Tipper - adrenal tumor/breathing issues

Great news Patti!
The stress causing the eye hemorrhaging made me think of a friend of mine who would vomit so forcefully whenever she got sick that she also broke blood vessels in her eyes. Can you imagine?

I'm so glad that Tipper is doing well!

Good news about Tipper's eyes. What a trip for you and Tipper..that's a lot of driving..you must be exhausted.
Hope you can stay in out of the snow and relax for the holiday!!

Barbara

Hi Everyone:
We have been up since 430am. Tipper slept for 5 hours in the car yesterday so she has enough by 430 and wanted up. She slept right against my back all nite giving me about 6 inches to sleep on and had her feet underneath of me so they don't jump. I got up feeling terrible. My Lupus is kicked in to overdrive, have the rash back, and every joint in my body does not want to go. I have never felt this bad. My hands are even swollen. It was hard for me even walking around this morning. Tipper walked and the whole time I felt like a 90 lb weight on me dragging it around, not sure how I made it. That will be it for the day though. I think the 5 hours of non stop driving did me in. I would never get up and do that for myself, but she must go so I would never think of not taking her. The bad part is I have to go to Pittsburgh December 10th to my Dr. I just can't take long trips in the car anymore. If I would have had time I could stop and get out and walk around, but with traffic you never know so glad I was early. The eye Dr. told me I was right to be concerned about those Reticulocytes. I am glad once I start something I see it thru, or where would my precious baby be? It is a shame, but I don't trust any Dr.'s anymore after this experience. I am eagerly awaiting the recipes from the nutritionist, I need to get Tipper strong again. Yesterday at the hospital, an older couple brought in a husky. His rear legs were shaking so badly he could only walk a few inches at a time, it was heartbreaking and made tears just start down my cheeks. I am putting in request to God that if he ever re does the world over that he will give our companion animals the same life span as us, and that this horrible disease will be gone from the face of the earth. I will be the most grateful person in the world on Thanksgiving because I have the biggest blessing ever and that is my Tipper. I have half of my house left to clean and don't know if I will make it today, looks iffy. Blessings
Patti

Patti, So sorry to hear you are feeing so poorly. Hope you feel better soon.
I love the request you are putting in to God. That surely be wonderful.
Hugs to you and Tipper.

Oh so sorry to hear your poorly, 5 hrs straight driving would do me in as well. I hope that you can feel better soon and yes I agree with your prayers that would be wonderful :)

Hi Patti, thank you very much for checking in on Ginger when you are not feeling good yourself. I really do hope you will feel better as hours go by today and don't worry too much about cleaning your house when you are not well. Your health comes first so that you can take a better care of your Tipper.
Are you having company over Thanksgiving? Is that why all the cleaning? Just don't push yourself too much, k?
I don't know how you can make such long trips with Tipper only in the car. She must be such a car ride trained dog. I'm afraid to go any long drive with any of my babies by myself, I once almost had an accident on the highway. I still cringe just thinking about it.
You are just one of the kind, Patti. Stay warm and happy cooking.
Song.

Oh Patti,

I hope you feel better real soon. A day of rest is in order indeed!!!:)

Oh no Patti!
Please get some rest. Lupus is nothing to play with as you know.

Hi Everyone:
Well I finished the cleaning. It drives me nuts to sit still. I got a hot shower and rubbed some of my joints with Ben Gay. I feel a little better since the hot shower etc. I am resting for the rest of the nite. It is really snowing here, and I have to take Tipper to the vets for blood pressure in the morning. Unless it is really bad when we wake up, she will be there. Tipper has been a naughty girl today, I think she is paying me back for taking her to Pittsburgh yesterday. I have often thought of taking her back to our house there, and letting her run inside her fenced in yard. Of course I would ask the new owners first. I bet she would be thrilled to be in her yard running. I hope the holiday passes quickly as it makes me think of my family, and is quite depressing for me. As long as I have Tipper I am ok though. I think I will bake something tomorrow to keep busy, maybe my grandmothers pumpkin custard pie that I am glad I got the recipe for. Blessings
Patti

Patti I,m glad your feeling slightly better. I,m so jealous of your snow although I do hate driving in it. We,ve not had any yet just frost and really cold winds.

Take care driving tomorrow if the weather is still bad.:)

Patti, do take care of yourself!!

Ugh, more snow eh. So far it has missed us today and they say it is going to hit the other side of the city and maybe on give us a dusting. We'll see in the morning.

