Bull Arab X 7 years old with AIHA / blood transfusion

[Vally]

Smacks head – yes sorry Lizzy, I knew it was you and Lola.

Thanks Jill.

xxx

[Lizzy]

Many thanks for your responses. Lola is in a very critical condition at an animal referral hospital two hours away from my town. Unable to stand, very weak. After deliberating with the vet, we decided to euthanise her… then a specialist came in and spoke to us. She is being referred to a doctor who specialises in AIHA and had a 90% success rate. We are looking at a nearly $20,000 bill (love, huh?). Again, we went through some critical lows today but I am hoping she finally will get the help she needs and will be staying in hospital until she is stable. I just want to give her a chance.

[Lizzy]

Also, because she is so sick, if she becomes unresponsive I’ve opted for no resuscitation :'(

[Vally]

Ah Lizzy, I’m glad she’s with the specialist and hoping with everything that they can sort it out and get her responding really soon.

Yes the cost is shocking but it’s true that what we’ve found is that when this disease is hit hard at the very beginning, then YES, dogs can win. No there’s no guarantee, and sometimes despite it all, they won’t win, but dogs who have been very sick HAVE MADE IT.

You’re a legend Lizzy. I know everyone around you would be saying you’re nuts. That’s what I heard and sometimes I believed them. But my 6 million dollar dog, as he’s known at work, is lying beside me now and he’s now in his senior years, and I never ever would have thought he was gong to make it.

I’ll be thinking of you and praying that this specialist can kick it’s butt.

Love Vally & Bingo.
xxx

[Sheena]

Hi again Lizzy

She’s in the best place, absolutely. I was under the impression she was with a specialist already, so I’m really happy to hear she’s been referred to someone else in that case – you really need someone who knows their stuff. They can keep her stable, add meds as necessary with 24 hour care, so it’s much better for her. I think we all wanted to hear she was getting hospital care actually – when they are this sick, hospital is the only option.

Come on Lola – we are all wishing with all our hearts that you pull through – you can do it. Crossing everything.

Keep us updated, please – thinking of you constantly. I think we’ve all spent a small fortune on our babies. Our local vets are building an extension – I reckon Worzel has paid for that. I don’t care how much we spent – he’s had a good extra 3 years he wouldn’t have had if we had given up on him – that is priceless.

Love & huge hugs
Sheena, Mr Very Expensive & Mr Not So Expensive (Yet)
xxxxx

[Lizzy]

Thank you for your kind words and support. The vet (not the specialist) implied that we should be seeing an immune slow down by this point and the fact that we haven’t means we are losing the battle.

He said most dogs show signs of stabilising by day 7? Is this true? He stated he had nothing left up his sleeve in regard to treatment and he implied we should end it for her. She also has an enlarged spleen.

We then decided to go to the referral hospital again for one more transfusion. When we went up to the specialist hospital the next vet sounded equally concerned about her outcome, apparently her hemolysis is quite aggressive and basically suggested that the transfusion would only allow her to make it through the night. After seeing how distraught my partner and I were, she decided to discuss Lola with the AIHA specialist. He was happy to take her on.

Yes, it is going to cost a fortune but I really don’t care. I just want to know I have done everything I possibly could for her and this site has shown me this is possible. I doubt I will sleep tonight as I am half expecting a phonetical saying she has passed away. I am sure we all did our own fair share of premature mourning during this battle. I hope mine today is unnecessary.

Does her situation sound more grim than most? I just don’t know what to think or feel about this. Your advice has been invaluable to me and a source of comfort and reassurance at a horrible time. I can’t thank you all enough xx

[Sheena]

Hey Lizzie

No!!!!! She’s just had a rapid onset which is not unusual, but it does mean more intense treatment, which she is now getting. Day 7 is far too optimistic – Worzel took two weeks & we were told that was a good response. So no, nothing is telling ME she’s not going to repsond – plus don’t forget about all the other drugs. We would would have gone through every single one with Worzel until he got better. But that doesn’t happen the vast majority of dogs respond to the first or second drug. Dr Dodds protocol is cyclosporine, then add azathioprine for “more stubborn” cases, or in the case of Evans Syndrome, Vincristine. So you must keep this in your mind.

Karyn’s Louis was going through blood transfusions incredibly fast – look at him now – he’s getting better! I know Karyn won’t mind me saying that we talked a lot on the phone – she had pretty much lost hope until she found this site – you must never lose hope because there is so much to be hopeful about with this disease.

There was a lady called Ruth on here with a dog called Nula who had Evans Syndrome & had several transfusions too – they found a good specialist & Nula got better. She was on cyclosporine – you haven’t even tried that drug yet – you might not need to, but it’s another option. And I absolutely think 7 days is a load of rubbish & they shouldn’t have said this – sorry to be rude & blunt, but they have scared you unnecessarily. I can remember Dr Dodds telling me that in Worzel’s case of bone marrow failure, it could take a long time to get him back on track – bone marrow failure takes much longer to respond than the IMHA Lola is suffering from. If the vet had told me 7 days & I had given up, I would have been furious when I found out the truth.

Because Lola is an acute rather than a chronic IMHA sufferer, of course the treatment is more intense – it has to be because of the severe haemolysis. And this always involves transfusions – they are there to keep our dogs alive until the drugs work & should never be feared. As long as they are cross-matched & administered carefully they are just what Lola needs. Expensive, yes, but necessary.

Keep your chin up, Lizzie. Getting her into that hospital under an AIHA/IMHA specialist was the ideal scenario.

Don’t worry about the enlarged spleen &/or liver – this is usual when dogs are haemolysing at a fast rate – those organs are working hell for leather to cope & this is why they get a bit swollen up. Did I explain this before? If I did, sorry for repeating myself!

Try & get some rest if you can – and please keep talking to us – I feel your angst through your messages & we are all here for you.

Much love & huge hugs
Sheena xxxxx

[Karxlee]

Hi Lizzy Karyn here..

Please please don’t give up, you will be amazed at how much our dogs can put up with, Louis had 6 transfusions and his journey starterd on Christmas day 2015 and it has only been in the last 2 weeks we have seen improvement, so (apologies for my blutness) the silly vet that said they should see an improvement in 7 days is talking from his behind! This disease is crule and it takes every bit of energy you have but it CAN be beaten. Our dogs tell us when they’ve had enough, not the other way round. Please stick with it, we have spent over £12,000 on Louis and yes it’s almost bancrupt us but I would spend it again just to see what we are seeing now, he has turned the corner, he is happy, yes it’s still a long road but he is here with us making that journey. We all know how desparate you feel, we have been there, I have said my goodbyes to Louis twice now and each time he has said “I’m not ready yet mum”. This is not an easy journey anything worthwhile never is, but most dogs recover some just that the scenic journey which kis what Louis has done, we been living this everyday 5 months, and there have been so many times when we could have given up, but they need time, there bodies new time and that’s the only thing we can give them. Everyone here is rooting for you and everyone here are my lifeline and will be yours too. I write a blog about Louis, well actually he does it so if you fancy a read it’s here louismynewlife.blogspot.co.uk you will hear a familiar tone in some of the posts.

We are all here for you so please lean on us.
Love Karyn and Louis xxx