ultra sound results

sways ultra sound was given on march 14th and showed what looked to be a 'shunt in her liver'
dr. woods said it could potentially be diverting large amounts of her blood flow and definitely not allowing for proper absorption...
he told me this could be very, very significant or perhaps not so much...and that we would need to do a bile acid test to confirm an abnormal liver function.
he also told me that her bladder and kidneys were both pretty inflamed, basically concluding that her immune system is incredibly out of whack.

later that night i got an email from patrice...
she had just read my lastest update and mentioned that she had told me way back in november about 'portosystemic shunts' and that i should ask my vet about sway potentially having one...
i then realized that i did indeed ask, and at that time i was told that it was a good question but 'wasn't very likely'
at that time some people on the vetnet board also quickly refuted patrice for even suggesting it, i remember that as well.
...this all came rushing back to me at that moment and to be honest i was pretty stunned.
to be clear...this is at no fault to my vet, as sways case has been incredibly difficult and everyone is doing the absolute best they can, i know that and greatly appreciate the efforts that have been put forth.
but still, i couldn't help but be stunned when i finally made the connection in my own head.
i spent the rest of the night reading and reading and reading and reading and reading up on this condition.

another ultra sound

dr. dodds suggested we do another ultrasound, as sway last had one in late 2007.
if that were to reveal that everything was okay then she said we should consider stopping the nandrolone-
could the long term administration of nandrolone be a reason for sways cachexia? not sure.
the only thing i know for sure is that it definitely is the anchor that's held her blood count steady...
so potentially stopping it means we are walking a very fine line.
if the ultrasound were to reveal something new or significant, then that would point the direction of her future treatment.