10/01/11 - I got back home today from a week away, traveling for work. Every time I come back from being away, I realize how much my bond with Reo strengthened due to her SARDS diagnosis and treatment. I feel like she is my miracle child - so proud of her for sticking with everything we've done to and for her!
Reo looks good! I was a little worried that she would gain weight or something while I was gone. Even though I write down every detail concerning her meals, it seems that Sean and I have slightly different ways of preparing her food. But, no worries this time! :)
However, she seems to have had a little regression with her vision. She is definitely having trouble in dim lighting, or moving from bright light to dim. I'm not sure why this happened, but it is a little worrying to me, especially because we are seeing the ophthalmologist next week!
Sean ran out of sardines while I was away, and our normal grocery store was out! She was sardine-less for about 3 days, which meant that she didn't have a dietary source of adenosine, but that is the only change we can think of.
Duh...after talking to Caroline, she helped me realize that there was another huge change that we were overlooking - I was gone out of town for a week!! This of course would be stressful to her (emotionally and perhaps physiologically) and cause a spike in estrogen and a retinal seizure that could affect her vision intermittently.
10/03/11 - We saw Dr. Lanz today for Reo's acupuncture. She commented that Reo's pulses were "awesome", and she looked good! Dr. Lanz got to witness Reo's vision regression when she first arrived, however, as Reo was woofing at Dr. Lanz's arrival, yet was walking into surrounding furniture and walls. Strange, indeed! Then we tested her with some cotton, and she did really well, following it around and as it dropped to the floor - who knows what is going on? The ophtho appointment on Wednesday will be interesting, at the very least!
In preparation for the stress of the ophtho appointment, I bumped up Reo's daily Medrol by 50%. She is getting 1.5 mg once a day today - Friday. Hopefully this will help her cope a bit better with the stress of the ERG and ocular ultrasound.
Stay tuned later this week for visit details! I'm so excited, but quite nervous!! :)
Showing posts with label acupuncture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acupuncture. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The treatment begins!
04/30/11 - Today is my 36th birthday, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than to start down the path of health for Reo!
Dr. P, Dr. O, and I agreed upon a treatment plan of a series of 3 injections, spaced 10 days apart.
We met Dr. O today, and he took a blood draw for another EI-1 panel for Reo. He also injected Reo with Dr. P's recommended doses: 0.3 mg triamcinolone (Vetalog) and 25 mg methylprednisolone (DepoMedrol). The injections were over faster you than you could say "lickety split", and there was no turning back. I can't believe it took us such a long time to find a vet to help us, for what seems like such a minor "procedure".
I'll be honest - I was exhilarated but also nervous. I was crossing fingers and toes that my research had paid off, that Caroline and Dr. P knew what was best for Reo, and that I made the right decision. Only time will tell...
05/01/11 - Last night was an awful night with Reo. She was up every hour to drink and urinate - definitely displaying PD/PU. These symptoms continued throughout the day. After speaking with Dr. P, he told me to eliminate the triamcinolone from Reo's future injections, and just inject the DepoMedrol.
05/02/11 - 05/04/11 - Reo still awake frequently at night, usually every 1.5-2 hours. It's hard on Sean and me, but I know it must be even harder on Reo! Her appetite has been good over the past few days, and I'm still able to get some supplements into her.
We saw Dr. Lanz on 05/04, and she recommended we start Reo on Vetri-DMG. This is a liquid supplement (it also comes in pill form), and a completely natural compound. It supports the immune system (important for dogs who are on powerful steroids, as steroids suppress the immune system), promotes liver detoxification (also important for SARDS dogs with adrenal issues, who are clearing lots of excess hormone/protein), and also helps circulation and oxygen utilization.
You can read more about the benefits here: VetriScience Labs Vetri-DMG
Though I initially purchased this from Dr. Lanz, I began purchasing it from Entirely Pets on Amazon.com in the 113 ml bottle, as it was much less expensive (about $30, and would last Reo and Leigh [also put Leigh on this!] for months).
05/05/11 - Reo only got up twice last night - I LOVE YOU DR. LANZ!! I am certain that acupuncture makes such a difference for Reo. She shows such great improvement in mood and sleep after a treatment, and would encourage any SARDS dog owner to seek out a veterinary acupuncturist to help soothe their dogs.
