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[apope43]

Ok, so we were draining for quite a while on Izzy's left leg.  Then we used the pascalite clay and the lesion healed up....but now the swelling is even worse!  I thought healing it would be smart, but maybe we should have let it drain???  We've started icing and massaging again, hoping to pull the swelling down, but are nervous that now the blasto has no place to go.  Should we think about having the vet lance it to help it drain or just wait for it to do it's thing?  I'm terrified that it's going to end up eating into her bone and making her lame....

[benniesmom]

DANG! I hate that swelling business you have to deal with. I wish I had a sense of what might help. You are so on top of things..  we're certain here that you'll figure something out........

[apope43]

For every step forward, right?

How's my benjo doing??

[benniesmom]

My most excellent friend, Benjo, does very well, except when I step back to look at my work and step....on....him.... Which I did twice this morning... he doesn't like to be far away from me.. So. really he is so much better..... sometimes little things come up, like he gets sort of wild in his dreams, and seems to be racing racing, and those legs really go. more than they used to, before Blasto, maybe. but that, too, has settled down some, and the swelling in his rib is about gone. amazing. some panting and harder breathing in the night, but nothing scary, to be honest. When he thrashes in his dreams, I wake him up to slow him down.. and then his heart rate and breathing just go back to quiet..... other than that, the little skin things are not worse. and he has much of his old strong and determined but quiet spirit back. His registered racing name was Clint Run, and I bet they named him that because he is so like Clint Eastwood..... looks like him, too. Steely. Steely Ben. Here they come now, and both are smiling and expressing joy. Greyhounds are so expressive. these two are my first. i would do it again. they are very easy to live with. The one thing that I do consistently notice, is that while Bennie isn't so sick any more, he tires soooo easily. Everything gets him a little winded.. Not terrible... But. not Greyhoundish either......They are quiet, but they are strong dogs.

Thank you for asking!

[Sadie123]

Gotta love those doggie dreams.  Sadie used to bark in her sleep - with her mouth closed.  It sounded so funny, but was something I got used to quickly.  I just let her dream away because she barked when she chased the neighborhood bunnies.  She never caught them, but it was fun chasing them.  She would run so fast that she couldn't open up her mouth to bark, and that's how she dreamed.  Dare I ever wake her up when she's chasing bunnies!  If she ever started growling in her sleep, that's when I woke her.  I didn't know if it was a bad dream or not.  But the barking was too precious.

[apope43]

It's funny you mention the dreaming - Izzy has been dreaming more since she's been on this medication.  Her little feet will just go and go, I'm always nervous that she's really twitching, and Ken always has to reassure me that it's just dreams.  Izzy also likes to be close, we had to take the steps away from the bed otherwise we couldn't sleep because she was literally on top of us.  She doesn't have all of her pep back either.  Loses her breath easily.  I can't help but wonder if it will always be that way.  Our sad little reminder of their fight. 

I have always loved greyhounds, they have the biggest grins - they make me smile.   

[LoveMyJ.R.Quincy]

I was wondering if any dogs that were postive for blasto didn't have skin lesions? Quincy hasn't had any so it might sound funny but we've been praying for one! That way they can abstract some cells to check once again for blasto from that again, which would be much cheaper that taking out the lymph node. Tomorrow he has another vet check, so please pray that his lymph node has decreased in size since the last check up. Otherwise, I don't know what we will do . . .

[apope43]

Have you guys done the MiraVista urine analysis?  Its between $100-$150, and some have mixed results, but it might be more cost effective than surgically removing a lymph node?  Unless they'd be able to test for other things as well....also, I know that some blasto pups never develop lesions.  Though I do understand hoping for one - honestly we've been hoping for the same to draw down the swelling in her leg.

Good luck with your vet check!! Let us know how it goes!

[LoveMyJ.R.Quincy]

We did the MiraVista test and it came back with small postive to blasto. Thats why we started the Sporax. It just doesn't seem like his lymph node is getting smaller though and the vet has his reservations on it being blasto. He informed us before that he saw quite a few cases of it during his schooling and how he acted towards Quincy's case made us believe he doesn't think thats what he has.

