Sharring the story of Husko the Hero...

Iraklis,
I have cried many tears while reading about your and Husko's journey. Unbelievable are the lengths you went to to care for this dog who had no home for years of his life until he found you. You gave up so much of your life for him and his disease. You went above and beyond for you baby what most people wouldn't dream of doing.

I lost my Tia August 11, 2013. She was 14 1/2 years old and had Cushing disease. I also lost Miss Tippi, 16 years old to congestive heart failure on December 30, 2013. I was their Mama and I should have been able to make them better, but I couldn't no matter how much money I spend or how much vet care they got. I couldn't make them better. I cry everyday and I blame myself for not being able to save them.

I feel guilty because I too spanked Tia when she peed in the floor when she first got sick. I didn't know she was sick, I thought she was just to lazy to get up and go outside. But I spanked her and for this I will never forgive myself.

I've yelled at Miss Tippi for "not listening", when in fact she couldn't hear. I will forever feel guilty for this.

As I read your story and read the struggles, you went through to save your baby, the hard times, no job, no money, no car. I look at my life and the lives of most people I know and wonder, would I or they have done what you did to save our babies. Would I have given up so much, that I didn't have to begin with, for my babies.

You are amazing and should not feel guilty for any thing you did. You loved Husko and gave every thing you had to save him. Like my Tia, Husko left on his own terms, when they knew the time was right so we didn't have to make that decision for them. That was love for us.

Please take care of yourself and I'm sending love and healing thoughts to you.

Donna

^
Thank you so much for your so kind words...

but,
Please forgive yourself...you simply did not know there was something wrong with their health!!!
I did though...he was actually dying...and that is simply unforgivable...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by goldengirl88

I do know that my Tipper does not have a macro and she has terrible tremors that have started affecting her whole body now. I wish I could find a solution as they are too hard to watch. Could you tell me what is Artemis? What is it for and what does it do? Hope you have a better day today.
Patri

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Artemisinin
Can't say it is a better day...the more i realize i could have given him maybe some days to live with some cortisol (i think it dropped too low looking back now...) in order to gain time for the medication i was given to give to Husko (they arrived 4 days after he went away...)...the more i get angry at myself...it was a stupid mistake of me!!!

Here:
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com...canine-cancer/

http://www.akitarescue.com/Cancer%20Prevention.htm

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2012/247597/

Iraklis:
I have started reading the material on the links you have provided. I thank you for the help. It will take me a while to read and digest all this information. We do have one member giving her dog a mixture of Chinese herbs to try and shrink his tumor. I will tell her to look at these links. I hope you are able to have a nice walk with Lemmy. How is your weather?
Patti

Actually just came back from an almost 2hour walk with Lemmy...of course we went to Huskos' place too...

Weather is fine! 15C right now at 21:41. How about over there?

If she is interested i can e-mail her some files too that i have on the artemisinin.
I think it worked on Husko...it just didn't have enough time.
I tries 2 capsules yesterday too,just to see if it caused anything ''bad'' to Husko (side effects ,if any, are extremely rare) and only thing i noticed was ''clarity of mind'' for lack of better words.

Since my original thread on my Hero Husko is too long and probably too confusing to follow...
And i am still trying to figure out if there is anything I missed...
And won't give up the search until all possibilities are excluded/included.......
I will now try to nit-pick on anything i was reassured by the vets or wrongly thought i new all there was to know...
(Forgive me...but i need to know...hope you understand and help if possible!)


...Let's start:

1.
When Husko got his LDDS (4th September) he was only off cortisol for 2-4 days...(weening off it slowly since August 24th)
and was on cortisol for almost 3 months non-stop prior to that...
Could this situation have messed up the results?
Results:
LDDS
1.14,20 μg/dL
2.16,40 μg/dL
3.13,40 μg/dL

2.
On the 17th September (10 days after starting Vetoryl ,1*30mg)
His ACTH was
1. 9,84 μg/dL
2. 26,50 μg/dL

Could this and/or his LDDS be false positives?
I know what Dechra says ,but i want opinions based on experience.


3.
After the initial first month of 1*30mg Vetoryl once a day (moning)
His dose was upped to 2*30mg Vetoryl twice a day (morning/night)

No ACTH testing was done at the first month interval ,as i again stupidly listened to the vets that it was not needed since he was responding well...
However...almost a month later ,symptoms that drove me to have Husko have an MRI emerged (circling,pacing) which showed an enlarged pituitary tumor...