It's also been very valuable for me to have another vet's eyes on Reo's case. Dr. Lanz is a "real" veterinarian, but she has a Chinese Medicine point of view, so I can share Reo's bloodwork, symptoms, etc. and know that she will give me her perspective from both the traditional realm and also the Chinese medicine realm.
Last night, I had a dream that Reo regained her vision! :) That was nice. However, when she went outside in the morning, she crashed into our fence after getting lost, and I think she slightly scraped her eye. :(
05/08/11 - Reo has been doing much better at night - only up once or twice, usually. She continues to be very restless and wander all over the house.
She is still rather heat-intolerant, and pants quite a lot, even when Leigh and Tula are not.
Reo also continues to have inappropriate elimination - not in the house when we are there, but if we leave her in her crate, she will urinate. It doesn't matter if it's 10 minutes (literally!), or 3 hours - she'll go in there. Acting out?
Dr. P, Dr. O, and I agreed upon a treatment plan of a series of 3 injections, spaced 10 days apart.
We met Dr. O today, and he took a blood draw for another EI-1 panel for Reo. He also injected Reo with Dr. P's recommended doses: 0.3 mg triamcinolone (Vetalog) and 25 mg methylprednisolone (DepoMedrol). The injections were over faster you than you could say "lickety split", and there was no turning back. I can't believe it took us such a long time to find a vet to help us, for what seems like such a minor "procedure".
I'll be honest - I was exhilarated but also nervous. I was crossing fingers and toes that my research had paid off, that Caroline and Dr. P knew what was best for Reo, and that I made the right decision. Only time will tell...
05/01/11 - Last night was an awful night with Reo. She was up every hour to drink and urinate - definitely displaying PD/PU. These symptoms continued throughout the day. After speaking with Dr. P, he told me to eliminate the triamcinolone from Reo's future injections, and just inject the DepoMedrol.
05/02/11 - 05/04/11 - Reo still awake frequently at night, usually every 1.5-2 hours. It's hard on Sean and me, but I know it must be even harder on Reo! Her appetite has been good over the past few days, and I'm still able to get some supplements into her.
We saw Dr. Lanz on 05/04, and she recommended we start Reo on Vetri-DMG. This is a liquid supplement (it also comes in pill form), and a completely natural compound. It supports the immune system (important for dogs who are on powerful steroids, as steroids suppress the immune system), promotes liver detoxification (also important for SARDS dogs with adrenal issues, who are clearing lots of excess hormone/protein), and also helps circulation and oxygen utilization.
You can read more about the benefits here: VetriScience Labs Vetri-DMG
Though I initially purchased this from Dr. Lanz, I began purchasing it from Entirely Pets on Amazon.com in the 113 ml bottle, as it was much less expensive (about $30, and would last Reo and Leigh [also put Leigh on this!] for months).
05/05/11 - Reo only got up twice last night - I LOVE YOU DR. LANZ!! I am certain that acupuncture makes such a difference for Reo. She shows such great improvement in mood and sleep after a treatment, and would encourage any SARDS dog owner to seek out a veterinary acupuncturist to help soothe their dogs.
It's also been very valuable for me to have another vet's eyes on Reo's case. Dr. Lanz is a "real" veterinarian, but she has a Chinese Medicine point of view, so I can share Reo's bloodwork, symptoms, etc. and know that she will give me her perspective from both the traditional realm and also the Chinese medicine realm.
Last night, I had a dream that Reo regained her vision! :) That was nice. However, when she went outside in the morning, she crashed into our fence after getting lost, and I think she slightly scraped her eye. :(
05/08/11 - Reo has been doing much better at night - only up once or twice, usually. She continues to be very restless and wander all over the house.
She is still rather heat-intolerant, and pants quite a lot, even when Leigh and Tula are not.
Reo also continues to have inappropriate elimination - not in the house when we are there, but if we leave her in her crate, she will urinate. It doesn't matter if it's 10 minutes (literally!), or 3 hours - she'll go in there. Acting out?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Acupuncture, and Levin consult
Over the next few days, Reo's symptoms continued - panting at night, PD/PU (lots of drinking and peeing), restlessness, depression (I swear, she hadn't wagged her nub in days...).
