updatedness
i am: too tired to be updating
listening to: national geographic channel from the other room
drinking: disgusting dregs of dinnertime iced tea
so, the vet called a little while ago and she started off by saying "you'll be happy to hear that her tests were almost normal." i was right about her small frequent meals elevating her lipemia levels, which makes the results less reliable. i was also right about the protein in her urine being responsible for the weight loss. i was happy for about 30 seconds, and then she went into more detail.
the medication she's on for allergies affects both the liver and the kidneys. the elevated liver enzymes aren't as serious as i thought they were. i always thought the effects on her liver were worse than on the kidneys, but i had it backward. she wants me to get her dosage down to a minimum, and work toward getting her off of it completely. (i did tell her that this is the absolute worst time of year, obviously, with everything putting out pollen and the grass growing again; i have to give her a pill every 36 hours instead of 48 or 72.)
getting her off of it completely isn't going to happen unless i can find something else that will work. the thing is, if i could get her off the prednisone completely she'd most likely live a full life with no further complications. the damage to her kidneys is done, but it's minor right now. if she stays on it, eventually she'll develop kidney disease, and ultimately they will fail. she made a note in yog's chart to call us in a month to bring her in to check her weight and urine again. in the meantime, i'm supposed to do whatever i can to get the dosage down.
i started giving her antihistamine eyedrops yesterday and they really did work well, but they wear off fast. i don't think they're going to be a 100% substitute. and they have their own problems if used too much, too often. i told the vet that yesterday i was thinking, if i could get her on a minimal dosage of both, maybe it would have the same effect as a full dosage of prednisone. she said it's something to work toward, and hope it works.
so, it was a good news/bad news scenario. the good news being there's not anything terribly wrong with her like cancer or leukemia, the bad news being the same bad news there is every year ... the medication she's on that makes her allergies tolerable could kill her. i need to do some research on antihistamines; i tried benadryl and it had absolutely no effect; i know i tried claritin because i just threw away the rest of the package that we didn't use day before yesterday. i also tried tavist and that didn't work. i haven't tried chlortrimeton, so i'll pick up some of that this weekend, though i'm having a hard time mustering any amount of belief that it will do anything for her.
so, i'm relieved but at the same time know that i still have a struggle ahead of me, one that may not have a solution. i went through this three years ago and the prednisone was the only thing that kept her from attempting to claw her eyes out. at this point i'm not sure which would be worse. when she's on the prednisone, at least she's comfortable. but knowing that it will be the cause of more serious suffering in the future makes me want to ... let her claw her eyes out? catch-22; either way she suffers. sigh ...
that's my news of the week, i guess. other than that, and partly due to it, i've been having a hard time concentrating on my project. i'm about halfway through the compleat midwife's practice, but it's slow going because it's so disturbing i have to take frequent breaks to regroup. during one of those breaks i, once again, changed my journal layout. it's now as mundane as the content thereof.
today's reading: finished girl in hyacinth blue by susan vreeland and started my re-read of to say nothing of the dog by connie willis, because i needed something light-hearted and familiar.
listening to: national geographic channel from the other room
drinking: disgusting dregs of dinnertime iced tea
so, the vet called a little while ago and she started off by saying "you'll be happy to hear that her tests were almost normal." i was right about her small frequent meals elevating her lipemia levels, which makes the results less reliable. i was also right about the protein in her urine being responsible for the weight loss. i was happy for about 30 seconds, and then she went into more detail.
the medication she's on for allergies affects both the liver and the kidneys. the elevated liver enzymes aren't as serious as i thought they were. i always thought the effects on her liver were worse than on the kidneys, but i had it backward. she wants me to get her dosage down to a minimum, and work toward getting her off of it completely. (i did tell her that this is the absolute worst time of year, obviously, with everything putting out pollen and the grass growing again; i have to give her a pill every 36 hours instead of 48 or 72.)
getting her off of it completely isn't going to happen unless i can find something else that will work. the thing is, if i could get her off the prednisone completely she'd most likely live a full life with no further complications. the damage to her kidneys is done, but it's minor right now. if she stays on it, eventually she'll develop kidney disease, and ultimately they will fail. she made a note in yog's chart to call us in a month to bring her in to check her weight and urine again. in the meantime, i'm supposed to do whatever i can to get the dosage down.
i started giving her antihistamine eyedrops yesterday and they really did work well, but they wear off fast. i don't think they're going to be a 100% substitute. and they have their own problems if used too much, too often. i told the vet that yesterday i was thinking, if i could get her on a minimal dosage of both, maybe it would have the same effect as a full dosage of prednisone. she said it's something to work toward, and hope it works.
so, it was a good news/bad news scenario. the good news being there's not anything terribly wrong with her like cancer or leukemia, the bad news being the same bad news there is every year ... the medication she's on that makes her allergies tolerable could kill her. i need to do some research on antihistamines; i tried benadryl and it had absolutely no effect; i know i tried claritin because i just threw away the rest of the package that we didn't use day before yesterday. i also tried tavist and that didn't work. i haven't tried chlortrimeton, so i'll pick up some of that this weekend, though i'm having a hard time mustering any amount of belief that it will do anything for her.
so, i'm relieved but at the same time know that i still have a struggle ahead of me, one that may not have a solution. i went through this three years ago and the prednisone was the only thing that kept her from attempting to claw her eyes out. at this point i'm not sure which would be worse. when she's on the prednisone, at least she's comfortable. but knowing that it will be the cause of more serious suffering in the future makes me want to ... let her claw her eyes out? catch-22; either way she suffers. sigh ...
that's my news of the week, i guess. other than that, and partly due to it, i've been having a hard time concentrating on my project. i'm about halfway through the compleat midwife's practice, but it's slow going because it's so disturbing i have to take frequent breaks to regroup. during one of those breaks i, once again, changed my journal layout. it's now as mundane as the content thereof.
today's reading: finished girl in hyacinth blue by susan vreeland and started my re-read of to say nothing of the dog by connie willis, because i needed something light-hearted and familiar.