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[luvmyjacks]

First of all let me say that I am new to this forum and I am sorry I found it too late to help my sweet Roxanne.  Secondly I am now sending the link to every single person I know who has a dog and telling them if their dog changes ANYTHING to watch very carefully.  Thirdly I am taking pet insurance on my last two healthy (so far) Jack Russells.  This disease is horrible - and very expensive to treat.

My story:  I had 8 yr old Roxanne, our diva, princess, queen bee who had attitude and was stubborn.
I have my two princes, 3 year old Harry and 21 month old Will and mid July I added six week old Sadie.
Some time after I got Sadie Roxie and Will contracted Blasto.  I missed all the early signs and attributed them to "people" things.  When Roxy wasn't eating I assumed she was being stubborn and wanted that yummy puppy food.  When she wasn't tossing toys around I thought it was because she didn't like any toys the puppy had touched..... and so on.  When she fell behind on bike rides in August I thought she was just showing her age instead of wondering how she could have been running like the wind in July and trotting mechanically behind me in August.  I can't forgive myself for not seeing all this.  She and Will both lost weight but we were all very active and hiking in the bush, through farmland and down into great ravines in the Blue Mountain area of Collingwood so it didn't alarm me.  Roxy loved playing with big dogs but I took her to the vet in early Sept after she yelped when run over by a dog chasing a ball.  I was concerned that she was breathing hard, not eating and walking very gingerly: maybe a crached or broken rib.   The on call week end vet in Collingwood looked at the xrays and told me it was cancer or some other growth and to get an ultrasound right away.  I took her home to Toronto to a clinic that could do the ultrasound and they opted for a biopsy using a fine bore needle as opposed to a better procedure that also required sedation as her breathing was quite laboured.  We waited, waited, waited three long days for the results and in that time she never left my side. It got to the point where I was carrying her because she insisted on going upstairs if I did and I could see it was a struggle.  When I got the news I actually was foolish enough to be thrilled it wasn't cancer.  Little did I know the horror that was to follow.
Meanwhile Will seemed mellow, quiet, not playful with the puppy and doing a bunny hop down the stairs as if he had hurt his back end somehow.  I took him in for xrays of his back that would also show his lungs and when we saw they were as bad as Roxy's we started sharing her meds with him.  We gave Roxy her first treatment of Itraconazole last Thursday Sept 20th and I left her in an oxygen crate until the clinic was closing.  They then gave me "the talk" and told me she needed critical care and constant watching so we went to a huge emergency facility half an hour from our house.  She was admitted to the ICU as soon as we were through the doors and honestly she was fitted with monitors and tubes and two nose tubes for oxygen as well as a mask.  Her blood oxygen level was 78%.  Deposit on admitting: $2500.... shocked but will find a way.  The next day they passed on the meds as they thought she was too weak.  I got the call to come at 1pm and was able to hold her in my arms until she passed away at 5pm...... not even 24 hours.  Every single person on this forum knows the gut wrenching pain this diabolical illness causes us and our beloved pets
Without taking time to grieve for my poor little Roxy I had to turn my full attention to Will.  I drove home from the hospital grabbed him and took him right to the ICU.  Another $2500 deposit please.  Too numb to care.  Will figure it out later.
Will is not eating, has an on again off again low grade fever.  If he is sitting up he is only obsessed with getting rid of the nose tubes giving him the much needed oxygen.  Although he appreciates the delicious smells from the still warm food I bring only once has he eaten a few bites from my fingers.  I think he is quite nauseous from the Itraconazole.  He is getting the one that is small pellets in syrup as well as a very mild pain med that reduces the stress he feels from having difficulty breathing.  He had some bloody diarrhea one day, then mucus in diarrhea the next.  Mostly bright red suggesting it was from lower down in the GI tract.
He has had the meds twice a day for 5 days, today is the 6th day and I am afraid to call to see if he made it through the night.  His second set of x rays were the same as the first, his third set were worse.  One thing to note: the vet was very specific that I bring food with no fat as it would irritate his pancreas after days of not eating.  I think I recall hearing something similar with people who had been on lo/no fat diets and then went back to adding normal food.
I have had Sadie and Harry x rayed and blood tests were taken with a two week wait for results.  So far so good but I feel that by the time I see symptoms it might be too late.  I have no idea where exactly we contracted this disease but I am convinced it is the Collingwood area.  There is a lot of development and old farms, marshland and forests are being disturbed.  As well, the old town dump has been dormant for years but is now being smoothed and topped with new soil to be turned into a green space.  I guess there is no way of knowing.  I have advised every vet clinic I can think of so they are now watching new patients very carefully looking for blasto symptoms.