Unfortunately, she also started developing a new symptom - she was refusing to eat, usually breakfast. I found myself putting all sorts of creative "mixers" into her food to get her to finish her meal. Remember, Reo was on a lot of supplements/powders, as well as hormones, and I wanted to get all of them in her! For a while, Grizzly wild salmon oil and/or an extra sardine seemed to do the trick.
(As I would learn later from Caroline, inappetance [refusing to eat] is a symptom of extremely low cortisol levels in the body. Reo was in crisis.)
03/24/11 - Our first acupuncture appointment with Dr. Lanz!! I'm sure I freaked her out with all of my crazy print outs, notes, list of medications/supplements for Reo, and frantic gestures. I told her that I wasn't looking for acupuncture to help with Reo's SARDS per se, but I wanted to help Reo feel better emotionally, and get her supported as much as we could. Thankfully, Dr. Lanz agreed to help us!
I described Reo's trouble sleeping at night, and mentioned that it was always between midnight and 3 am. Dr. Lanz explained that in Chinese medicine, the body's "chi" travels through the organs on a set schedule. Between midnight and 3 am, the organs active are the liver and gall bladder. (Remember these two organs - they will become important later in our story!) She focused her treatment on these two organs. We agreed on a regular treatment schedule.
That night, Reo slept through the whole night. I. Could. Not. BELIEVE. It! It was my first full night of sleep in a couple of weeks, and it was awesome! I became an acupuncture convert right then and there (and shortly thereafter pursued treatments for myself, to help me cope with the stress/grief/anxiety I was feeling going through this situation with Reo). The next day, there was a noticeable increase in Reo's energy levels. She seemed more alert, and she wagged her tail - hurray!
03/26/11 - Today, we had our consultation call with Caroline Levin. Having read her website word for word, and understanding it, I think this call was most beneficial for Sean. Caroline does such a great job explaining things in lay-person's terms, and she is so patient and encouraging. It helped me immensely to know that I had her to lean on for support during Reo's treatment.
Caroline stressed the importance of a dual approach: 1) address the underlying adrenal exhaustion issues and 2) initiate retinal protection. Caroline's research shows that about 20% of dogs can regain some vision when the protocol is initiated within 4 weeks of diagnosis. Because we started the full protocol about 2 weeks post-SARDS diagnosis, we thought had a good shot. Regardless of the vision outcome, I was highly interested in correcting Reo's adrenal exhaustion/Plechner's syndrome. Anything else would be icing on the cake!
On the consult call, we agreed to up the Magnesium Taurate, and also increase the Medrol to see if we noticed a difference in mood/behavior.
Over the next several days, I struggled to get Reo to eat regularly. I cooked new protein - all organic/hormone free turkey thighs, beef shank, eggs. I concocted new veggie and fruit mixtures to find something palatable for her. I added extra sardines, salmon oil, crushed beef liver, wild canned salmon, peanut butter - you name it! Some of those things would work, but never a sure thing. Reo was not enthusiastic about eating.
The Power Of The Walk
Despite Reo's inappetance, lethargy, and depression, I insisted that she go for (at least a short) walk, every day if possible. I happen to be a fan of Cesar Millan "The Dog Whisperer", and am on board with his thoughts on the importance of walking your dog. So, even though Reo was sick and hurting, I wanted her to walk. Walks are critical for dogs to feel themselves, and I think that environmental stimuli (birds singing, squirrels running, smells to sniff) can help "snap a dog" out of their funk. Fortunately, there are some less-trafficked alleys and streets, which allowed me to walk Reo and Leigh in the middle of the street. It was hard for Reo to deal with uneven pavement, curbs, branches, etc., but if she was on flat, clear pavement, she would trot right along. I tried to get at least 15-30 minutes of exercise for her at least 3x/week. Many times, Reo would sit down in the middle of the street, and refuse to go on. I'd always wait for her, coax her, tug gently on the leash. She'd always start up again - she just needed a minute to collect herself. So, if your SARDS dog does this, be patient! Don't pull, don't pick him/her up. Just wait a minute or two, take a deep breath, and move on.
