Flynn 11 y/o Foxie Cross - Right adrenalectomy- Good Bye Flynny We will miss you

Went for pringles personally Marianne after the chocolate. :)

Priotritize! No, no, we need them all. okay, okay I'll be reasonable, maybe. ... He might have to follow up with an email if he can't do them all today.

Ha you get one shot with Flynn, best come through on the first go, and he will not be impressed with them!. :) :)

Sharlene

Our boy is smart, he probably thought he was all done when they brought him back out the first time so no way was he going voluntarily the second time!

Peanuts for me after the chocolate, but the chips may be next. Getting thirsty now, lol. :D

Scan is done, no shaving or sedation. Gave him his lunch. Waiting for ims now.

Ok, refocusing and concentrating the vibes again. Glad no sedation was needed. Waiting for the good report Trish!

Well, scan is done just need the report, good boy Flynny. Guess I'll switch to the I phone as my laptop doesn't work in my bedroom.

Hoping for good news, Trish.

Hey Tina- I need to go check on Jasper.

Early verbal report minimal changes in liver, bronchial change in lung probable bronchitis, not tumour looking. So initial feeling of relief, will post more when we get home. xxx

That sounds good so far Trish, minimal changes in the liver is good! What a relief! Bronchitis? Hmm... I wonder what that's about. Maybe it is somehow related to his allergy issues. Good job Flynn!!

Ok, I will need to check in the morning before work. Almost 3 pm there, almost 10 pm here. Drive safe on the trip home. Hugs.

I think that is excellent about the liver news and where some of the real worry was about. Think Tina might be right about the allergies. Has Flynn ever done the coughing or had problems breathing? Hmmm might be why he slowed down there on some days then would perk up and then slow again. That seems like a possibility. Any way to discover that without an ultrasound? How was adrenal nodule and kidneys.
I'll be in bed when next you post prob. Congratulations to you and Flynn both. Good job!

Hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Bronchitis is treatable. :)

Yay I'm so happy to read this, this morning. My friends shelties takes an inhaler for its brochitis and does well on it. Can't wait for the full report.

Boo I missed the chocolate. Peanuts and crisps !

I,ll pop in later off to hospital keep my niece company as it's baby day today :eek:

Phew, Home!! YAY!! Took 6 hrs to drive back, blardy rained all the way and was heavy in places. That last two hours sucked on the mountains.. Flynny slept most of it though so that was lucky. Couple of quick pee and snack stops but not for long as so wet!

So I still do not have the formal report. It was a bit embarrassing as our last IMS saw us there and thought we must have booked in for the scan today and to see him tomorrow... oops! Apparently he works in imaging on Mondays and see's patients Tues/Wed. New IMS said the old one was scared of me :eek::eek: just joking I HOPE!!! Anyway, after the mess-up last time with the newly grown adrenal gland they were real careful not to give me exact findings until they had a chance to measure everything and finish the written report and he will send it through. But he said from them having a look while they were doing it, it looks similar to the last one re liver and adrenal. Nothing has blown up, so that is good. So phew, but I won't celebrate too much till I see the written one!

Sharlene, he has always been a bit of a snorer, but last month or two I have noticed he is more noisy in his breathing. Mainly when he is going to sleep. It sounds more sorta in his throat than lungs if you know what I mean more of a loud snore and he does not do it all the time and during day no sign of it. So I asked them to do a CXR, IMS said it looks like he has old dog lungs... which is not totally unexpected. His heart looks good, there are no signs of lung tumours that he saw with his quick look (again wait for proper report) but one section of his lungs looked inflamed in the bronchioles which could explain all his increased breathing noises. And DOH, we never really got into what to do about it. :o

No pheo urine tests done here in NZ, but they have had two dogs with pheo since Christmas I think diagnosed on histology. I asked him about what he thought of the urine study, he was kinda noncommittal but looks promising for the future. He said they can test one metabolite but problem with no reference ranges so he doesn't really trust it. So that was the end of that!

No atypical cushings testing either apart from a couple of individual hormones. He is right into his cushings and he said as Flynn has no typical signs of normal cushings, then he would not even recommend testing him. He seemed quite big on treat the dog, not the numbers. I had wondered about a link between potentially deranged adrenal hormones and the effect on his liver as per a study I found linking them with adenomas. He said that even if a hormone or two was up the wop we would not do anything more for his liver than what we are doing now, ie samilyn and regular surveillance scanning to catch anything before it gets too big so his thoughts were why spend money testing if it is not going to alter the outcome.

Ok all sounding good at the moment, when do you get written report? Did you get a chance to ask about the Apoquel? Old doggy lungs lol but heart good all sounds positive to me, no change on liver yay. Have you managed to breath yet :D

Hmmm what else.