[evayola]

I am so sorry for your loss and then to have to deal with blasto still, I am very sorry and I will be praying for Will. Blasto is the craziest disease. Marge is now getting better and when people see her they tell me that she isn't sick but they aren't realizing what she went through. I hope and hope that Will makes it through this. Stay strong for him!

[luvmyjacks]

Will made it through another night and although I left there in tears last night thinking it was again the end, his fever broke and he ate some of the food I left for him.  What is with this fever???  At four in the morning it spiked again.  Poor little fellow.  He has lost another 1.5 llbs since he was admitted so I guess we're lucky he was a little chunky to start with.  They have taken out the nose tubes for a few hours and his blood oxygen has dropped to around 91%.  I have opted to stay home until I can bring him some supper.  Hopefully he will feel like eating and I can give him hugs without banging up against that horrible collar he has been wearing.  If he starts to use to much oxygen they will put his tubes back but at least this way he will have several hours to breathe normally.  I am digging through the reduced meat section looking for deals on extra lean ground beef and I even bought a hunk of Black angus steak.  Hope they don't tell me it's too rich.  There is another patient in the next crate and he is deaf and blind.  His owner must be elderly because they normally cook for him and now he is eating what Will refuses.  Maybe that's making lemonade out of lemons.  I asked about using amphotericin B with the itra but apparently he has too much risk of renal failure with that combo.  It had shown up as successful combiation a few years ago in blasto studies.  Opthalmic exam shoes no involvment of his eyes, bloodwork remains the same, proteins the same and x rays the same. 
Has anyone here had any experience with blasto and pet insurance?  I have four brochures to look.

[evayola]

I actually have had pet insurance on Marge since before the blasto and they are claiming that it was a pre existing condition and of course my response was that they must be mind readers because they could diagnose her before the docs could? Amazing what insurance companies do and they said it didn't matter since blasto is never covered! I am glad that Will is doing okay. We put marge on the amp b with itroconozole and she almost passed. It was not for her at all! She is on fluconozole because it is much easier on her tummy and she does have one eye involved and they say that fluconozole is better for that. I guess it all depends on the dog. We tried switching marge to capsule form with the powder inside and she wouldn't eat anything so we had to switch her back to tablet form.

[Jen]

Hoping the best for Will - You've really had it rough.  Dirtbike ran a fever for about 2 mos. or maybe more. Her nose was so dry that it was like a big scab.  Water wasn't a problem, but food was. She lost maybe 1/2 her body weight, but has since gained all that back and more. 
 We've never spent much on animals, as they come and go here, so there's no pet insurance.  With 3 vet visits (non-emergent) and 8 mos. worth of Itraconazole we've spent about $500, which is more than we've ever spent on a dog. Looks like we got lucky.
Take care-
jen

[luvmyjacks]

Will came home from the ICU last night because he was finally off the oxygen and they felt we could give him the meds ourselves at this point.  Now that I have read about Sadie and then Sonny going home and passing I am terrified.  Like Sonny, Will is eating well and trying to pretend he is his old self.  He gets tired fast and is sleeping a lot but I feel helpless reading these sad stories and knowing that Will is not out of the woods by a long shot.  We ae giving him a lot of Itra from what I read: twice a day he gets 5ml along with eye drops and an eye gel.  His opthalmic exam was clean but they must be worried or they wouldn't have given him all that stuff.  Every time I see one of these sad, sad stories it makes me cry.  We love these creatures so much and have so little control over their lives once this diease strikes.

