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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Sebastian the cocker/pug doing well
Good News for Sebastian the cocker spaniel/ pug! I haven't been on here or written to this forum for awhile but it has been 3 months now since Sebastian was diagnosed with AIHA and he is dong so well. He just had another check up and his blood work came back great. His PCV was back up in the high 40's when just 3 months ago he was down to a PCV of 8. He had 2 blood transfusions and was in Doggy ICU for 7 days. I remember 3 months ago like it was yesturday going in to visit in the hospital and how I couldnt stop crying everytime i thought of him or saw hime. Today sebastian is off all of his meds except for Prednisone and even that is down to 5mg once daily compared to 25mg when he was really sick. He is 100% active and back to his normal self, but it has been a crazy 3 months. We just take one day at a time and pray everyday that he continues to do well. I wanted to write to the forum first, to let everyone know he is still holding his own and doing well but also, to give hope to others who's dog's have AIHA. It is a very difficult disease but it can be treated and dogs can bounce back. I hope this letter of Sebastian doing well can bring hope and incouragment to others. OUr prayers are with you all Gill and Sebastian |
| Gillian Victoria BC |
| Gillian, this is exactly what I needed to hear! What a wonderful caretaker you are, and thanks so much for sharing. Just curious...how long before you saw things turning around for him? |
| Sharon CT |
| Gillian, This is wonderful news about Sebastian! Both Sharon and I needed to hear that, as it's a great encouragement to those of us who are still battling this disease. Would you mind telling me what meds Sebastian was on initially? My best to you and Sebastian, Karen |
| Karen NC |
Hi Sharon and Karen When Sebastian got sick he went down very quickly. Within 38 hours he went from being full of life, to being rushed into emergency!. He was so weak at the time he couldn't even stand on his own feet. His PCV was so low they decided to do a blood transfusion on him and it only brought his PCV up to 18 which he didnt stay at for long. They did another blood transfusion on him on his 3rd day of hospital and he was sitting at a PCV of 24 that time. In the next few day he continued to drop until he hit a PCV of 18 on his 6 day of hospitalization and that is where he stayed. He never started to rebuild while he was at the clinic, but because of finacial issues for myself and because he was staying at 18, they decided it would be ok to let him go home. When he came home he was fare from doing ok, but we took the chance and found that he was much more comfortable being with us at home. The first few days he had many times of collapsing and times where I thought we should rush him back into emergency, but about 2 weeks after being brought home we started to see a big improvment. It took him awhile to get there but we found that when he got there, he bounced back quick. I took him for check ups every few days and his PCV started climbing. The prednisone had many side effects as well on him with weight gain and a total change of attitude, but now that he is down to 5mg a day he is almost 100% back to normal. I hope this info helps and if you want to know anything, don't hesitate to ask. Oh and if you go to the archives in 2008 and look up "just diagnosed with AIHA" that is where I started my story. Sebastian started with 25mg of prednisone, sulcrate to protect his tummy, ASA liquid and doxycycline to cover him for infections. This is what he was given broken down into two times a day. Good luck and my thoughts are with you both Cheers, Gillian and Sebastian |
| Gillian Victoria BC |
This thread was discussed on 06/11/2008
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