Heart murmur still low grade. He said reports of BP are good, he said he takes white coat syndrome into account up to 200, but it should come down once dog settles which Flynn's does so he said to continue current BP meds.

Kidneys, he did not mention them on the scan. Tina, he said they can fluctuate and when I mentioned that his goes up if his gut goes off. He said well Flynn seems to be writing his own medical book! He is obviously pleased with latest results. We also discussed the whole inflammatory response to his itching/IBD/impact on kidneys, he said it seems his immune system is in overdrive. If we have ongoing problems then he said he would consider azothiaprine. He was quite keen to seem him back on hypoallergenic food. I said that he ate it for a few weeks, then stopped. He asked me how hard did I try, I said I can be very stubborn with him. It did sort his bowel out, but was so unpalatable for Flynn that he had to change. He recommended it again if we have more flaring but lately it really has only been occasional mucousy poop so we don't have to go there yet.

Adrenal nodule - he said some of these nodules that are found can actually be just part of a normal adrenal gland. All parts of the body can get lumps and bumps and he said most of them are nothing to worry about. His is not functional so we can rule that out, he would only test him if he got cush symptoms. He said it looks like a peanut. He recommends just monitoring as we are doing and not to worry about it too much. He said in his endocrinology circles there is still a lot of controversy about atypical cushings, and whether treatment is worth it or even if it is a "proper condition"? :confused:

Ohhh the apoquel, I did ask about that, poor supply is the problem. He said it is more for dogs with a general itch not particularly for one like Flynn with probable flea allergy. If it keeps up he recommended we see a dermatologist for their advice. He is not that convinced about the efficacy of the allergy testing ie the one where we send a blood test and they send back a list of things he is allergic too and a vial of drugs to slowly desensitise him. He said the better way is to do the skin testing with dermatologist.

We have to stop the conformis treatment for fleas, he has had a few dogs having seizures with it and even some died :eek::eek: so we need to re evaluate what to use there.

Mike has been keeping an eye on his lipomas, but he wants us to do a lipoma mapping and keep close eye on measurements and if they look to be growing too much then consider surgery. But we would have to weigh up the potential risk of another anaesthetic on liver risks. He said some dogs can truck along with them and then they can potentially turn nasty and get necrotic so we need to watch them and Flynn has tons.

I think finally, ALP... could still be coming down. But with no new big liver masses, then Flynn may just be one of those dogs that has high ALP and some just do... and they can die with it at an old age, not because of it. But of course we keep monitoring.

Jeepers, and that is not even the final report from him LOL... sorry about the length of it!! But there we are.. Flynny's vet report! He said once I have read the final one then I can email him any more questions. But I think he did a very admirable job of answering the many I had!!

Thanks for being there girls, chocolate, chippies, support and love... what more could Flynn and I ask for!! Thank You! Now I am going to put something in the good times thread that I saw while I was waiting that made me smile!! xxxxx

Haha Tracy, there is Part II

Any baby news yet??

No baby news yet, I'm pacing the corridor lol. I don't know who looked more scared Rachel, Ian her partner or her mum, she is still being monitor and hasn't been induced yet could be a long day/night but I promised I would stay hoo hum.

So back to super dog still all sounding great Trish. My experience with itchy/IBD dogs and I had 6 years of it - I used the hypo food bruno hated it but would eat if I softened it a bit with warm water or doggy gravy comes in a bottle, he was also had a massive flea allergy so to prevent fleas I walked in short grass and used advocate on him every 2 months instead of 3 with vets approval worked for him. Bruno saw a dermatologist for the skin tests he got shaved and they injected several I think 12 things into him and watched to see if the skin reacted he was like a dot to dot but I knew what to avoid. Anyway that's my tuppence worth.

Ian also said that dogs can get lumps and bumps inside as well as out and mapping the limpomas is a great idea, then you can decide what to do.

I will look into that dermatologist thing, I bet they are only in Auckland!! Maybe I can book in next time we go up for a scan. He does only walk on short grass. He does nibble his paws a lot so it could be grass contributing.

I would go back to the hypoallergenic if it gets real bad again. I just feel so mean not giving him food he likes. Wonder what is in that doggy gravy? I try and avoid grains and that would have some sort of thickening in it?? I have never seen that here, but then I have not ever looked for it.

I just heated up some of my homemade vegie/ham hock soup. Had the need for something decent after all that junk food and chocolate, chippies :D

Ohh, it will be a long day... good you can talk to us!! Poor things, must be so scary for her. Hope it goes quick, if it was me it would drugs and elective Caesar all the way LOL but I am a wuss!!

