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[luvmyjacks]

I'm not great on the computer, and I can't use Excel but I keep thinking it would be amazing if we could create some short of spreadsheet that all of the posters in this forum could fill in.  Is there anyone who could help create it with me?  It would be something new members could refer to in addition to this forum and could sort out information in columns.  I am hoping if it gets big enough we could sort by location.  Does anyone think that there are different strains of blasto?  That is, one fungus but one that is more virulent in one area than another?  Some dogs seem to die quickly even though the diagnosis doesn't sound as if there is huge involvement and others survive when they start out at death's door.  Possible headings I would like to see:
Dog's description by age, weight, general health (epileptic, diabetic etc)
Location A home, Location B possible exposure to blasto spores
Earliest symptoms (even if they were ignored did you remember something later that you missed at the time)
Timing.  Could we estimate the possible earliest timing as above and then the time we actually acted on it as Timing A and Timing B
Symptoms:  Small columns we could check or leave blank.  At then end we could see a real trend.
Treatment: could be in several columns as well and should include drugs of choice, use of oxygen, painkillers, eye meds etc.
Foods: vet recommendations as well as what we have successfully offered
Recovery timelines:  this is the column that will give us hope and also keep us watchful so we don't miss early signs if our pet slips back.


Is it something that could be added to this website so each new person could go on and fill in their data.  We could print it individually a required or send the link to local vets and friends with dogs.  Everyone needs to be armed with as much knowledge as possible to reduce the number of dogs who are succumbing to this disease.

Feedback would be appreciated.  I have a local vet with his head in the sand who keeps telling me my dogs couldn't have picked this up locally. How many 8-10 year old dogs out there are dying of "old age" or a tumor that isn't biopsied, just written off as cancer when they ight have had blasto and could have been treated?

Anyone's thoughts? 
Thanks,  Lee

[Jen]

That is a good idea, Lee.  I've noticed a few things just from this website, like how labs don't do well, and smaller dogs don't either, and it doesn't always matter how much or how little money you spend, and even hospitalization doesn't make much difference in outcome.  Maybe I can get my bro-in-law to show me how to set something up. He's coming to visit next weekend.
best-
jen

[Lisa]

I am willing to program this and add it to the site. I'm always willing to hear feedback on how this site could be most useful. As I know all too well, you don't have a lot of time to research blastomycosis when you get a diagnosis - time is precious.

I'm imagining a section of the site where you can register with a login and password and there will be fields you will fill out about your experiences.  With you using a login and password, then you can always come back to update your information.  Everyone will be able to browse what everyone else posts, but only you can edit your information.  You can choose to display your email address if you are open to people contacting you about your experiences with blastomycosis, or you can remain anonymous.

How does this sound?  What information would everyone like to see included in it?

 I'll need a couple of weeks to find the time to program this.

Lisa

[luvmyjacks]

Hi Lisa
That would be great.  I like the idea of being able to edit it as things change, especially if we get some more happy endings......   My idea for the set up is in my original posts as those are things that seemed important to me.  When I look back I know I missed several weeks and I could cry thinking that I lost Roxanne through my own stupidity.  I know a lot of people who attribute human qualities to their dog's behaviour and in my case all she was saying was that she wasn't feeling well.  Maybe this will open some eyes and save lives......we all care but sometimes we don't hear.  I'll bet we see trends through this that the average vet doesn't because they have textbooks and only the rare patient to observe.  In my case I know that the Toronto vets don't see many and I'll bet they miss some every year because of that.  Now that I've seen two cases lots of my dog friends are talking about it and every day another one tells me of a friend of a friend whose dog had it.  If we get all current and former posters to join us we might have more valuable information than the local vets have in areas where blasto is rare AND we might establish places that thought it was rare when it fact it was there all along; especially in places with lots of vet clinics that don't necessarily communicate with one another.  I did send e-mails to two people who used to post a lot on this forum and asked them for updates and if they would be interested in filling in their information if we were able to create something. 
I am so happy to have your support.... it feels as if I am finally able to do something positive.
FYI will is now in day two at home and is at least looking at squirrels with that old gleam in his eye.

[Wilson3]

the understanding i have from reading the links on this site and talking to vets it depends greatly on the over heath of the dog before it gets blasto,and stronge of a will to live the animal has.

