Everybody, thinking back…..

Keymaster

Vally,

Thank you so much for writing this. I think this is well stated. I do need this kind of information as it will help me figure out how to get a new website seen easily by those people searching for help. So the more details everyone can write, the better prepared I will be.

Obviously my experiences were different with Chance. I was looking for information about canine bone marrow failure and splenectomies and there was very little I could find. I never found anything on the internet and it was only after I bought a veterinary hematology textbook did I find the kind of information I needed at all! Once I had that information I was able to research on the internet using very specific medical terms and find more things. Once I connected with Jean Dodds she gave me an excellent education which allowed me to do more targeted research on the internet. But without her pointing me in those directions, it would have taken forever.

Today when I search for information about his condition, it is still hard to find anything. Certainly nothing that matches Jean Dodds’ extensive knowledge. Yet this condition seems to be increasing in dogs. We have seen plenty of owners describe these mysterious findings from their vet of “no bone marrow” and “not making red blood cells.” I would obviously need to make sure that this topic is covered in detail in a way that others can understand.

If it weren’t for Chance, I would have never gone down this path and I would not have contributed to 7 years of posts on vetnet. Chance recovered from what the specialist thought was a fatal condition. But it took every ounce of my strength to make that happen, plus my knowledge of medicine.

I have been seriously considering using the domain name Second Chance AIHA Dogs. When I search google for second chance, I am amazed at all the non-profit organizations that come to the top of the list. This is where I would like to see our website come up rather than among a lot of commercial websites that sell questionable treatments.

My only reservation is that I know many dogs with these blood disorders do not get a second chance, they may not survive the first week. But then I thought to myself, I wonder how many of these dogs didn’t survive because of lack of knowledge, either by the vet or by the owner or a combination of the two? So wouldn’t it be nice to give those folks a strong helping hand to try for a second chance?

You know that I never want to tell owners that they can definitely save their dog’s life. I am not a vet and I don’t practice veterinary medicine in any way. But I am very knowledgeable about this condition and I would like to share that with others in a way that they understand. So perhaps we, as a group, can provide the possibility of a Second Chance to these frantic owners? Does that seem fair?

The forum will be on the same website, so once they find SecondChanceAIHADogs, they will also find the forum. What do you all think?

my best, patrice

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