Yeah I,d want all the drugs too I'm a wuss, she is doing well I'm just making jokes to keep her spirits up lol.

I know this sounds like I'm the teaching you to suck eggs but Bruno was allergic to wry grass which is everywhere up here so I couldn't not let him walk on grass as he would only poo on grass so I used to keep a bucket of tempid water at the door and would wash his paws after a walk in between his toes he hated it but got used to it, it did help. It's 4 years on the 28th of this month since he left for the bridge :(

Oh nice hearty soup can't beat it, guess I,ll be having hospital canteen food unless i can sneak away :)

Show her the Happy Dog video I just put up, that might make her smile!

Hmmm that's a good tip washing his feet, every time he goes outside he walks on the grass though. I will do it after all long walks and get Dad to do it too after he walks him through the week, plus at end of day. He can get used to that!

Ohhh order in a pizza, most here deliver to hospitals!

That was a good video I got it on my FB page from my relatives in oz.

Ah delivery I wonder if they do that here although I am only a few miles from KFC mmmm decisions ha ha

Oh no, I dosed off right after snarfing up the snacks last night!! :eek: :o

So now I must quickly catch back up on the results -- but it sounds as though all went well, thank goodness!!!

Good morning Marianne!! So far so good, I will feel better once I have the written report though. We are all like that, looking at all the numbers!

He was so impressed with Flynny when he examined him, bless his heart the little sweetheart, after all the operating and poking and prodding when they get down on the floor with him to look him over he always gives them a kiss. He said he examines real well for a senior!

I have eaten McDonalds for breakfast, most of a box of Cadbury's favourites, packet of twisties, 3 cans coke zero, mince pie, 2 mandarins and green tea!! That was before I got home and had my healthy soup to give me a least a few vitamins today!!

Couldn't fit in KFC Tracy lol.... that potato and gravy is always good if you are feeling sick!

Senior no no Flynn is not a senior he is just mature lol. Gawd you ate a lot of not so healthy foods lol I'm like that when I'm stressed, tired, worried oh pretty much all the time.:D I've decided it's KFC and I need to eat it in the car as Rachel's not allowed ha ha

Yes, that would be a bit torturous eating it in front of the poor girl! I will be on salad tomorrow to make up for my binging! I better get to bed, after 11 1/2 hrs driving today I am a bit knackered and have work in the morning. Oh I just remembered, Dad has his orthopaedic specialist appointment in the morning. But he is going to drive himself and I will meet him in the clinic at 9.30. I hope no one in my family, human or doggie needs to see a health professional for at least a couple of weeks!! I txt Mike a quick outline and he was happy to hear it went well! Right, nighty nite... I will check early in the morning to hear if your a new Great Aunt (gawd that makes you sound old :D), fingers crossed it goes nice and fast for her xxxxxx

Trish- if her has itchy feet you can get Betadine iodine and put a few squirts in a pan with water- color of iced tea- dunk his feet in when he comes in from outside, no need to rinse, wont hurt him if he licks his feet.:):):):) Used to do it with Zoe in the summer.

Just a thought. So far I think the report sounds pretty darn good. Glad you made it home, such a long drive in the rain.

In some vet circles, the adrenal testing done by Dr. Oliver is still considered controversy- depends which IMS and endocrinologist you speak to here in the states.

have to run to work. sure glad you are both home safe.:):):)

YUK driving in rain over the mountain! I'd be a wreck. I'd do it, but I'd be a wreck. LOL Glad Flynn slept for the most parts, makes it all easier at least than if he was up and about.

Well, that report doesn't sound that bad really. I know you want the written one I would too, but it does sound like a good run down by the vet.

My IMS said the same thing, not everyone believes in the atypical diagnosis.

Those allergies seem to be one of the main deals and it does seem to be environmental doesn't it. (well plus flea)

hmm, thinking about making mexican stuffed pasta shells tonight. Best run off to the store to get the ingredients!

I only cook 2 or 3 days this week! whoo hooo! (probably 2, I need to call some peeps to see if they want to go to one of those Japanese grill table restaurants on friday)

hugs all
Sharlene and molly muffin

Just catching up on your thread!

WOW! These IMS appointments are major, aren't they?? Bummer about the hypoallergenic food. It's just not very palatable, which is no good.

Your binge had me cracking up. I think I'd be sick a week.. and for sure have to switch to the salads to make up for it. :)

I am not too god with understand many items in these reports but it sounds pretty good to me! YAY Flynn!!

Hi all - thanks so much for your comments girls!

Yep Renee, I have felt a bit off today lol... early night needed! But I have been a healthy girl today to make up for it :rolleyes: I forgot to say on the apoquel about the issue I had read about the warning with it in dogs with neoplasia. IMS said he had read the reports and he thinks that with the number of dogs involved in the studies it is not surprising a proportion had a tumour, maybe even before they started on the apoquel so he thought that a red herring. His only concern that Flynny's problem with flea allergy might not be a good indication for its use. Anyway, it's a moot point as we cannot get a consistent supply of it anyway. Will talk to Mike about using what he has in stock to trial it.

Good idea about the feet washing Tracy and Addy, I am have already started doing that today. He did say there are some weird skin conditions associated with liver disease, but because Flynn has some hot spots he is still thinking it is flea allergy.

No formal report yet. Hopefully soon! x

Good golly, Trish! I go for a little boat ride and you and Flynny go crazy! A six hour drive, in the rain, in the mountains; a 7 page spreadsheet/questionnaire? A scan and then bumped off? Whew! Sounds like a Laurel and Hardy movie!! The report, while not on paper yet, sounds promising. I'll keep my toesies crossed that things are calm for awhile. Get some rest! Eat some chocolate!
XoXO
Susan

Hello you

Yay for early nights and boo to salad, although I should take a leaf out your book I've eat crap for the last two days lol


Hope you weren't late for work :eek:

Boy...miss a couple days on this board and you miss a lot!! Glad to hear you are safe and sound from this very long drive.
Great preliminary news on Flynn!! So far it sounds like you can take a deep breath and relax! I know you're awaiting a formal written report but I'll still say YAY for the current great news!

Barbara

Early night sounds lovely. I like salads at least, so after a day of junk, it sounds just the thing :)

Hot spots sound more like flea or something than an association with a disease. Wouldn't that be more spread out over the body?
I think we should blame Elle! hahahahah

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Barbara had 6 email from the forum, cleared the email and when I finished answering them, i looked over and had 7 more new ones between forum and facebook k9. Wow! no way to keep up sometimes! :)

It's good though, we are an active forum

sharlene and molly muffin

Dont know how you do it Sharlene. I go into work and freak out when I have 35 emails.

Well, no written report, maybe that's a good thing;) Gives you time to rest and get back up to speed.

I love pear salad with cranberrries, gorgonzola cheese and rasberry dressing YUMMY:D:D

LOL Addy, this was in my personal email.

In my work email it is very typical for me to have between 500 - 1000 which I have sorted into different folders based on subject lines or to: and from: Some of those I just need to glance at to see if they require a personal response or not. When I don't get a chance to go through them they build up as one folder this morning I kind of was like, "oh man, really" because I hadn't cleared it, it had over 1700 email in it. I don't delete anything either as sometimes I need to find email from years ago, so at best I archive it onto the server.

Well I won't bore you with the icky details, but it can drive you crazy and my personal email address can average around 50 up per day. I don't mind really since I'm use to the work emails. It does help now that I have moved to iphone and ipad as I can access any and all email from both accounts in one spot.

Hubs worked on leslie math problem and now he is exhausted and taking a nap. He was going with you line for line Trish!!! hahaha I was like, no, no do not drag me in, just type it out and I'll post it. You can not make me cross the line.

So when does that report come your way anyhow? Soonish?

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Nothing :rolleyes:

Dang, you must be getting impatient. Well, maybe today.
Hope you are rested and Flynny is ok. I'm still battling these dang ants but they are getting a bit less each day. Did I ever tell you I HATE ants?



Sharlene, how the heck do handle that many emails at work? Man I have to reread how you do this. I am not used to so many work emails. I always talked to customers on the phone. Now co workers ten feet away from my office send me emails:rolleyes: Drives me nuts. Especially when someone hits a reply all and then I have to read ten "thank yous":rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Anything? I'm assuming your TRYING to be patient and wait for it to come not an easy thing to do especially being you :D

Ugh, yea that can be a real pain with a reply all emails. Set up rules or filters to sort your email. We too are on the phone often to customers, but over all I like to have things in writing, so as to be very clear on what is wanted, needed and so that everyone sees it and can action, not just one person. I'm not big on leaving too much to chance or screw up, so even if I talk on the phone, I always follow up with an email clarifying what was discussed. Filter, filter, filter and you don't have to answer every one. :)

Nothing yet Trish :( man, patience sucks. :( You're getting a gold start for this one, just like back in school. hehehehe

crossing fingers that it shows up soon!!

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Hi Trish,
Pretty good report so far, so glad you made it back safe and sound. Checking in to see about the detailed written report also. This waiting is so tough. I will be keeping an eye out. :)

Hugs,
Tina and Jasper