Stay warm, get rested!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Everyone:
More snow overnight and more expected tonite. I do not care as I will not be going anywhere. I am in to stay for a few days. It is beautiful out, but the roads have not been plowed so the dogs cannot walk yet. I must be careful as I have to watch out for Tipper's back legs on the ice. She loves this snow, it makes her very happy. It appears she has a lot more energy since I cut out those lentils. I am hoping her blood work will show substantial improvement from all the changes I have made. Tipper slept until 5:30 so that was not too bad. She is off schedule now though and must wait longer between feedings etc. I am feeling much better today. My hands are still swollen, but the rest is descent. So I am taking it easy today, and just enjoying my babies. I will be corresponding with the nutritionist on December 3rd for all Tipper's meal recipes and supplements. I am excited to get her started and feeling better. I am hopeful this will make an improvement in her health and enable her to fight off this disease. Tipper will be very disgusted if she cannot walk soon as she gets bored easily. The wind has just started to pick up so I have to put their snow suits on when we go walking. They look so cute in them, some of my neighbors have told me that they sit in their kitchens having coffee waiting to see what outfits the dogs will have on. Tipper had to stay warm because of her heart, so I am glad she does not fuss about the clothing or she would not be able to walk. That is one good thing that I put coats etc. on her since she was a pup, so that helps me out now as she is used to it. Hope everyone stays inside and stays warm. If you travel stay safe. Blessings
patti

Glad your feeling better. Oh a snow suit now that I must see lol. Woody hates his winter coat but will happily wear his fleece outdoors so that's not so bad.

Tracy:
I will have to snap a picture of the dogs in their snowsuits and post it. Tipper is loving this snow, but wants to rub her ears in it, and got an infection last year by doing that so no more. You mean Woody will show off his PJ's outside? That is too funny to think about. Hope you can upload the fridge tape. Blessings
Patti

I do so want to see the pups in their snowsuits, pixes please:D

I'm so glad that you're feeling better Patti. Can't wait to see the snow suit pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Patti,
I hope you, Tipper and your gang have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Hi Everyone:
To anyone I missed have a Happy Thanksgiving. It is in the teens here so no walking today for Tipper, so she will be naughty staying in all day. I just wanted to say on this day of thanks that I am most thankful for my Tipper being here with me. Her sweet face is all I need to see to be happy. When I see all the people crowding in the malls shopping their brains out, somehow I can't help but feel they are missing what this holiday is about. Oh well to each his own!. I am also thankful for the wonderful people on here that have helped and encouraged me along through this most difficult journey. So to all of you I say thank you for all you have done for my Tipper and I as it is truly appreciated. I hope for each and every one of us an easier road to travel in the future, and that all of our babies will be with us for many more holidays to come. God Bless You All, and All your Babies.
Patti

love flowing right back at you, Patti:):):)

Back attcha, sweetie! I will be going to my brother's for lunch and then maybe out to visit with friends later this afternoon. I have made my cranberry sauce and others are bringing their specialty dishes. Typically I also make cream pies, but not this year. I am SO looking forward to something other than sandwiches, Ramen Noodles and beans! :p

Happy Thanksgiving Patti!

We are all grateful for you too Patti. It takes all of us, working together to make this community work. Some days are happy, some are sad, some are easy and others down right hard. Through it all though, we have each other to support and care no matter what.

Last night on one of those video shows (of which there seems to be a ton now) there was a video of a jack russle, attacking balloons and making them pop. I jumped up and yelled, that's what Tipper does! hahahaha Then had to explain who Tipper is. I just say dog forum and everyone knows though. LOL It was hilarious to watch.

I hope you have had a relaxing day and enjoyed some much needed rest.

Happy Thanksgiving
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Patti. I am grateful for you being on this forum and the support you give to all of us.

Hi Everyone:
Well turkey day is officially over and the babies and I can watch all the shoppers getting into fights over store deals!! Seems counterproductive to me. I gave Toby some of the chicken I stuffed and gave Tipper her regular chicken and she thought she was eating what Toby had, so all was good. My old neighbor fellow came knocking at the door and brought me some ham from his daughter and the turkey. She thanked me for caring for her dad and always watching out for him, and said she was glad to give me something for helping. I told her I didn't do it to get anything, I did it because I wanted to. She said she is glad he has me for a neighbor as she lives 2 hours away. She is staying until Sunday so next week I will make the turkey and make some meals from it for him. I am trying to read the information for Tipper's new diet she will be starting as it is quite detailed and complicated to see at first. It is scary for me to do this, but she needs it so I must get it done. Leslie will help me if I mess up so I am very thankful for her. I never attempted to feed any of my animals home cooked food and it is a rather daunting task to start. I have gone to the nth degree to give Tipper every advantage to fight off this disease that I could, and this is the last thing I need to add to what we are already doing. I feel good nutrition will help her lose some weight, and get healthier. I have pushed myself to the limits to help her and feel this will maybe get her vitality back. I got Toby a new ball, as he just about has his old one ruined, and I looked online for an exact replacement. It came and Toby is not thrilled with it. It could be the smell. So, you guessed it Tipper saw it on the floor grabbed it and is playing with it constantly. She is only doing this to spite Toby you understand, as she has her own private ball and no one better touch it! If Toby even looks at it she will got nuts, and all this when they are separated by a gate! Tipper really had the tremors last nite, across he chest and her whole body moving. When she puts her feet under me to stop her legs form moving it wakes me up when I feel her legs starting to move. Oh well that's ok as long as she is with me I'll put up with anything for her. She is miffed as there is no walking this morning as it is back down in the teens. She is pacing letting me know she is bored and annoyed that I am doing something. Hope everyone that celebrated had a wonderful day yesterday, and leftovers so they don't have to cook today. Blessings
Patti