Unfortunately, she also started developing a new symptom - she was refusing to eat, usually breakfast. I found myself putting all sorts of creative "mixers" into her food to get her to finish her meal. Remember, Reo was on a lot of supplements/powders, as well as hormones, and I wanted to get all of them in her! For a while, Grizzly wild salmon oil and/or an extra sardine seemed to do the trick.
(As I would learn later from Caroline, inappetance [refusing to eat] is a symptom of extremely low cortisol levels in the body. Reo was in crisis.)
03/24/11 - Our first acupuncture appointment with Dr. Lanz!! I'm sure I freaked her out with all of my crazy print outs, notes, list of medications/supplements for Reo, and frantic gestures. I told her that I wasn't looking for acupuncture to help with Reo's SARDS per se, but I wanted to help Reo feel better emotionally, and get her supported as much as we could. Thankfully, Dr. Lanz agreed to help us!
I described Reo's trouble sleeping at night, and mentioned that it was always between midnight and 3 am. Dr. Lanz explained that in Chinese medicine, the body's "chi" travels through the organs on a set schedule. Between midnight and 3 am, the organs active are the liver and gall bladder. (Remember these two organs - they will become important later in our story!) She focused her treatment on these two organs. We agreed on a regular treatment schedule.
That night, Reo slept through the whole night. I. Could. Not. BELIEVE. It! It was my first full night of sleep in a couple of weeks, and it was awesome! I became an acupuncture convert right then and there (and shortly thereafter pursued treatments for myself, to help me cope with the stress/grief/anxiety I was feeling going through this situation with Reo). The next day, there was a noticeable increase in Reo's energy levels. She seemed more alert, and she wagged her tail - hurray!
03/26/11 - Today, we had our consultation call with Caroline Levin. Having read her website word for word, and understanding it, I think this call was most beneficial for Sean. Caroline does such a great job explaining things in lay-person's terms, and she is so patient and encouraging. It helped me immensely to know that I had her to lean on for support during Reo's treatment.
Caroline stressed the importance of a dual approach: 1) address the underlying adrenal exhaustion issues and 2) initiate retinal protection. Caroline's research shows that about 20% of dogs can regain some vision when the protocol is initiated within 4 weeks of diagnosis. Because we started the full protocol about 2 weeks post-SARDS diagnosis, we thought had a good shot. Regardless of the vision outcome, I was highly interested in correcting Reo's adrenal exhaustion/Plechner's syndrome. Anything else would be icing on the cake!
On the consult call, we agreed to up the Magnesium Taurate, and also increase the Medrol to see if we noticed a difference in mood/behavior.
Over the next several days, I struggled to get Reo to eat regularly. I cooked new protein - all organic/hormone free turkey thighs, beef shank, eggs. I concocted new veggie and fruit mixtures to find something palatable for her. I added extra sardines, salmon oil, crushed beef liver, wild canned salmon, peanut butter - you name it! Some of those things would work, but never a sure thing. Reo was not enthusiastic about eating.
The Power Of The Walk
Despite Reo's inappetance, lethargy, and depression, I insisted that she go for (at least a short) walk, every day if possible. I happen to be a fan of Cesar Millan "The Dog Whisperer", and am on board with his thoughts on the importance of walking your dog. So, even though Reo was sick and hurting, I wanted her to walk. Walks are critical for dogs to feel themselves, and I think that environmental stimuli (birds singing, squirrels running, smells to sniff) can help "snap a dog" out of their funk. Fortunately, there are some less-trafficked alleys and streets, which allowed me to walk Reo and Leigh in the middle of the street. It was hard for Reo to deal with uneven pavement, curbs, branches, etc., but if she was on flat, clear pavement, she would trot right along. I tried to get at least 15-30 minutes of exercise for her at least 3x/week. Many times, Reo would sit down in the middle of the street, and refuse to go on. I'd always wait for her, coax her, tug gently on the leash. She'd always start up again - she just needed a minute to collect herself. So, if your SARDS dog does this, be patient! Don't pull, don't pick him/her up. Just wait a minute or two, take a deep breath, and move on.
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