New to forum:Newly Diagnosed SARDS 1/25/13

[Queeniesmum]

Hello, My 8 yo Doxie,"Queenie" 21 IBS just diagnosed with SARDS. Vet checked for Cushing's Disease ...blood results came back and cortisol level twice as high above normal. Vet recommends an 8 hr blood test . Life expectancy MAX 3 years he said. I'm crushed, confused. Queenie has been on Phenobarbital due to seizures.
I know with love and patience i'll help queenie adjust to being blind

My concern is Cushing's Disease....don't want her to suffer. Just want my lil furry girl to continue having a wonderful life. Love her so much.
Any advise would be helpful. Thank you !
-Evelyn

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Evelyn,

Welcome to you and Queenie, so sorry for the reasons that brought you here but glad you found us.

I am not that informed about SARDS but we do have other members here with dogs that have SARDS. Here is a link to a member's Thread: http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4711&highlight=sards&page=5

Also a handy link from our Resource Thread with info about SARDS: Information About SARDS (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome) (http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213)

It would help us a great deal if you could get copies of all tests that were done on Queenie and post any abnormalities that are listed along with the reference ranges and units of measurements...e.g. ALT 150 U/L (5-100). Also could you tell us what symptoms Queenie is displaying and how much she weighs?

I am sure others with more knowledge about SARDS will be along shortly and please know we will help you and Queenie in any way we can.

Love and hugs,
Lori

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[gummysmurf]

Hi Evelyn,

Welcome to the forum! I'm afraid I don't have any experience on the Sards or even on the Cushings. But I'm well versed in the worrying about the future department, and getting a scary diagnosis department, and wanting to do everything I could (and feeling helpless) to protect my little guy from harm. Sound familiar?

I'm so sorry that this has happened to you and I'm going to offer you the one bit of advice I wish I'd been able to follow myself: spend less time worrying and more time making great memories. Put thoughts about life expectancy out of your mind. No amount of worry will change anything. I wish I had worried less about Baxter while I had him - time enough to feel bad now that he's gone. Yikes! How morbid is that? But I mean it - your little one is happy when you are happy, and that is the one gift that you can give Queenie. =)

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome. I'm so sorry that I'm late in seeing your thread.

Lori is correct, if you can post your test results going back a bit even and most recent, that we can actually see where things are with the cortisol it will help.
Do you have those results? If not your vet can provide them to you and really you are going to want to have a copy of those in a file of your own anyway. You would be amazed at how often you end up needing to take a look at them.
The link that Lori gave you is our most recent SARDS baby. It is very hard trying to handle everything at once, we know and understand that.

Sharlene and Molly Muffin