Down the Cushings Road Again -- Abbie, 15 year old beagle is now at peace

Oh, your post today makes me very happy. Good job Abby and mom!

Hi, all! Spoke with the surgeon this morning and she said, when she came in this morning and checked on Abbie, she was quite loopy and was drooling. She has backed off on the pain meds as she thinks she was reacting to them. She will be giving Abbie a hyperbaric oxygen treatment to help with healing and will call me back this afternoon to let me know how she is doing. She mentioned possibly bringing her home later today but, as much as I want her with me, I am not adverse to a second night in the hospital if that is in Abbie's best interests.

Congratulations!! So happy for you both!!:)

Hi, all! Just a quick update -- the neurologist wanted to give Abbie a second hyperbaric treatment this afternoon so Abbie is spending tonight at the hospital and I will pick her up tomorrow morning. The neurologist called my vet and also faxed him a treatment summary. I will meet with the neurologist when I get Abbie so will bring my list of questions. I definitely want to find out what the rest of her disks looked like -- I am assuming the MRI would have shown all of them. I also want to know when I can restart all of Abbie's regular meds, including the Vetoryl.

Question: the neurologist is going to have Abbie continue on prednisone for a short while. Assuming Abbie is eating regular meals, do you think I should hold off re-starting the Vetoryl until the prednisone is stopped? She has been off Vetoryl since 2/9/16 and has been on prednisone since then.

Judy, that's a great question, and I would definitely ask the neurologist about that specifically. As we talked about earlier, it may be the case that they'd like to keep her natural cortisol production under control at the same time that she receives the supplemental pred. But since the anti-inflammatory considerations may trump everything else right now, the neurologist may want her to remain off the trilo until she has completed the course of pred, especially since it's only going to be for a short time. That's a really important question to ask tomorrow.

Surely hoping she'll feel much better by the time she comes home tomorow!

Oh yes. Hope she is home soon. Definitely worth a chat with the Neurologist. What did he say.nthe other discs look like? Hoping they look really good.

Marianne/Sharlene -- my concern is that I don't think the neurologist knows much about Cushing's (take a look at the P.S. I added to my first post about the surgery -- I had to show her how to read the ACTH results). My vet is learning from me so don't think he would know either. I am thinking the hospital may have an internist on duty whom the neurologist could ask but I would have to be very diplomatic ...

I will definitely ask about the condition of the other disks. Since the issue last year was lower down on her back, I am concerned about the rest.

I remember reading in a Dr. Feldman article that with Lysodren it should be stopped for surgery, stressed situations..etc so the cortisol can run higher. My thinking is that this protocol would be followed with Trilostane too.

Give our sweet girl some gentle hugs from me.

Hugs, Lori

If there isn't any reliable I out from the vets then myself I would not give the vetroyl for exactly the reason Lori mentions. To allow her body to do what it can to help her over this hump

Yes you mentioned this had happened before so I can see the worry there. I'd want to know too how the other discs are.

I would definitely agree about stopping the Vetoryl if the prednisone wasn't involved. It's the fact that the pred is being given, in addition, that makes me wonder. If nobody knows a definitive answer, then I agree that I'd hold off on the Vetoryl rather than give it. But even if the neurologist is not that familiar with Cushing's, hopefully he'll understand the dynamic that is involved once you explain it. Does he want a lid on the natural cortisol or not, in conjunction with the pred? It may depend somewhat on the size of the pred dose and duration.