[Sadie123]

You know, at this point I'm very curious as to how they detect the blasto antigen in the urine.  How does it get there?  And what determines how much it picks up? Does it show up higher with certain organ involvement and less with other organ involvement?  How high is high, and how low is low.  If there is any antigen detected, then there should be blasto fungus/yeast somewhere.  Why are some tests coming back negative but yet the vets are finding blasto on the smears?  Makes you really think.  Has anyone ever repeated a test based on the first test being negative, or as in Quincy's case a low positive?  I swear, if Sadie didn't have such abnormal blood counts, I would have repeated the urine test since it came back negative.  But her CBC just didn't go along with blasto so I decided not to retest.  I am wondering if anyone on here has retested and gotten a completely different result.  I'm praying for you Callie and Quincy.  I know how hard it is to "not know".  I was there a few weeks ago and it absolutely sucked!

[apope43]

Some here had mixed results (with multiple tests), but I think that was before Dr. Legendre consulted with them to beef up the "specificity" of the test.  There's a link on the MiraVista website that talks about how the test works.  I think there may be some difference based on how advanced the cases are.  We had a "lower" positive after minimal symptoms (but bad enough symptoms), but after the blasto took her eye we decided to retest both urine and some slides from her eye (academically at that point).  Sure enough, the positive was much, much higher.

I think the point of MiraVista is to offer an earlier diagnosis and get dogs on treatment as soon as possible.  Truly the only 100% effective test is going to be an aspiration of involved lungs or a tremendously involved eye, lesion, node, etc.  The problem is that those aspirations can get pricey.  The devil you know...or can afford even? 

[Sadie123]

Thanks AP, makes a lot of sense.  I never really looked at how the test worked, I never knew Sadie's number.  The vet just told me it was negative and I left it at that. 

How's Izzy today? 

[apope43]

Well, MiraVista worked for us but I know a lot of other smart blasto moms and pops have not had the same experience, so just like all of this mess - who really knows?  Can be so frustrating.

You're sweet to ask about Izzy - she's had a pretty good couple of days.  I'm still not happy about the swelling, though I would swear its going down.  There's no lesion though, and man its weird to wish that one would pop up and drain the gunk out of there.  She is still limping, though not nearly as bad as Sunday/Monday. 

Otherwise we're doing great so far.  No other lumps, there's a tiny lesion under her chin, but its already healing.  Appetite is great and she's playing like mad.  Still sleepy right after her doses, and I have yet to see her go speeding around the yard in circles like she used to.  I hope to see it soon, but know that with the scar tissue she may not.  The new normal. 

Its funny, we really haven't had a chance to see her true personality because she's been so sick since we've had her - first the anemia from too many breedings (still makes me mad), and then this...so its a little like having a whole new dog in the house!  Her vet put it best - if she had been hit by a truck yesterday, it would still all have been worth it just to be able to actually meet our dog, if that makes sense.  If her current behavior, her mischievousness, and her silly personality are a sign of things to come, imagine what she'll be like six months from now!  . We may have our hands pretty dang full!!

How are things going for you?  You've been on my mind a lot lately!

[Sadie123]

I'm doing ok, thanks for asking.  It's been 16 days now and I still have lots of Sadie crying spells.  But they are moments and I don't feel like I'm walking on my heart so much anymore.  I have been able to get out of the house and get some Christmas shopping done, although still not in the Christmas Spirit.  The sadness is not an all day thing anymore.  I've lost dogs before and I've never been this sad.  Sadie was my first one to raise on my own, and I had a lot of time and love invested in her.  I know I've got to snap out of it, especially for my son.  But he understands and lets me have my crying spells.  The first week was especially rough and I had been short tempered from the first day that Sadie went to the vet.  My son actually said to me "I must be a bad kid".  It broke my heart to hear him say that.  He is not a bad kid, I couldn't be luckier to have someone like him.  So I had to explain that it wasn't his fault, that I was just not being a good mom for the time being, and I told him why.  He is so forgiving and understanding.  We're still sleeping on the couch.  Just can't seem to get back in the cold empty bed.   We'll get there soon enough, but right now Tyler thinks it's cool that we camp out in the living room. 

[Wilson3]

they say that usually the dogs that get the lesions got blasto through an open cut,sore and opening other then breathing in the spores
no not all dogs will get the lesions
It can take months for the lymph nodes to go down same with the swelling in the legs
I would not recommend cutting the leg to drain the body will absorb and get rid of it
blasto takes months and even a yr or more to get rid of
wilson3