Hi Patti
Do you mind saying who you used as a nutritionist to get your meal plans for Tipper? I've always wanted to try using one but I don't have anyone local to go to. Did you do it on line? Right now I'm using Freshpet. I think it's a good food and Buddy loves it but I did like the fact that he was on homemade food. He just got picky and didn't want it anymore. Freshpet is expensive and if you have a small dog like I do and can't use the whole roll it goes bad fast. You can freeze it but you don't get the same texture after freezing.

Sure no problem the nutritionist is Cat Lane her website is thepossiblecanine.com. Have you ever made your dogs food before? I think when a dog is seriously ill, they need good nutrition to maintain their current state even. This disease really makes for havoc to their whole bodies. I feel bad for you and dear Buddy and hope you can get him on the mend soon. Blessings
Patti

Hi Everyone:
Tipper has been restless the last few nite moving about the bed again. I am not convinced that she is being controlled on the current dosing of 20 Vetoryl in the morning and 7 trilo in the evening. I am running out of options here. I am probably going to have to go for another ACTH test here in about 2 week to check these numbers. I either have to raise the trilo to 8mg or give both doses together in the morning all at one time. I may even have to go to 8mg trilo and still give it altogether at one time. It seems that when Tipper was on the 30mg Vetoryl one time a day this was not an issue. She is having hunger issues also. I am not sure if that is due to the diet change or if it is the cortisol creeping up. Not sure where to go with this so I will have to tuff it out until another ACTH. I hate to see her like this though. Maybe I should skip tonites dose and give her both together in the morning??? I need some help on this so if anyone can help please do. I am also getting increasingly nervous about her tremors and the skin quivering on her side, and her side kind of jumping when she sleeps. I have been noticing it also affect her eye area as her eyebrow will move rapidly like twitching. When I call her she wakes up and it immediately stops. I pray to God this is not the work of a pheo. I swear this is just non stop worry on this journey. It is in the teens again today so she will not be walking until it goes above 32 if in fact it does. Another day with a bored Jack Russell on my hands. She will definitely be pulling naughty out of her bag of tricks today! Blessisngs
Patti

I found all the supplements online and the food items in the local grocery stores with no problems. I hope you find the same is true with your experience. Once you get the actual diet, things will fall into place as you work with it a bit. I'm here if you need me! Don't forget to have FUN with this. ;)

I really wanted to have time to go back through the dosage history of Tipper.

What dose was she on when she went to low? and what dose was she on, right before that?

Didn't you go to twice a day because you thought that she wasn't controlling at night? Something to think about is tweaking the morning dose to a tad lower and up the evening dose, keeping it the same dose.

Another thing is to try giving it all in the morning and see if it controls her throughout the day.

I'd think both of those would be options.

Hang in there! You're doing great.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

I think may be trying to even out the doses may be beneficial Patti. I am worried too about Zoe with her 30/10 not holding her cortisol under 5 post, but I wanted her to spend some time with her cortisol going up at night so I could evaluate her symptoms.

It may be you are able to do 30mgs if the dose is split 20/10. Tipper's pre was low not her post if I rememeber correctly. It never is an exact science which makes it so dang hard and expensive:(

Oh Patti... I sure hope Tipper can settle down and you can get the dosage so it works for her.

I read your updates everyday, and on my thread too, even though sometimes I just don't get the chance to post back.

Hope tomorrow you can get out with Tipper and get some exercise and a change of scenery.

Hi Pattie just popping in to see how you and Tipper are doing, I hope the weather gets better, there is nothing worse than a bored, naughty Jack Russell I should know lol :)

Patti, Just wanted to say HI and tell you I think of you and Tipper a lot.
Love and hugs to you both.