[Jen]

Hon, I truly believe that coming home has nothing to do with it.  DB was always at home because we couldn't afford the things the vet recommended, like an o2 tent and IVs.  Keeping him hydrated is very important: Pedialyte in a spray, and we used Ensure Plus in a baby bottle, constant attention and love. It was hard, but we did our best.  The rest was up to her.
Hoping the best for you-
jen

[evayola]

No matter what you do DO NOT get discouraged by the dogs that unfortunately lost their battles. We were very scared about Marge because of other's stories. I think that being at home will make Will feel better and more comfy. I know that marge is such a homebody (she doesn't like being outside alone) that she would have done so poorly if it wasn't for our love and encouragement. Like Jen said, just make sure that Will stays hydrated. There were days when Marge wanted nothing to do with food or water or treats or anything. She just wanted to be left alone but we never let her give up. Stay positive.

[luvmyjacks]

It is only because of you and Jen and Wilson3 and the stories you tell, messages you send that I dare hope.  I have sent messages to Sue and Sheila as they posted regularly earlier in the year and I am trying to find out what has happened to their dogs in the interim.  Will has been home now for 48 hours and actually seems fine.  Of course he is subdued and only thinks about chasing squirrels, but he has been eating homecooked chicken out of my hand and drinks water on his own and willingly.  Right after he has his meds he seems to feel ill and sleeps for a while but when I take Harry and Sadie to the park he insists on coming even though he just wanders a bit and doesn't want to play or chase the ball.  He is sleeping in my bed and in my arms so I can hear him breathing and I am grateful to have a husband that thinks this is normal.  I don't see any sign of lesions at all.  He does have laboured breathing, or actually a kind of rattling sound as well as lethargy and bad gas.  One other thing that I haven's seen posted anywhere though is his breath.  This may sound weird but when I held Roxy for the four hours before she died I commented on her strange breath.  It was of course nasty, but more than that it was a distinct smell and Will has the same thing.  If it is something that other people have noticed maybe it is something that would be a tip off in a diagnosis.....?  I don't want to be graphic but it was more like a bum smell that just bad breath if you get my drift.  Anyone else notice it?
Thanks again for the words of encouragement, I am just worried I will have my hopes dashed and it would kill me to lose little Fat Boy on top of my Roxanne.

[evayola]

I cannot say that Marge had the breath that you are speaking of but she does have horrible horrible gas. She could clear out the house with it.  That is really awesome that Will is WANTING to go with you on the walks because when Marge was really sick she didnt want to do anything but lay down. Homer was so sad when she was like that because that's his best friend and I think it was killing him seeing her like that. We held Marge in our arms also but it took both of us to hold her since she is more than five feet tall stretched out. We let Marge eat anything she wanted. She is still eating grilled chicken everyday because I don't want her to skip one meal! I am going to post something that happened yesterday to Marge. Stay positive to Will and hopefully you being upbeat will help his spirits stay high. Like I said before we used to read to Marge just for her to hear our voices and positive sounds. Im sure it was good for her.

[mhitesman]

I am so very very sorry to hear of your loss of Roxy and that Will is suffering so.  Please continue to update.  I celebrate even small successes with my Comet as well as Will and the other dogs I hear of. 

