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[Pandomania]

Good morning.  I was wondering how long dogs have been treated with antifungals before they had no organisms left.  Pando was diagnosed Sept 2007 was on itra, now on fluco due to ocular involvement.  He also has an enlarged lymph node (periscapular and submandibular), however the submandibular is a salivary mucocele.  BOth lymph nodes/mucocele were aspirated and blasto organism was found.  His internal vet just changed his prognosis to fair-poor. He however acts very healthy...running around, eating, no whining/crying.  You wouldn't even know he was sick if you just saw him on the street.  His eyes are doing better, the granulomas are shrinking and optho is giving him a fair-good prognosis for vision.  Internal now wants to remove both lymph nodes.  Curious if anyone has heard of this.  Oh, by the way, his prognosis for survival was lowered (it used to be good-excellent) because almost a year out he still has the organisms in.  We haven't done the Miravista test yet either.  THanks for any input!  Just sick of this horrible roller coaster.  You all understand unfortunately.
Jenny

[Wilson3]

jenny that has been a long time
i just was looking at the bottom of your post...
pando is 55 pounds and on 100 mg of meds

wilson was about that weight 50 to 55 pounds depends on the day  he started on 125 mg and after 3 months went to 175 mg
was increased because we felt tthat he wasnt responding as well any more as in the beginning and i was told though that 175 was as high as we coulld go for his weight and be in the "safe' zone for the liver
i would see about inceasing the dose
wilson3

just wondering why remove the lymph knodes?

[evayola]

There is a test that somebody on here talked about that can detect the amount of meds being absorbed. I will fish around to find it. I say give that a shot. We were told that Marge wouldnt survive by one vet and that we should remove her eye asap! We didnt remove the eye and she is still alive and healthy and fat as a horse! Are you on any meds for the eye? I cannot believe that after one year there is still blasto present. We treated Marge for almost one year. It was about 10 months. I am going to find the name of the test and post right back.
Eva

[evayola]

I couldnt find the name of the test but I did send Larry a message as he was the one talking about it. Hopefully he will write back. I cant imagine removing the lymphnodes. Marge had lymphnodes so swollen they were like tennis balls. Definitely keep us posted.
Eva

[Jen]

MiraVista also a blood test to measure Itraconazole levels in the blood.
Link:

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:jeKz8v2hs30J:www.miravistalabs.com/files/pdf/aboutMV.pdf+itraconazole+blood+levels+test+miravista&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Are you always giving it with some kind of a fatty food?
If not, it can't make it into the bloodstream very well.
And I agree that it seems like a small dose.
Dirtbike was 65 lb. when diagnosed and got 150mg the whole time.

[Pandomania]

Thank you for your responses and help.  The med list we have on the bottom of our name is old...I should change it.  Currently Pando is on fluconazole 50 mg 3 tablets twice per day, flurbiprofen eye drops every 12 hours.  He was just discharged from oral pred (5mg twice per week) and pred eye drops. 

 I really appreciate your input and resources.  I have an e-mail out to a vet from WI that does work closely with blasto and some research.  I will let you guys know what his thoughts are also!

Have a great night!
Jenny

[gunner]

Yes, Jen is right.  Mira Vista can check to see how effectively the drug is working in the dog's system and they can tell if you need to bump up the dosage or even change to a different drug.  You can give them a call if you like.  They are really great people to talk to and they can answer all your questions.  Tell them that you are a member of this forum.  Jen gave you their website information and their phone number is on their web site. 
Keep us posted to what you find out.
Joyce

[luvmyjacks]

This morning I sent off a urine test to MiraVista and am hoping Will is going to be blasto free for the first time since Sept 2007.  He has gone from 12 days in the ICU hooked up to tubes and oxygen to fat and healthy.  Rather than have more x rays that might have blasto confused with scar tissue I have opted for the urine test.  I messaged Jen because I am wondering if everyone knows to try to get the first pee of the day: the most concentrated and the one most likely to show the blasto if it is in his system.  Let's cross everything for good news.

[evayola]

I will be thinking of Will so let us know what happens. Did you send the urine out yourself? I am only asking because somebody on here said that the test is $54 and my vet charges over $100. I am wondering if next time I can do it myself.

[gunner]

When I talked to Mira Vista, they said that the results had to go through a Vetrinarian.  I guess you could send off the urine yourself, but they would have to send the results to your vet.  I asked directly what their fee was for the test and they said $48.00 but that the vet would probably tack on their fees as well.  So I don't know why it has to go through a vet.  I should call and ask I guess.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.  It would be good to know.

I'll be thinking of Will, but I am POSITIVE it will come back negative because he has been taken such good care of 
Joyce

[mhitesman]

Comet has regular miravista urine antigen tests...four since stopping the meds.  The most recent was last week.  His level is .28 -- the lowest so far.  Anything below 1.0 is considered a negative.  The cost, for him, was $48 for the test and $26 for shipping.

[luvmyjacks]

My vet charged the cost of the test plus cross border shipping in a cooled container.  I think the shipping is what pushed up the price and the test price was in the high $50's or low $60's which is a pretty low mark up on $48.  Harry's test came back negative but I will check to see the number attached to it and let everyone know.

[mhitesman]

The whole number thing is interesting.  I did not realize until the last two blaso tests, when I was told his numbers (4.2 in 6/08 and 2.8 in 8/08) that blasto was diagnosed by numbers...anything under 1.0 being negative.

Anyone know what the numbers actually represent?

Presumably, Comet's original diagnosis of "weak positive" meant that his numbers were not much over 1.0... 

Do any of you know what your numbers were?

The obvious question is at the top of this post -- does anyone ever get a number of ZERO?

[mhitesman]

Sorry.  Comet's numbers are .42 and .28 respectively, not 4.2 and 2.8 as I posted above

[Pandomania]

Quick update on Pando...I talked with a vet in WI that researches and treats blasto frequently and he said that he does keep the dogs on anti-fungals longer than most vets.  He finds that 1/3 of the dogs get a reoccurrence.  He agrees that Pando should have his lymph node and mucocele removed because it is difficult to get the infection out once it is there (hard for the medicine to penetrate the lymph node) - which pando is scheduled for surgery next Tuesday.  He is really impressed with the Myravista test.  He said that you may need to do the test a few times over a time period before you will get a negative.  As a side note, blasto may also be found in potting soil. He mentioned there were a few indoor cats in Milwaukee I believe that got blasto.  Those cats NEVER went outside.  THe common thread to the cats is that they all were diggers of the indoor plants.  They hypthosize that is where they got the infection.  Hope all is well with everyone!  Stay positive
Jenny