Hi Everyone:
I didn't have the heart to withhold Tipper's evening dose last nite as she was hungry and I just could not do it. I will try again tonite in an effort to give her all 27mg at once in the morning. That is all I know to do at this point. I got her some more veggies in her food yesterday and that seemed to help a bit. It is very cold again and no walking for right now. I found evidence of a mouse under my kitchen sink. I had to pull everything out and disinfect it and the floor under the sink. Went out in the garage and I am looking to see where they are getting in the house. It is so cold out there I will go back out in the afternoon. Never has a mouse ever. Now I know why my cats are always pawing at that door and sitting there for long periods of time. I really do not need this at this time, but really there is no good time for things like this here as I am too busy with my critters for this stuff. In the event that he happened to get into my drawers I emptied the bread drawer threw all out to the birds and used Clorox in the drawer. I guess with this cold weather everything is trying to get in to the heat and find food. I do not kill anything so I will have to get this solved some other way. Maybe I can sprinkle some used kitty litter in that part of the garage and it will deter them. Ok Leslie it's your turn since I had two problems in a row! Tipper has been making a lot of nasal noises lately so I am going to start up the humidifier tonite for moisture. I made the old man near me some home made applesauce, cole slaw, and cranberries for his Thanksgiving with his daughters family. None of them know how to cook you understand. They called me yesterday and thanked me for the stuff, and said they were fighting over the applesauce, hint hint . I gave them a good amount that I had frozen when the apples were given to me in late summer. They were so happy to get it to take home with them. Gheez it is not hard to make applesauce, don't know what the big deal is? I made chicken soup from my leftover chicken. I am going to play some ball with Tipper she is letting me know she is sick of being in. Blessings
Patti

uggg, mice, my brother just had one in his house, every once in a while we will get in in the basement.

I am getting hungry for some of your apple sauce, it sounds like it was a big hit and it is one of my favorite foods.:D:D:D

I hope you can find a happy medium dose for Tipper. I know it is hard to figure it all out.

Has Tipper been getting the maintenance doses of the Adequan for her trachea? I soooo wish I could afford to try that for Grace. I hope the humidifier helps and if I knew more to suggest, I would be happy to. I am trying to find ways to help Grace that are within my means but so far nothing. :(

OH! Mice! Oil of Peppermint on cotton balls is supposed to keep them away. And for some reason, Bay Leaves and Rosemary have come to mind as well.

Leslie:
I just found where the mice got in. A hole around some electrical work, which was done by a man. I hate to say it but a woman would know better than to leave a gaping hole there! I have some drywall compound so I filled the hole and have a fan drying it. Yes I am still getting Tipper the Adequan boosters. She is due for one Wednesday. We are doing them every 3 weeks now. I think maybe he should raise the dose a tad as your Dr. said he gave higher doses. He charges 20.00 a shot for it. I am pretty sure I read and bought Eucalyptus Radiata that is supposed to be good for these issues. My vet said it can be given orally or rub some under the neck area. It does have an odor to it though. I used to put some on a Kleenex and when Tipper was sleeping I would put the Kleenex under her nose as it is good to smell it. I read to use it in a vaporizer will really help, but because of Elvis I could not use anything in that goes in the air. There was a Dr. online that swears by this stuff and uses it for this. Yep just found it. The bottle is almost full I just dropped a few drops onto Kleenex. I can mail it to you if you want to try it?? It is the organic kind. I can put it in a small mail pack?? Let me know. Blessings
Patti

Hi Patti... a professional pest control guy told me to fill any cracks with steel wool. Mice hate steel wool, it works believe me. I've gone so far as to put steel wool along the edge of my garage door. I had a mouse a couple of years ago... that was the very first panic attack I ever had. What a production, and yup I literally stood on the couch as this thing followed me downstairs. Too much.

It's a dull wet cold day here, so no walks for Keesh either. Hope you and the furlets are doing well.

Hi Everyone:
I decided that before I switch Tipper to morning only dosing I will call Dechra and review everything with them. I always use a safety net for my girl and this is no exception. Even though she has had 30mg in the past in one dose, and we are at 27mg I am going to run it by Dechra. Last nite Tipper was restless again, and very hungry yesterday so I have to do something today. Tomorrow I will get her meal plan from the nutritionist, and will have to find all the stuff to make her meals. Yesterday I cut myself really bad on 2 fingers with a very sharp knife. I managed to get it to stop bleeding with pressure, and got it wrapped up real well. This morning it is quite sore, but that's what happens when you stop paying attention to what you are doing for a few seconds. I will let everyone know what Dechra says. Blessings
Patti

Sounds like a good plan.