Sunny

[Tamara]

Maura, I just want to echo everyone else — please write as often as you need, and, as best you can, take care of yourself too. I so understand how difficult that is — last week I could barely eat or sleep, and during the first 6 weeks of Ashki’s diagnosis I lost 15 pounds (don’t worry, I still have plenty to spare ;) ). But do the best you can, knowing you’re not just doing it for you, but for Sunny and Jill too.

You can see an increase in PCV with weak regeneration. This has been Ashki’s case. I’m still not entirely comfortable with it, and wish he was more strongly regenerative, but as long as his PCV is remaining stable or creeping up, I am happy. He had two transfusions and we were ready to do a third when his PCV jumped from 16 to 20 in two days, after almost 2 1/2 months.

I agree with the suggestion also to talk to the specialist about calling Hemopet for blood, or you could call yourself. Jean Dodds, the specialist you can contact that we’ve told you about, founded Hemopet. Whether you or the specialist calls, make sure and tell them that the blood is for a dog fighting IMHA that is not regenerative and had a reaction after the last transfusion and they will take care of you. They would overnight the blood to you or the specialist.

When we were talking about the third transfusion for Ashki Jean told me that there was a certain kind of blood she suggested that she said was the least likely to cause a reaction; I can’t remember the details but I can get them for you if you’d like.

We are here for you and with you, Maura. I remember you saying that Sunny rescued you. I feel the same way about Ashki. Ashki came to me at the end of one of the worst years of my life. In very similar, if not the same ways, he is my sunshine too.

sending you and Sunny love and hugs —
tamara and ashki xoxoxo

[Vally]

Maura, please don’t apologise for writing. It’s how we help each other.

You probably feel like you’re in a loop, transfusion, low blood count, transfusion, but don’t forget the drugs hopefully are starting to do their job. We all wish they started immediately but they don’t.

Did you get the results from the last blood test? Is there any chance you could do a consultation with Dr Jean Dodds at hemopet.org? I know it’s yet another expense but her consultation fee is $100 and she is an expert in this field.

I’m wondering about the Azathioprine? That’s know to possibly affect marrow production. Could that be slowing things down? Anyone?

Lots of love,
Vally & Bingo

[maura]

Thank you everyone for writing. I am keeping up the fight.
Sunny has eaten chicken today from my hand. I will possibly get in touch with dr Dodds and i will certainly request fresh blood. With Sunny’s packed cell volume at 18 it may be tomorrow or saturday.
The vet said on the phone today Sunny’s bone marrow is just not producing -or not capable of producing the baby cells–WHAT CAUSES THIS? Anyway I am praying the atopica works its magic and I will inquire about the aziathyaprine possibly making things worse.
Thank you all
Maura and Sunny

[maura]

Tamara,
We got Sunny during a time when my daughter was painfully introverted and my mom was very sick with COPD. My mom died 4 years ago and Sunny just helped my daughter and I get through with her energy and love toward us. I got her as my daughter’s dog but she became the little sunshine in every day. We sort of became a dog family : taking her with us, planning our lives around her fun.

Life is filled with much tragedy sometimes and I just connected with Sunny.
Deep sigh and now I will get back to seeing how this fight turns out.
I am hoping to wait until sat for the transfusion but Sunny may need it tomorrow.
Hope you and your Ashki have a good night.
Love
Maura , Sunny and Jill

[Vally]

Oh, I love the photo.

[Brigitte]

Maura,
thanks for posting the picture! it is nice to put a face to the names:)
have a good and restful night,
Brigitte

[admin]

Hi Maura – what a lovely pic! Thanks for sharing that.
Dogs have a different blood typing to us. They don’t have A/B/O etc plus rhesus negative/positive as we do. Instead, they have something called DEA (dog erythrocyte antigen). Erythrocytes are red blood cells. There are seven categories (DEA 1-7), but the most important consideration is whether the dog is DEA positive or negative (a bit like our rhesus factor). Most dogs (around 70% ) are DEA positive. I looked up the list of breeds that are predisposed to be negative and your dog isn’t there, so it is more likely (but not certain) that she is positive. IT IS MOST IMPORTANT to match the positive/negative component. I am sure the vets will do that. Get them to tell you what Sunny’s blood match is, so you know.

I am afraid no one knows what causes non-regeneration. Believe me, I read through every veterinary research paper I could find on non-regeneration when I discovered that was what Honey had. There are no answers, sadly. MAYBE she ate something (dogs get into all kinds of things!); MAYBE it’s a reaction to vaccination (though we get our pooches vaccinated for very good reasons); MAYBE it’s some underlying illness. MAYBE it is none of those things. They just don’t know.

I’m sorry that sounds quite negative and will probably make you despair. But I want to emphasise that you must try not to beat yourself up about it. There is nothing you did wrong, and nothing you could have done to prevent it.

Stay strong –

Lynda
x

[admin]

Hi Maura

Lovely photo! Sunny is a real cutie & I can see you all love her dearly.

Like Tamara, I lost a lot of weight with the worry when Worzel was ill & felt like a complete wreck some days. We didn’t even have a diagnosis for a long time – awful. Azathioprine worked for Worzel (2 weeks) but it doesn’t work for every dog. It is a bone marrow suppressant in the long term, not short term. If it hadn’t worked, we would have tried cyclosporine next, then mycophenolate mofetil, then cyclophosphamide , etc etc ….. and we would have kept going until something had worked. My Specialist’s view was that we would never give up until we found the right drug or combination of drugs & we would transfuse as necessary, but only small amounts of well matched red cells. He trained for his internship at Cornell University and his attitude was “we do not give in to this disease – we beat it”. As you know, Cornell studies have shown successful outcomes for the majority of dogs. He made ME feel more positive the moment I met him & I was really at rock bottom, Maura. I hope this will make you feel more positive about Sunny too.

I wish we really knew why our dogs were non-regenerative, Basically, something is stopping those reticulocytes from forming or reaching maturity. The body thinks it’s own red cells are “foreign invaders” for some unknown reason. The aim is to prevent the T-lymphocytes from killing them off by giving the immuno-suppressant drugs. Of course, the body can also treat transfused cells like this too, hence you sometimes see a drop in PCV. Stopping this attacking “self” can take time or it can happen fairly quickly. Why? I don’t know. Every dog is different – keep it going, Maura.

Love & cuddles, Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxx