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Dottie,
There is always hope. My dear Buddy who passed away earlier this year had an addison crisis after a few months of treating with trilostane. He was also diabetic and after the steroid injection he pulled through and we were lucky his body responded and we didn't have to treat for addisons or cushings for the next two years of his life. The addison crisis happened to him at age 13 and he was with us until 15 1\2.
Jenny
Hi Dottie,
Just wanted to let you know my heart goes out to you with everything that you and Tessie have been through.
You both will be in my thoughts and prayers tonight.
Lori
Hi Debbie I don't know how he did the test. All I know is that he asked to have tes for two hours. I said don't you need her for 8 hours. He said two would be fine. Unless I really needed to know if it was pituitary or adrenal which he thought was a waste because 95% of the dogs he has seen has always come out adrenal. So I believed him. He got the results back and it was cushings. I started Tes Friday morning at 7:00 am on her first dose, by mid-night I was hiding the drug so my husband would not give it to her in the morning because I would be sleeping. Then I changed my mind, because I stated up all night look for any thing that about Vetoryl. The first day on Vetoryl all that I could see is that now her front legs were shaking and she looked like she did not feel good. The next day she ate her breakfast and drank water, she did not seem bad, but I could tell she did not seem right. It was the look on her face, but I still gave her the medicine. By 5:30 on Saturday she was vomiting and ever two or so hours tell I took her to the E-Vet Monday morning. She vomited a total of 8 times between Saturday night to Monday morning. All day sunday she was still waking around, going out side to pee, drinking a little water. I regret waiting so long to get her to the E-Vet. That won't happen again. I asked my Vet today when i took her home if i needed any medication for her, he said know. Ok enough of my store, thank you all again DottieQuote:
Originally Posted by StarDeb55
NOW THAT IS A GREAT STORE. TY for that DottieQuote:
Originally Posted by BestBuddy
TY Debbie will never throw in the towel. My husband is worried I will spend his retirement money on this LOL He is kidding kinda, LOL but it would be very hard for me to give upQuote:
Originally Posted by StarDeb55
I've already spent my retirement money. Harley is my 2nd Cushpup, my first boy, also, developed lymphoma, & went through chemo. He crossed the bridge almost 3 years ago at the age of 15. I did want to tell you that my 1st boy was successfully treated with lysodren for nearly 8 years with a good quality of life. So with the right treatment, & a good vet, this dratted disease can be controlled. Now, my 2nd boy, Chewbacca, is going for skin testing in the morning for major allergy issues. As you can see, this is why I've spent my vacation since 7/2, here at home, can't afford to go anywhere.
I think you may haven't gotten what the vet told you about what type of Cushing's backwards, 85% of pups have pituitary Cushing's, only 15% have adrenal. The only reason to determine what type is that there is a possibility of surgery to remove the adrenal tumor which would offer the hope of a permanent cure.
Debbie
You were correct in asking for the eight hour Low Dose Dex test. The ACTH (2 hour) test was used for diagnosing in the past, but now is used mainly for monitoring the cortisol levels while on treatment. I am hoping that you just misunderstood his comment about 95% of dogs having adrenal cushings, because mostly we find they have pituitary cushings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammie
Your vet should have advised you to look for signs that Tess was not tolerating the drug. Especially since he was giving her over twice the recommended dose. God probably couldn't have helped her if he had done that to her with lysodren. I have no idea where he came up with this protocol of giving a double dose for ten days. I have never heard of such a thing. There is no loading phase for trilostane. Lysodren does have a loading phase, and the worst instruction ever given by a vet is to "give for ten days".Quote:
The first day on Vetoryl all that I could see is that now her front legs were shaking and she looked like she did not feel good. The next day she ate her breakfast and drank water, she did not seem bad, but I could tell she did not seem right. It was the look on her face, but I still gave her the medicine. By 5:30 on Saturday she was vomiting and ever two or so hours tell I took her to the E-Vet Monday morning. She vomited a total of 8 times between Saturday night to Monday morning.
Dottie, we all have regrets of some sort, but don't beat yourself up. You were following directions of a trusted vet. Then you searched for help and found us. We are not vets. Debbie and Sharon do have medical knowledge and are a tremendous help in sorting out labwork, tests, etc. The rest of us are only a bunch of puppy lovers that have experienced many of the highs and lows of cushings treatment and are willing to share and guide you the best we can. That way, you will be able to help and share with the next person that comes along.Quote:
I regret waiting so long to get her to the E-Vet. That won't happen again.
I know that you are doing a good job of watching her for any signs that she isn't doing well and hopefully she will not need any medication. But I am surprised that he would not have at least sent you home with a few pred tablets in case she got stressed. Then again, maybe I should not be surprised.Quote:
I asked my Vet today when i took her home if i needed any medication for her, he said no.
This really warmed my heart. Tell hubby to join the club. There is no retirement!!!!! :DQuote:
will never throw in the towel. My husband is worried I will spend his retirement money on this
Be sure to keep us posted.
Sending healing thoughts and prayers for little Tessie. And haven't forgotten precious Bunny.
~ Mary Ann
Dottie, I must apologize, again, for coming across so harshly. Let me emphasize I was not angry with you by any means. I was angry for the needless suffering that Tess has been put through.
There is one other very important thing that you need to know for Tess' safety & continued treatment. It will probably be a good idea that once she is stabilized, & has had no prednisone for 24 hours to have an ACTH done, so you can see just exactly how low her cortisol is. If she does require further steroid medication, it would probably be a good idea to use dexamethasone, instead of prednisone, because dex will not interfere with an ACTH's that might need to be done. Pred will read like cortisol on the test, giving a falsely elevated value. If Pred has been given, any testing will have to wait for a minimum of 24 hours.
Please keep us posted on how Tess is doing, & please, please ask for that referral to an internal medicine specialist.
Debbie
Hi again Dottie,
You have received so much input and information and I am so very glad you found us. Your Tessie is a very lucky girl and like you said, she is not out of the woods yet, it will take some time with the type of crisis she has had.
Please continue to keep us posted on Tessie.
((hugs))
Terry
Hi Dottie,
Honey, it broke my heart to hear you talk about Tessie as if the end were in sight. :( I don't know how you were even able to write the words. They made me cry just to read them. Probably because there have been times in my Squirt's life when I, too, thought that day was very close and that is more than I can bear to think about. It hurts my soul to think you are feeling that way about your Tessie. :( But our babies need us to be strong and positive, they need us to keep to the routines they know, they need to feel we are still fighting for them. So even during those times when I feared the worst, I did my best not to let Squirt know. She knew I was worried, tho, because I hovered over her 24/7 til she was ready for me to take a long trip alone somewhere! :p
Tessie is still fighting and making progress so that is good! It may take some time for her to get her feet back under her but she is giving her all to make that happen. With you by her side, she has the best chance to do just that. You have done an amazing job considering the horrific start you and Tess have had. So don't you be beating yourself up about what happened to her! It was not your fault!!!!! This statement below is proof of that beyond doubt -
As Debbie said, this is just WRONG! Trilo is not to be administered in that manner at all - this is the protocol for Lysodren, NOT Trilo. You did what we all have done in the beginning...trusted the professionals to know what they were doing. They are the ones with the education, training and experience so of course we trust them!....until they have proven that trust was misplaced when dealing with Cushing's. YOU have done nothing wrong. All you have done is love Tessie and try to help her when you knew something was wrong. So just let all that guilt fall away...you don't deserve it. Besides, I am the Queen of Self-flagellation and I don't want any competition! :pQuote:
Tessie was to be on the DBL dose for ten days only, then she was to be dropped down to one dose a day or a week . I can't remember right now. The idea was to bombard the system, get a blood test in a week and then lower it or higher it. We all know now it was to much for her. Dottie
Hugs,
Leslie and the girls