[luvmyjacks]

The latest on Will:  I had to be away from Fri until tonight and I phoned home from Florida twice a day only to get vague comments indicating Will was okay but no real detail on when or what or how much he was eating.  I was afraid he died and my family was trying not to spoil my vacation so I was worried sick.  I just got home and found out he was eating very little........ but his fever is down and he has been eating like the old Fat Boy since the moment I walked through the door.  His temp was down tonight although it has been up and down all week end.  Starting to get my hopes up.
Still hoping  a few of you will jump on my spreadsheet idea when Lisa has the program set up.  Thanks for all the love coming Will's way and good luck to all the new folks just starting thisdifficult journey.

[mhitesman]

I just noticed your statement that Will likes to "help" you in the garden.  Comet gets so excited when I tell him we're going outside because I need some "help".  I call him my helper dog.  He, of couse, is nothing but trouble out there, but we have long conversations, and he is my best friend as I am certain Will is yours.

PLEASE keep us posted regarding Will's progress.  We are all following these stories looking for victories, however small, and crying with you when you cry.  I wish we had a way to post pictures here.  I would love to put faces to our dogs names.  Then my channeled good thoughts would know better where to go.

[luvmyjacks]

You know it's funny because Roxy was my soulmate, the dog I thought would grow old with me.  She just plain "got" me.  She knew what I was thinking, where and when I was going and when I rode up the mountain on my beloved horse she was always right there with me hour after hour.  She was with me when my horse fell ill and she stayed with us as I held his head in my arms when he was put down.  She knew I needed her there with me.  She was only eight and I never once thought about a day or night withut her until she was gone.  She died on Fri Sept 21st and honestly I haven't had time to absorb the fact she has gone because we went into crisis with Will that same night.  And Will has always been different; so different in fact we call him the love child and suggest his mother perhaps "stepped out".  In many ways he is a Jack Russell of course, the hunting, sniffing, digging, rolling in nastiness and a marvellous mouser, but there is something that is special about Will and the thought of losing him has me in a panic.  He honestly never understood he weighed in at 25lbs (not a biggy like Marge, but double my Roxy's weight) and he has always wanted to be a purse puppy.  He ambles casually into the room and hops onto my knee without any understanding that 25lbs hopping is BIG.  Now that he is so sick he is the same but verrrry slow.  He gets up carefully and makes his way over to me and when I lift him onto my knee he puts his head on my shoulder with a sigh that speaks volumes.  And he really does think he is helping me in the garden when he pokes holes in all the planters; no doubt removing any mice along with the odd plant.  I keep telling him that if he gets better I promise never to be mad about that again.  He's such an odd fellow it's hard to know if he's better or worse.  He wants to come to the park but he just sits down close to someone who isn't moving around and he makes no move to chase or play.  He is responding to chicken and today finally a little ground beef with mashed potato, but only if I offer it in my fingers, one tiny piece at a time.  I can see that he feels really bad after each dose of Itra so I try to feed him right before he gets his dose.  Like Marge he has very bad gas all the time but the smell of his breath that he had the first week has gone.  My husband golfed today with a Doctor and when their conversation went to the dogs' illness, my husband said we had lost one and one had been in the ICU for 12 days.  The Doctor looked at him and said "Is he dead yet?"  Chilling.  I have taken to sleeping in the guest room with Will in my arms so I can be sure he hasn't stopped breathing.  This is a nightmare.

[mhitesman]

Nightmare.  That is it exactly.  A long nightmare too.  I am so hopeful for Will's recovery, and I read every word on his progress with rapt attention.  Please continue to update even small things. 

Comet is feeling more like Comet today.  He, too, gets a little sickly after his dose of Itra.  I have read it peaks 2 hours after.  I give him three meals each day, and he is loving eating.  Before his eye was removed, I pretty much had to coax him to eat from my hand, but he did!  He especially loves grilled chicken breast, rice, and broth.  I try to slip a few "good" things in it, but I am more concerned about filling his tummy than what is in it.  He also love the ID dog food we got from the vet.  I need to ask what is special about it.  I think he would love a can of his Canidae dog food as well.  We never fed can food but used it as supplemental to kibble when we did not cook something they could eat for dinner, which is rare.