Recovery with steroids alone?

[Patrice]

I am glad that you understand this, it’s not an easy topic to explain. Luckily for those of us on Tick-L, we have a scientist as owner and moderator plus a vet who pops in once in awhile with “real ” clinical experience. Our gaps in understanding are supplemented with this information. I have studied significantly to understand the special relationship between tick diseases and IMHA (plus bone marrow failure. ) There is a deep and complicated relationship.

That is what makes this so complex, there are two things possibly going on. IMHA, the destruction of RBC by the immune system plus the invasion of tick disease into the body tissues and circulatory system. Treating one without treating the other is ineffective. And juggling the two treatments together is a balancing act. Your vet will be challenged to get the dosages right.

So if you understand me, treatment as I suggest CAN BE DIAGNOSTIC, if there is improvement . In this sense we are very lucky. Vets can do this kind of treatment without diagnostics while human doctors would be reluctant to do anything until the tests confirm a positive. My vet and I agree that humans are getting substandard care in this country when it comes to tick diseases.

I have a good friend who was probably bitten by a tick in 1998. She went undiagnosed for years despite rapidly degenerating health and then when finally diagnosed with Lyme, she was undertreated. Now-a-days she is home bound, totally disabled and moves around in an electric scooter. She has neurological complications and frequent brain fog. If only someone had treated her when she first saught medical help she might not have ended up this way.

I can’t guarantee you anything but I firmly believe in honoring the will to live. I could not give up on Chance despite his extremely serious bone marrow failure. His will to live was extraordinary despite his failing health. Thus I named our website Second Chance. He survived to live 3 more good years and died at the good age of 12 from heart disease, not a blood disease. Since then we have helped hundreds of owners save their dogs. Not all dogs survive for a variety of reasons but the owners knew that they had tried in every way they could.

Let me know what happens.
My best Patrice

[Janiesmom]

Hello, friends,

I’m very sorry to report that today we allowed Janie to go see her kitty brother, Ron, who died just over a month ago.

She tried really hard, and was as good as could be, taking every single pill we gave her and doing her best to get to the backyard when necessary — sometimes standing to eat and wagging her tail. But it has been three very tenuous weeks. By mid-afternoon today she suddenly dragged herself to the rug next to where I sat on the couch and rolled over to show me her belly, something she hadn’t done in a month. There was a look in her eyes that said, “Just one more time.” And I knew. All I could do was rub her belly and pet her for an hour or so, until I noticed that her gums had gone white and her tongue was, again, losing color. Her eyes were half-opened and went in and out of focus. Her breathing became terribly labored — it looked as if she was breathing from her hips — and her breathing rate was double what is normal. I called the vet, and they were ready to take us right away.

We got a lot of our truly desperate mourning out of the way with a false alarm two weeks ago. She had rallied for a day after starting steroids, and collapsed again the next day. After three days of no change, we decided to take her to the vet for the last time. The vet ran a blood test and discovered that Janie’s RBC had actually increased significantly. So we brought her home. But she never actually rallied again. She just lay on her stomach, sometimes panting because of the steroids and because of the anemia. It wasn’t living — it was just being. I’m glad she’s at peace at last, but I will miss her forever.

Thank you for your support. I’m sorry we never had the opportunity to investigate the ehrlichiosis angle. I hope someday that this illness becomes easier to treat.

Again, thanks for the time and concern you shared with me.

[Vally]

Dear Susan, I’m so very sorry to hear this. Your little girl tried so hard.

I hope that these last weeks will fade and you’ll remember your happy healthy Janie in more of your memories.

My condolences.
Vally