Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - success stories anyone?

I'm new to this since my dog was recently diagnosed with IMHA. I am reading mostly terrible things about this disease being a struggle for the pet and it's owners. The vet gave me odds of 66% chance of survival, 33% chance of dying.. I sympathize with those who have lost their pet. I would like to hear from the 66% of those whose animals made it? Are there any sucess stories? There must be? Please give me something to hold on to?

dorri

Dorri, Check out the Success Stories pages at the Meisha's Hope AIHA/IMHA Web site: http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/successstories.htm

Joanne MN

Hi Dorri! I'm sorry that your dog has been diagnosed. I hung on every word of every success story on Joanne's website, and though we haven't hit our one year mark, Tiggs is doing really well, we are 6 months in it. Every day a little bit more of his pre-IMHA self emerges. Please stay positive, you guys CAN DO THIS!! melissa and tiggs

melissa slc

Dorri, I have a true success story! Ren was diagnosed with AIHA in November 2007. It was a terrible month. Ren had blood transfusions, tons of medications, and a basic change in her personality. Thank God my vet was knowledgeable about Ren’s disease. Ren was treated over a period of three months with varying degrees of immune suppressing drugs. By February she was pretty much her old self. I was so thrilled that we had beaten this horrid disease. As an odd twist of fate; exactly one year later, to the day, Ren started “passing out”. My vet thought that she was having heart problems. In hind sight, I now know that this was a precursor to AIHA. Within two days Ren was near death. Her PCV had dropped to a low of 11. Her organs started shutting down. Her breathing was rapid, about twice the norm. She began to fill up with fluids, at first in her abdomen and then to her front and rear legs. My vet said that there was no hope left and I should put my dear little Chihuahua to sleep. Something in me (I now know that this was the Lord) told me to seek a second opinion. Even though my vet had cared for Ren since she was a pup. I sought out a new vet and she gave Ren only a guarded prognosis. We opted to do abdominal aspiration to relieve some of the fluids. The new vet also put Ren on a new drug cocktail. Over the period of a week I arrived to the point where I could no longer stand to see my little companion suffer. She was so very sick. My husband, family and friends prayed for a miracle healing. On Thursday, one week after Ren’s initial vet visit, there was a change. I came home from work to find that most of the fluid had left Ren’s body. She was actually up and walking. She was wagging her tail and wanting to eat. As some of you know from my posts here, I am a born again Christian. But I must testify that I believe that a miracle happened that day while I was at work. From that day on Ren has been getting progressively better. The progress is slow. She is not the active Chihuahua pup of days gone by. But she is very happy and content. She takes medication several times a day. Some of the meds cause muscle weakness so she can not jump on chairs, etc. No problem there, Hubby or I are always there to assist her in any way. She is one tough little dog. All this to say that YES!!!!!!,,,, there are successes! The journey is sometimes difficult but there is always hope and more times than not there is recovery. The things that are important in fighting this disease are a positive attitude, a great and knowledgeable vet, strict adherence to administering medications, a good support group(this web site and Meisha’s Hope), and mostly a merciful God that heals and comforts.

Susie Delaware

HI My Bertie is the Dec success story. The success stories gave me hope when my Bertie was so sick with this horrible disease. What is your dogs name? My thoughts and prayers are with you. Hang in there, the thing to remember is that there is no quick remedy that the drugs take time to start working and it is the blood transfusions that when needed allow the time. Lisa

Lisa West Aust

Dorri: There are success stories! Definitely check out Joanne's website. It kept me going in the darkest days. (As did this board once I found it.) We are close to being able to call our own dog, Sheba, in remission. Sheba (GSD/Cocker Spaniel mix, 11 1/2-12 years old) was originally diagnosed April 4, 2008 and finished the last of her meds two weeks ago. Her PCV is holding steady at 42 after a low of 17. If it weren't for one weird WBC count on the 31st (her neutrophils may be off, we're not sure yet) we could label her as in remission. Hopefully this coming Wednesday everything will test normal (fingers and paws crossed!) and we will be able to say Sheba has beaten this! so, hang in there, just take it one day at a time and know we understand everything you're going through. And we will keep you and your furbaby in our thoughts and prayers. Rita, Mike and Sheba

Rita IA

We're out there! Definitely read the Success Stories on Joanne's site. They are inspiration and educational. Slinky was diagnosed at 13 months old in June of '07. She's been med-free since April '08. She's dealt with a lot in her 2.5 years, but she's a trooper and currently dreaming of squirrels asleep on my couch :) There's no magic recipe for beating this, and luck probably plays a role...hang in there, learn as much as you can, ask as many questions as you may have and be your dog's strongest advocate.

