wombat88
Active Member
Just wanted to check in with you all and give an update on Shaikha. She's actually been doing a lot better these past few days. Her appetite is much improved though she still takes some coaxing to finish. Her glucose levels have been higher than I like to see pre-shot so I've been increasing her dose which has helped some but doesn't tell me why they are higher. She's still got some IBD symptoms left over from this recent pancreatitis attack, so that may be part of it. I'm also wondering whether her bottle of PZI is just about pooped out. There are just some dregs left and we are getting a curve on it, but not much duration and she's rising higher on pre-shots. I got a new bottle yesterday but haven't had the courage to open it. I shot 1U this AM and she did go into the lower blues, but will test in a few minutes and we'll see how much she's zoomed up. If I don't like what I see I plan to open the new bottle and just test a lot in case it is a lot more potent. The weekend would be the best time to try this anyway since I'll be home to test more.
Yesterday she had her first dose of Aranesp. So far, so good. No bad reactions, which is good. She's actually seeming to be feeling better despite her anemia. She was sitting at about 15.5% PCV yesterday, so we'll see how it goes. It can take several weeks before the new red cells are big enough to see, so we won't know how much of an effect she's getting until we give it some time to work. I was glad to see her not drop more and at least her appetite is better, so hopefully we can avoid doing a transfusion. Her infection seems to be all gone, though she still had that swollen area on her side. At the vet's office yesterday the tech was holding her and I felt a lump I'd not felt before. My vet had just checked her and also hadn't felt it so apparently she was in the right position for it to pop up and be felt. He tried getting fluid out but no dice so we ended up lancing it. He's pretty sure it is just a sebaceous type cyst but it doesn't seem to be causing pain and at least we were able to get all the junk out of it. The area looks fine today, thankfully.
Not much else going on here. We are just in a holding pattern hoping her anemia doesn't get much worse before the drug can work. Dose will take some tweaking I'm sure given the chronic disease she has but we are hoping the dose she got will be sufficient. We just want to keep her above 20%, so whatever it takes to get and keep her there is what we'll do. If anyone needs an unusual medicine like Shaikha's, I heartily recommend checking Walmart's Specialty Pharmacy. I cannot say enough good things about their service. I called to get info on how to get the Rx to them and within a few hours they were hustling to ensure it got out the door that day. I had the medicine the next day, packed in a styrofoam box on ice and wrapped in such a way that nothing would move (Aranesp should not be shaken). They also included syringes, needles, and a Sharps container, plus a little care package of band-aids and alcohol wipes (not that they will help Shaikha but I thought it was nice). Not only was their price the lowest of the places I checked, but there was no charge for the overnight shipping, special packaging, or other items included and they would sell a single bottle. They were incredibly nice, took their time and kept asking if I had any questions, and even remembered Shaikha's name each time we talked that day. They seem to handle cancer and anemia medications, along with drugs for conditions like cystic fibrosis or AIDS. I was impressed because that service definitely can't be a money-maker for them.
I really appreciate the kind comments you made in my earlier post this week. It has been a rough time for me. I hadn't realized how raw my feelings still were about losing Tabriz. I know I shared before that she got really sick the day after he died, but they were pretty close too. In many ways I'm surprised she's done as well as she has given that. At any rate, thank you again for your support. I'll try to start participating again this week as my schedule permits. Off to do my mid-day test, feeding, and shot. I've read some of the posts, but will wade through the others to try to catch up. :YMHUG:
Yesterday she had her first dose of Aranesp. So far, so good. No bad reactions, which is good. She's actually seeming to be feeling better despite her anemia. She was sitting at about 15.5% PCV yesterday, so we'll see how it goes. It can take several weeks before the new red cells are big enough to see, so we won't know how much of an effect she's getting until we give it some time to work. I was glad to see her not drop more and at least her appetite is better, so hopefully we can avoid doing a transfusion. Her infection seems to be all gone, though she still had that swollen area on her side. At the vet's office yesterday the tech was holding her and I felt a lump I'd not felt before. My vet had just checked her and also hadn't felt it so apparently she was in the right position for it to pop up and be felt. He tried getting fluid out but no dice so we ended up lancing it. He's pretty sure it is just a sebaceous type cyst but it doesn't seem to be causing pain and at least we were able to get all the junk out of it. The area looks fine today, thankfully.
Not much else going on here. We are just in a holding pattern hoping her anemia doesn't get much worse before the drug can work. Dose will take some tweaking I'm sure given the chronic disease she has but we are hoping the dose she got will be sufficient. We just want to keep her above 20%, so whatever it takes to get and keep her there is what we'll do. If anyone needs an unusual medicine like Shaikha's, I heartily recommend checking Walmart's Specialty Pharmacy. I cannot say enough good things about their service. I called to get info on how to get the Rx to them and within a few hours they were hustling to ensure it got out the door that day. I had the medicine the next day, packed in a styrofoam box on ice and wrapped in such a way that nothing would move (Aranesp should not be shaken). They also included syringes, needles, and a Sharps container, plus a little care package of band-aids and alcohol wipes (not that they will help Shaikha but I thought it was nice). Not only was their price the lowest of the places I checked, but there was no charge for the overnight shipping, special packaging, or other items included and they would sell a single bottle. They were incredibly nice, took their time and kept asking if I had any questions, and even remembered Shaikha's name each time we talked that day. They seem to handle cancer and anemia medications, along with drugs for conditions like cystic fibrosis or AIDS. I was impressed because that service definitely can't be a money-maker for them.
I really appreciate the kind comments you made in my earlier post this week. It has been a rough time for me. I hadn't realized how raw my feelings still were about losing Tabriz. I know I shared before that she got really sick the day after he died, but they were pretty close too. In many ways I'm surprised she's done as well as she has given that. At any rate, thank you again for your support. I'll try to start participating again this week as my schedule permits. Off to do my mid-day test, feeding, and shot. I've read some of the posts, but will wade through the others to try to catch up. :YMHUG:
