all versions besides 1.
for the one rare tick, a babesia titer was ran and sway was in the clear.

july 28 - we started medication to counter the possible AIHA.
10mg of pepcid ac 30 minutes prior to meds/food.
carafate 30 minutes prior to meds/food.
20mg of prednisone 2x daily.
25mg of imuran 1x daily.
down the line we added other meds:
soloxine & RX hepatosupport (liver protection) are to be given 60 minutes prior to meds/food.
100mg of cyclosporine 1x daily 60 minutes after meds/food.
the cyclo was later stopped because sway's digestive tract is unable to handle it...most dogs do fine on this tho.
& finally a liver cleansing diet was suggested, you can try that here.

we chose not to run bone marrow tests, or any other tests for that matter...
reason being,
regardless on how the results would pan out, she would end up being on the same medication...
also, the $ for those tests would really take away from my ability to get her the treatment she needs....
im single, i dont have a great job, i dont have alot of money, and i live by myself in the most expesive county in the country.
i 'barely' kept my head above water before all of this,
now it will be 1 day at a time & i will just find a way.
...we decided to cross our fingers and wish for the best.

august 4 - 15.5%

august 7 - 15.5%

august 9 - 12% (blood transfusion #1)
this was also sway's first blood transfusion.
this procedure is basically hooking your dog up to an IV and running fresh blood into the vein thru a drip.
from what i have been told, sway tolerates these quite well and they usually will provide a boost.
however, if there is still no regeneration of cells, this fresh blood will soon be attacked and destroyed.
the point is to buy you important time while the medication is given an opportunity to work.

august 13 - 17%

august 17 - 13% (blood transfusion #2)

august 21 - 16%

august 28 - 12% (blood transfusion #3)

august 31 - 9% (blood transfusion #4, double unit)
i knew something was drastically wrong.
my girl was falling over when peeing outside and she could not walk straight.
her breathing was erratic as well and i was in a panic.
unfortunately my vet was closed and i was sure sway needed attention asap.
this meant going into the 24 hour care, and that meant me paying $1,200 for a one night visit.
i was right tho, because the 9% was the lowest she had ever been and after a long night of getting transfused sway was back up to 26%

september 1 - 28%

september 4 - 16%

september 6 - 13% (blood transfusion #5, double unit)
the meds are really beginning to re-shape her body...
the skull is taking on a cone shape, and the muscle is being evaporated from the pred.
alot of the time she has a hard time turning or squatting to pee without falling completely to the ground.
these are the effects of the disease, mixed with the effects of the treatment.
it is part of the path to a potential recovery. it is hard.

september 11 - (blood transfusion #6, double unit)

september 15/17 - (blood transfusion #7, double unit)

as i type this we have yet to see ANY regeneration of new red blood cells.

everyone is working hard though, and her doctors have been GREAT thru the entire process... (dr. woods / dr. dodds) THANK YOU!

i gain strength from a prior case that dr. dodds worked on, where a dog took 9 months before it began to create new cells in the marrow.
it is hard.
it is disheartening.
it is brutal at times emotionally.
you never want to see your family member stricken with such an unfortunate thing.
but better days do come, and i have faith in that.

no matter what she is dealing with, she is still a happy girl...
she still wags her tail feverishly when i walk in the door,
she still loves waiting in anticipation as i cook her patties, the fish or the boiled chicken,
and scarfs them down in record times!
still loves to wrap herself under the covers and make sure she cant be seen,
and loves to sit on my lap in the car so she can try to eat the air,
still hates baths,
still hates taking pills,
& still hates when i leave her...but i will always come back.
and i will never give up on her.