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[Lolasmom]

Oh....I  forgot to mention....the diameter of her chest has decreased from 31" to 28".  My understanding is that this could be from reduction of inflamation and/or hyperextended lungs.

Has anyone else noticed a bad breath smell?

[apope43]

Yes, yes, and YES!  You are on the right path, SO glad to hear it.  Am very interested to hear what comes back from Mira Vista.  Hard to believe the radiologist couldn't distinguish between the two, that's how conniving this stuff is.  Do her lungs have that 'snowy' look to them or is it still little nodule looking things?  Izzy started off with what looked like little discs in her lungs, but by diagnosis she had full blown blizzard lungs where the blasto had taken over.  Maybe you guys caught it even sooner which is why its still looking like cancer?  Thankful to hear that her eyes have stopped watering, I was really worrying about that because Izzy's journey was so tough with her eye!!

Izzy continues to have rapid breath on occasion and we're heading for our third month on treatment.  Especially right around dosing.   Much less than what it used to be though.  She does get short of breath pretty quickly when she plays or runs.  Our vet feels that it is a combination of 'blasto remnants' in her lungs and scar tissue from fighting off the yeast. He says only time will tell if that hangs on.  His rule of thumb has been to let her go as long as she wants...within reason.  Don't push her, let her rest, no tough hikes or overly long walks, etc. 

Interesting that you mentioned the nails.  Wilson had some pretty good lesions on his paws that were around the nails.  I'll look for her post and pictures and try to bump them for you.  Izzy's swelling centered around her wrist joint, and we were terrified it would start to eat into the bone, but so far so good!

Have you tried mixing the bologna with a little bit of wet or dry dog food to tempt her back into eating?  I wouldn't be concerned with the fats -- you do need them for the itra, but more for the other nutrients your pup needs to keep her strength up.  Don't forget the ensures!!

Sending puppy kisses to Lola!!!!! 

Breath wise, Izzy's was horrible.  For us, she was licking that draining lesion, plus the blasto in her lungs just created bad, bad breath.  She also had pretty kickin' gas.  We got some mouth wash for her that the vet gave to us..I'll send you the name when I get home.  It really helped a lot. 

[Lolasmom]

REALLY???  Lolas breath is terrible lately....even my 15 year old son noticed it with his shoes right there next to her.  (You wouldn't think you could smell anything over his shoes).  And YES she has also had some room clearing gas. 

Lolas x-rays look EXACTLY like Izzys.  I was blown away the first time I pulled up that picture.  Her first x-ray just showed a small maybe one square inch spot at the top of her lung. She had another xray about 3 weeks later which didn't look any different so my vet sent that xray to the  radiologist at Auburn.  The radiologist originally thought it was her thoratic lymph node inflammed which was also making her drool so badly.  My vet put her on massive amounts (immune suppressing doses) of Dexamethasone to try to get the lymph to stop inflamming.  We went back to the vet exactly 2 weeks later (still not even tappered off the DEX) and it was all over her lungs. We took her off the Dex and took another x ray 2 weeks after that one.  This x-ray showed no worse or better than the last and we sent that to Auburn.  They cannot distinguish any more than my vet.  Its so wierd.   

I am sure Lola had problems comming off all those steroids.  She wasn't right for a week or 10 days. She was stiff, depressed, .....really messed up.  Then we found out that the antbody/antigen tests could be skewed from immune suppressing amounts of steroids so we had to wait a while to re-test. (In the morning).  My vet started her on anti-fungals right after the first really bad x ray.  About the 3rd day it got really bad.  I really thought I was going to have to have her put down.   (If it hadn't been for this sight.....I would have put her down)   But I remembered reading that it gets bad before it gets better so I thought I would hold out over the weekend.  By the following Monday it was starting to get a little better and by the end of the week it was a lot better.  She has steadily been getting a little better every day (which I don't THINK would be happening if it was cancer).

 Lola has been licking her back leg for days. (And the edge of  her dog bed?)  Her back leg seems a  LITTLE swelled for a few days....it almost seems like it comes up and then goes down.  Its so wierd.  But I don't see anything there.   Same with her eyes which will be watery and goopy a couple of days and then clear and bright a couple days after that and visa versa.  It scares me.  She also seems to go through periods where she has a lot of twitching in weird placed like her shoulder or her hind end.  But when I wake her up she is fine.  I've never noticed her do that before and it scares me too.   


I am SO GLAD Izzy is doing so well.  He has been quite an inspiration for us.   

I got her some Meaty Meals tonight and she ate a bag....with Bologna mixed into it.  Then another 1/3 pack of Bologna, a cube steak and 1/2 of a Twinkie.  I know they are not good for her, but she loves heer Twinkies.

As soon as we get the results back I will let you all know.   Kisses to Izzy and all or Blasto buddies.

[Lolasmom]

Did Izzy do any sneezing?  Lola does a lot of sneezing.

[benniesmom]

Twitching and bad breath. Bennie had TERRIBLE breath, and he did some very strong twitching in his sleep, and racing, too.. harsh,strange stuff I had never seen before......... I do not know if it was the Itra, the Blasto or the CHF......... and he started clacking his teeth really hard, when things were really starting to go south with CHF........... The twitching started early and just kept on.........
I do think it sounds like Lola is doing well.. and think of you Bassett folks often
Barb

[Sadie123]

I am so very glad to hear about Lola's progress!!  It sounds like you very well may have had a false negative blasto test.  I am so proud of you both for hanging in there.  It doesn't surprise me that the vet couldn't distinguish between blasto or cancer on the xray.  It all looks white to me and x-rays are one dimensional, so very hard to tell exactly what it is.   A biopsy is the only real way to tell, but if she is doing better then I wouldn't spend the money.  My vets philosophy on it was to test and treat for what could be cured, and don't waste a bunch of money on what we can't fix.   I think you vet is that way also.  I like that. 

Breathing sounds good.  You could expect her to stay in the 40s and 50s for quite a while.  I think others have stated that they saw no improvement in the chest xray for many months.  So as long as she is holding her own, you can assume her lungs are still quite infiltrated.   If she were to get any worse, you would know by the breathing.  Sadie got down to around 40/min 3 mornings in a row, but it wasn't consistent throughout the day and by the weekend, it was back up to over 60/min.  Don't worry about the diet right now.  When she is better, you can start to wean the dog food back in.  If not, then just enjoy your new butterball. 

I sense a little bit of comfort as you are adapting to the "new" Lola for right now.  Keep up the fantastic care that you are providing for her.  And please keep the updates coming in.  We all check, and love to hear the good news!!

Shelley

[apope43]

Izzy does twitch and jerk, which I always attributed to her chasing rabbits in her sleep, but now that Lola is doing it and Bennie did it....it may be a side effect.  The medicine taking on the blasto maybe? 

Izzy sneezes occasionally, but it is rare. 

Glad she has started eating some dog fod along with her treats. Sounds like you guys are on the right paths.  We'll all be interested to see what happens with the next MiraVista test!
AP

[Lolasmom]

Thank you all so much for all your support.  Its strange to be "hoping" that she does have this terrible disease.  I will let you all know as soon as we get her test results back.