Stephanie Chicago

Dorri, I have a success story for you. Spencer is on Joanne's success story site, he is the May 2007 story. The link is on Joannes' post above. He had a 50/50 chance of survival. It has been almost 4 years since his initial diagnosis. There is hope! It's a very tough road to take, but many dogs can and do beat this horrible disease. Best wishes, Kim and Spencer

Kim NY

Thanks all. Maggie's last blood test came up from 15 to 28, and her platelets have normalized. The vet and I are encouraged by her results although we know there is a ways to go. She sleeps alot, but the last couple of days she has spells where she is almost normal, she runs and plays but gets tired very quickly but I know her blood cells are still building but I just know they must have went up some more just seeing her more active. Thank you all for your encouraging stories, I did check out the success website and I was very encouraged by it. Thank you all so much. I will let you know the results of Maggie's blood test on Monday.

Dorri

Dorri, I, too have a success story. Our Golden Retriever, Cooper, was 22 mos. old when he was diagnosed on Oct.22,2008. He tested borderline for Lyme Disease at that time. He started out by urinating on the kitchen floor, which was port wine color. That was when we first noticed he just wasn't right. We took him to a different vet as our regular vet wasn't in that day. They put him on prednisone, 40mg. 2x a day, and doxycycline. We went to see our regular vet the next day, who kept the steroids the same but for some unknown reason took him off the doxy. A few days later put him on amoxycillin, then took him off again. By the 4th day of diagnosis(Oct. 26th) he completely went down hill. He was put into the hospital and had a blood transfusion that night. Saturday still not getting any better, until another vet came on and added Imuran 50mg once a day. By Sunday, his numbers were coming up slowly and he was starting to eat, so they discharged him. We returned to our regular vet, who kept him on the original med doasges and after about two weeks of the numbers not coming up, and what I believed was excessive blood work along with major money, we switched vets. The new vet put him back on doxy for 3 weeks, which is the normal course of action for Lyme Disease.He continued to improve dramatically with each day of the doxy. As of today, Cooper's numbers are absolutely normal, he is still on the Imuran 2x a week until Monday, Jan. 12th. He will have bloodwork done on the 13th, which hopefully will be his final one. Although we will have to keep a lookout for the Lyme disease to flare up again, we do know now how to treat it. He will be put immediately on the doxycycline. So, we are fortunate to have been able to say "Happy New Year" to our Little Coop!

Kathi Southern NJ

Kath, I have to wonder if the vets in my area even considered Lyme disease because we live in a city? I have so many questions. Maggie's blood work today has shown an improvement up to 36, only one point away from normal. She has lost a little weight but all else appears to be normal. Of course she is still on the prednisone 2Xs a day. We have to return her for more blood work next Tuesday. I am so happy and also happy for you that things are going better for Cooper.

Dorri

Dorri, I dont' really think where you live would be a factor in testing for Lyme Disease. Even though we live in southern NJ both of our goldens go no further than our back yard. It's puzzling how one dog showed borderline Lyme and our other golden nothing. I would definitely suggest you ask your vet to test for Lyme. It won't hurt but could be an answer to some of the questions you have. Keep me posted! and good luck! Never give up hope! Kathi

Kathi Southern NJ

Maggie's blood last blood work came in at 36 which is just one point away from the borderline normal (37-55). I'm very happy about that, but she is still is laying and sleeping all the time and not her active self. I'm the one that needs to be patient. She has another appointment on Monday so hopefully the blood has come up even more. I have to wonder if the prednisone isn't making her this way? But for now, she doesn't seem to have a choice because she needs to be treated for AIHA.

dorri

This thread was discussed between 01/01/2009 and 08/01/2009

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