stella pred reduction

[shawkyelisabeth]

Yes i am considering it not to wait until thursday and do it earlier, her kidney values are good, her liver enzymes high, she gets liver madication. The reason for not having her blod tested in lose intervals was the horrible traffic situation in cairo postrevolution, very hot congested and  ewe had to get the blood to the lab by ourselves, now i found a new vet. Who does the test at the clinic an d is dealing well with stella trying to keep her as stressfree as possible. Thank you for your concern, i stiked to the m j day protocol when reducing preds and everything went perfectly well and i have no idea what could have triggered the relapse

[Jo CIMDA]

Have just been on the phone with my new vet, he is well aware of the dngers of a relapse and assures me that the 80 mg  depo medrol intramuscular are immunosuppressive with A half life of at least one week to three weeks, he told me not to worry and that he preferred this to giving her oral preds. He will,see stella and do new bloods on thursday that means only three more days and he is sure that there will be no xdeterioration on her hematocrit until then. So i should have confidence, shouldn t i and i cannot now on my own increase her oral dose of preds because that would definitely mean an overdose for the time being. Stella is better and lets hope for the best, itis a rollercoaster! Elisabeth

Hi Elisabeth

No point in giving oral preds now.  You must give this vet a chance.  He does seem to have a better understanding than your other one.

We will all be routing for Stella and you.  It is amazing just how close we 'moms' get to our poorly dogs and how they become to rely on us and look at us with total adoration.  There is something very special about this relationship.

Thanks for the hug!

Jo

[Shannon]

Hi Elisabeth,

I'm from Zimbabwe but am currently studying in South Africa so we're at opposite ends of the continent.

I hope Stella is feeling better this morning. We just have to take one day at a time I think (easier said than done!), do the very best we can for our babies and like you say, just breathe. We will get through this with them!

[shawkyelisabeth]

Yes shannon we will have to get through this somehow, but at the same time as jo said once try to keep our sanity and not worry too much which I start doing again right now, I have had dogs for the last 25 years but Stella has been really special because of the hard times we had together, i had a beagle girl that died of a heart condition at 13 who could literally read my thoughts, and Stella  at one and a half years is even more attached to me, inspite of her inherited disabilities she is a beauty, extremely intelligent and iI will do everything to save her. So I will try to give this vet a chance hoping that his supportive treatment does not harm to her hematorcrit and check her bloods even earlier then Thursday and then get back to the M J Day protocol starting all over again.
Thank you JO and one more big hug for telling me to give this vet a chance, and I will give him the M J Day protocol.which I think he knows. Elisabeth

[Shannon]

Hi Elisabeth,

What Jo says about staying sane when all this is going on is so true, yet it seems to be so difficult. The worry seems to consume one when these things happen to those we love.

I understand what you mean about how close you have become to Stella, we become inextricably linked with them and when they've been as sick as our lot have been it seems to reach another level. I really hope Stella is feeling better today. Coop seems to be brighter so I am hopeful that we are on the right track again.

[shawkyelisabeth]

After seeing our new vet yesterday i can report that we agreed on getting stella back on the initial high dose of preds, he asked to wait until saturday so not to overdose her after this initial suportive shot of cortisone that he gave her. We did bloods that turned out with highly improved wbcs indicating that the ab treatment with the cortison shows effect, but lightly decreased hematorcrit and rbcs that we hopefully will fight against starting from tomorrow. We keep all our fingers and paws crossed , maybe it works this time! Stella is still on antibiotics to fight any possible infection she might have (she had diarrhea and eats little) and on a bunch of supplements for liver and joint support. She walks better although she is still weak but in good spirits. Thanks for your support, will keep you updated and i am full of hope again that we can make it this time. Hugs to everybody and good thoughts from elisabeth and stella

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi Elisabeth

There is nothing in your posting that I can't agree with.  I like the sound of this new vet.  He seems to assess the situation and is not frightened to treat appropriately.  His job is made easier because of you and your husband's understanding of what is going on with Stella.

Don't forget the gastroprotectant. 

If her platelets get a bit high you can always include asprin to thin her blood a little:

To decrease platelet aggregation/antithrombic: 0.5mg/kg/12-25 hrs (Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook)

Stella responded so well last time, she will do so again.

Jo

[Angela]

It's not the outcome I would have wished for you & Stella but you do know what you are dealing with now & that's a head start.  When my girl went through this the second time she needed to be on the initial high dose for a month before reductions began as her bone marrow was very sluggish, and later in the treatment developed pancreatitis after I unwittingly made changes to her diet - so remember to keep the fat content in her food down to no more than 10% if you can (some manufactured dog foods are around 30% fat).
Prayers & hugs for you both (& Egypt) from Oz

[shawkyelisabeth]

Big hug to you jo and angela, i reread your report about the second reduction angela and it will certainly help. No we will not forget the gastroprotectant and i am aware that i should keep her food  lowfat. She eats very little now but that is possibly going to change with the high dose of preds and i will go for chicken and rice and liver and some vegs, she refuses dryfood.
The new vet is well read in autoimmune diseases and even knows the m j day protocol, but his approach for a relapse is different with prescription of high dose longacting depo medrol injections.nevertheless i was able to convince him that we should restart with immunosuppressive doses of oral preds and he had no objection seeing it only as a different approach but still convinced that his approach would have the same outcome. Still i am relieved that we restart the oral preds because i am confident that this is the right thing to do with stella, hopefully she will respond well without side effects. We will now see him on a regular basis. He has a very good way with stella and is able to take a blood sample without tying her down and she accepts it without biting or any stress which is a miracle!
Seeing the protocol and dates that i tapered stellas preds he assured me that the was nothing wrong and as jo and other cimda people said  a relapse can happen at any time and is unpredictable, so i try to take it lightly now, i know i have a sick dog that i have to care for for a long time, we will try to get as much quality of life for both of us and we are into this together. With the new vet i will have someone hopefully who will be of help when any crisis occurs or in case of side effects this makes me A little calmer but he will never replace the good advice and reassurance of you  jo and all our other friends.
Big hugs and i will keep you updated.
I just saw that this post got 800 views, are so many people interested in our story?
big hugs over the ocean to oz, angela, for your positive thoughts.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi Elisabeth

It is so comforting to have a vet you can work with. We all need that.  I'm sure I am a real pain to mine but we work and learn together.

800 hits, that is amazing, and you don't know how many unknown dogs Stella's story will help.

This may be her one and only relpapse - who knows?

Jo

[shawkyelisabeth]

A big good morning hug to you JO! Stella and ELisabeth

[Amshura]

hullo Elisabeth. Iam one of Stella's 800 followers.I do not post too much these days but follow all my "old friends" trials with their AI problems. I am so pleased that you have a vet with whom you can work this is always to everyones advantage has Jo has said..We are ALL on a continuous learning curve.
Sending big hugs to you & your girlie through cyberspace.

Much love Sylvia & the Afghan Hounds UK.

[shawkyelisabeth]

Thank you sylvia you have helped me so much with stella when we still were dealing with her babesia....hope you are doing well, many greetings from egypt elisabeth and stella

[shawkyelisabeth]

Day2 of our second attempt of pred treatment at 25 mg twice daily:
Stella is okay, lively, eating better, but panting heavily, that worries me a little.
In comparison to the first time this time it is much hotter that might contribute to it.
She drinks a lot and I try to keep her in cool places. She has one more day to take her antibiotics
And then hopefully the stress of medication will not be too heavy on her.

[gschellinger]

Good luck Elisabeth! I hope the sailing is smooth for Stella.
gail