Could this be a chemical nelsons' syndrome caused by the double dose?
( I think i already know the answer to this...)

4.
After he had the MRI i stopped giving Husko Vetoryl and his cortisol level after 4 days off Vetoryl was
7,63 μg/dL

Was he ''borderline'' cushings from the start?
His only symptoms since spring (that drove me to the initial vet visit in June) were slight hind leg weakness and nothing else suggesting cushings

MODERATOR NOTE: I have merged your post about Huskos' test results into his original thread. We normally like to keep all posts about each pup in a single thread as it makes it easier for members to refer back to the pup's history when needed. Thanks!

5.
Husko was maybe borderline Cushings ,even after the tumor enlarged.

So, after the MRI when I stopped Vetoryl completely ,he still loosed weight and the ''hole'' in his front left leg would not heal ,due to both (some) excess cortisol and the tumor/cancer cachexia....
BUT, no excessive drinking or peeing(3-4 times a night), hair-loss only on his back where his harness would touch it, no panting and just a tad pot-belly.
Muscle wasting and weight loss was probably more due to the tumor ,during this time.



During his final days his symptoms were:
1.Almost complete inability to stand on his feet ~ week (emerged about 8-9 days before he left us but continuously got worse...last 2 days would just collapse to the floor if I let him...)
2.Distorting towards the right side (his head trying to reach his pelvis)
3.When he slept his head sometimes faced upwards
4.Sleeping all day long ~ 4 last days
5.Moaning when rarely awake - 2 days
6.Would barely drink water - last day

Possibilities:
1.When I started Vetoryl again in February (1*30mg ,later 1*30mg one day 1*15mg next day etc.) his wound started healing (aka lower cortisol) but not completely,
but since Vetoryl is somewhat accumulative did it drop the cortisol to almost Addisonian levels or just too low to handle the tumor?

2.When I started Vetoryl again the tumor slowly enlarged further resulting in pressing on nerves controlling the heart or breathing?
(which is why i gave an extra Artemix capsule)

3.Artemix was working and the tumor was in ''tumor-lysis'' state

4.All or combination of the above...

''Sollution'' to 1&2&3&4 would be to give cortisol for few days(?)
If so...I am a complete f*****g IDIOT...how could i not see this??? :(:(:(



Am I missing something? :( :( :(

Iraklis,

you are not a vet. You did what you could with the knowledge that you could find. The thing that makes treating Cushings so very hard is that no two dogs respond the same to the disease or treatment. That is why it is necessary to test so many times.

The vets are in the same predicament and when one is not familiar with Cushings, it compounds the difficulty. Also, many dogs have other health issues at the same time which makes treatment that much more complicated.

The information that you have provided proves that you loved Husko so much that you did all of this amazing research! I've never heard of the things that you're telling us about.

It could very well be that Husko developed another health issue which was hiding behind the same symptoms as Cushings. So much of treatment is a guessing game. Our IMS vet is very careful with the meds and she feels that maintaining Daisy's quality of life is more important than what the numbers show.She uses those as a guide but if Daisy shows symptoms of Cortisol going too low or not feeling well on the meds, we go back to a bit lower dose.

Iraklis:
I know you blame yourself for not knowing all of the things you stated. I think that you did exceptionally well with the limited resources you have had. I get very frustrated trying to figure things out that are happening to my Tipper too. I do not have the education of a vet, but I try to make up for that with extensive research, and the will to help my dog even under the most extenuating of circumstances. I fall short on some things, unable to figure them out as I am no expert in anatomy and physiology. This scares me, as my vet is very little help, and really only in it for the money. I know how you feel second guessing your decisions now. When you are the one making all the decisions, the pitfall of that is there is no one else to put the blame on if something goes wrong. This leads to you beating yourself up regularly after re evaluating what should have been done. I know this well as I am one of those people who always accepts responsibility for anything I have my hand in. I am my worst enemy when I make
mistakes. The deep love for these dogs creates many heartaches for the caretaker, as everything comes back to them. I lknow people that never take their pets to the vet when they are ill and need help. They just say let nature take it's course. It is because we respect, and will do anything to help our babies, we accept blame for everything that goes wrong. I know you think you should have known better and done things differently, but I am positive Husko felt the deep love you had for him and knew you were doing your very best to help him. He has forgiven you, now you have to forgive you.
Patti