[Jen]

Initial presentation and extent of disease involvement are so different in these dogs.  So are the vet's diagnostic techniques, and the way the medications affect the dogs in their first few days.  I wouldn't know how to compile that much information.   Lisa, this site has helped so many people; you are like an angel for having  put it together.  I can't thank you enough for all you do.
jen

[Wilson3]

it also depends on how much exposure they have to blasto
only one of my dogs had gotten it because his immune system was down from a puncher wound  he had gotten, air under his skin need two staples so that is why wilson had gotten it
they where all exposed but only 2 or 3 times a week
also wilson is more into getting the little critters that live in the dead trees so he breaths it in more then the others
and his immune system was weakend from the puncher wound the more they are exposed to it the more chance of getting it
that is just with us

[luvmyjacks]

Thanks for your replies Jen and Wilson3.  I agree there is a huge amt of info to gather.  I can't get a grip on the exposure part at all because I had three healthy, active adult dogs that went everywhere together:  under every log, after every critter, and brought home parts from every body they ever found or rolled in.  Because of our leash laws I went everywhere with them off trails and through the bush and I can't figure out how Harry has shown no signs at all and Will who was youngest went from fat and healthy on Sept 16th to critical on Sept 21st.  I have had chest x rays that seem to be normal but they tell me I have strep throat and I am more than a little nervous about the symptoms.  My Dr. had never even heard of it and was asking me what I head researched on this site.  I thought that if Lisa created a wide spreadsheet and we put in whatever info we could we might see a start of a trend even if it was only in a few areas.  I keep hoping to find more people checking in from Ontario because if I have two sick dogs there must be a source for the fungus nearby.  Even in the treatments described on this forum there seems to be a trend away from the itra if eyes are involved and what the heck if you have a vet that isn't going that route, maybe you could point it out if you saw that on a chart here. 

[mhitesman]

My optho vet told me that fluconozole DOES penetrate the eyes better than Itra.  Comet is infected in the right eye, which has now been removed.  She also said, howver, that the fluconozole has a higher rate of relapse than Itra does.  She told me she was mostly suggesting Itra for cost reasons -- it is FAR cheaper than the Itra.  Now that Comet's eye is gone, we have less reason to consider fluconozole.  In any case, she was suggesting starting out with Itra because it is, in her opinion, better for treating the entire body.  She was agreeable to calling in a prescription to Roadrunner Pharmacy in AZ which produces forumulary drugs for Itra.  She said I should consider it for cost reasons (obviously) but that some of her patients have reported less tolerance and effectiveness.  This disease varies so much from dog to dog that I dont know that any conclusions can be drawn from that.  In any case, we decided to stay with the Itra capsules, which we remove from the capsules and feed the beads in food.

Lisa, I am overwhelmed with gratitude that you would consider creating a database to catalog these experiences.  I think the first thing to decide is how many categories of information can be included and then we have to choose what is most important.  I have been led to believe that the fungus is so widespread that it is impossible to pinpoint any areas that are safe.  Personally, it would be good for me to know general map locations only.  Maybe they could be entered by CHOICES so the data base could be searched more readily. 

Things that would be interesting for me to know are
First symptoms
Time from first symptoms to treatment
Treatment (specific anti fungal antibacterial) including form:  capsules, powder, pills, DOSE, FREQUENCY, DURATION
Other meds
Symptoms that occur during treatment
Eating (a simple well, not well...same with drinking)  actual food i would still want to follow in the threads
Area where the dog lives
Area the dog may have travelled recently
Tests the dogs had/results
Breed/Age/General Health of Do (is the dog prone to minor immune deficiency ailments)

[luvmyjacks]

Your ideas are far more concise than mine and I agree with the topics you are suggesting.  There is a lot of information in the forum answers but I find I keep going back again and again to old posts to find some new tidbit of information that might be useful.  The meds in particular are of interest to all of us and the difference in the length of time the treatment is continued seems to vary quite a lot.  Based on what I am reading from this site I am going to push for long term treatment rather than risk an early relapse.  There is so much information here I find I am always asking my vet about things that come up in treatments.   In our area I think the possibility of a misdiagnosis is huge because no one has treated blasto before.

[mhitesman]

I, too, go back over the older posts again and again ...mostly for the general well-being kind of stuff and what to do about specific problems ...like how to force feed, which we have not needed yet.  and tricky ways to get them to eat...how much exercise is ok ... stuff that only the threads can really describe with the degree of detail I have been seeking.

But some things lend themselves well to collective knowledge ...the meds in particular.  Face it, the more we know the more we can help our doctors because they don't have all the answers either.

Comet is an AKC Field Trial competitor (or was, I guess), and I posted his details and progress on the www.retrievertraining.net forum to inform friends but mostly to make these folks aware since they are running and working their dogs EVERY DAY in EXACTLY the areas where this stuff lives.  We have received very positive feedback as well as tremendous support.  It's not really the thing I was thinking about Comet being known for when I envisioned his future four years ago when he was a baby, but ...hey ...it's more important to the world than all those blue ribbons if he saves the life of even one dog by me telling our story.  His story has now been posted to a duck hunting website, which may lead to other postings in other areas.  I am sure that all of you are experiencing similar good things in spreading the word, and i just want to thank you again and again for all the widespread good this site is doing on so many levels.