pictures of the progress

the top picture is sway at one of her weakest points,
the bottom picture is sway 2 weeks ago, march of 2008.
(click the picture to enlarge it)

PCV = 28% !!!

since my dog was diagnosed with AIHA she has not had a net gain in her RBC % ...
and since june she has battled through different phases of this disease,
the 8 blood transfusions and in-ability to hold any kind of count,
the complete breakdown of her body,
the stroke followed by a weekend of near literal death,
the anabolic steroid and miracle hold,
the continued hold but with no re-generation,
the continued hold with signs of re-generation but no RBC gain,
the months of waiting with no RBC gain,
and now the first signs of building up her cell base!
this is the greatest thing for us, thank you God.

PCV = 20%

still no gains, very minimal drop ... as of saturday the 19th.
it seems that her body is working hard to produce them, yet they are just very small compared to the size of a normal cell.
...so even if she is now producing a decent number of new cells, the volume/size of those cells are so small that they are not making up any ground in the overall %

12/26 results

i just got her newest test results,
the UTI has cleared and sway's PCV is still holding at 22.7%
...still no rise in % but this is the 2nd straight panel that shows a 'regenerative anemia,' meaning she is trying to produce new cells.

merry x-mas

Merry Christmas everybody.
sway got 3 servings of turkey and green beans ... and a big belly to go along with it :)
im so thankful to have her around for our 6th Christmas.
she's a miracle for sure.

her overall health seems to be the same,
okay from the outside,
moving around pretty well,
still cannot jump, also has some sketchy breathing moments ... but all in all, we are hangin' in there.
blood levels still not rising, but HOLDING.
which is okay,
but hoping for even better days.
(our last PCV was about a month ago)

she's been on clavamox for the last 2 weeks for a urinary tract infection that was initially un-mentioned by the VCA tech.
dr. dodds brought it to my attention when i sent her sway's panel from november ... and sure enough, she had a UTI.
the infection could be messing with her blood levels so we wanted to treat it asap.
...she just finished the 14 day dose on friday & was re-tested today.
she was also given another full blood panel, both results should be back in the morning.

new pictures

update

sway got another PCV on monday after a 5 week layoff.
she had dropped 2 points, down to 21%
not exactly what i wanted to see coming off such a dramatic rise in her retic #'s :/
its clear that she now has a form of regenerative anemia, compared to our first 6 months of non-regenerative anemia ... which is a + ... but there is obviously cell destruction taking place.
whether its baby or adult cells being destroyed is unknown, & we need to figure that out...
with that said, from the outside she is still happy and able to do all the 'sway things' that she does.
i pray everyday that we have no setbacks, i cherish that she is still here.
perspective is easier to come by now cuz things have been MUCH worse.
many folks have been asking me for new pictures, i promise i will get some up!