Sheesh. When I took a week off for my fall Minnesota Hellweek, I didn't mean THIS kind of hell.I'm sitting here gazing at Hobbs, who is resting comfortably on his cushy bed by the fireplace. We had a scary few days there, but things appear to be looking up - especially as he has no new bruising to show for yet another trip to the vet for bloodwork today. That is a hugely positive thing! Hobbs has come home from all of his previous trips covered in more nasty new bruises.
It's been a rough week which just kept getting rougher. Hobbs had us terrified when he began bleeding into his GI last week. GI hemorrhage is a major cause of death for dogs with ITP, so our panic dial got turned up even higher than it already was.
Friday: I was able to leave work early and take Hobbs to MVRS for ultrasound. For one thing, we wanted to see if he had any tumors on his spleen, a common cause of ITP. He does have at least a couple of very tiny ones, 0.5 centimeter or so in size. The vet isn't sure those are big enough to be causing this problem, but it's possible. Platelet estimate - only 1 platelet was found on the entire slide. Not what we wanted to hear. We need at least 1 per field. Not normal range by any means, but enough to stop his bruising. A chemotherapy drug (azathioprine) was added to Hobbs' steadily expanding medicine cabinet to try to further whomp his immune system far enough into submission to cease its messing with his platelets. We began feeding only canned food, to minimize trauma to his GI system.
That evening, Hobbs began looking unsteady on his rear legs, and was becoming more lethargic. He had been standing for a very long time at the clinic, so we hoped this was from stress and fatigue. He continued to show a typical sign of GI bleeding, melena (black, tarry stools).
Saturday: Hobbs ate a little better, but continued to the tiniest bit wonky in his rear end. Nursing new bruises from his trip to the clinic.
Sunday: Hobbs' weakness was more pronounced, and he was a little pale. Back to MVRS for a PCV. We were shocked and dismayed to learn his PCV had dropped 13% from what had been nothing but normal results thus far, due to blood lost to his GI. He was now considered anemic for a greyhound. Hobbs certainly needs no more items on his problem list. Melena continuing, of course. Not much interest in food, but we were able to get Hobbs to eat some by taking his food to him, so he didn't have to stand to eat. Late Sunday night, early Monday morning, I took Hobbs outside and - wonder of wonders - no melena!!
Monday: Phew! Moving like a normal dog and pinker gums! Eating a little more, interested in sniffing around a little out in the yard. And (drumroll please) no melena ALL day! It's not every day one is thrilled nearly to tears by looking at poo.
Tuesday: Again, no melena. That's 48 whole hours of normal poo. A huge relief. I was having a good feeling about our pending visit to the vet for recheck bloodwork. However, we were disappointed upon learning his PCV had not risen a lick from Saturday. BUT - it hadn't fallen, either. The CBC equipment was broken, so Hobbs' platelet check had to be sent out to the lab. They did make a slide though for an estimate, and the tech reported seeing actual platelets on it! Some fields had 1, some had 2 or 3!! Sweet lady - she was so very excited to find platelets for our boy. I only hope the lab seconds that opinion. (Photo: Those tiny purple beauties are the much sought after platelets.)It sure has been a hell week. Simply a hell of a different color, thankyouverymuch. I've been able to get out on my bike quite a bit as planned (more on that later), just sticking closer to home, rather than venturing out on day trips, and riding shorter distances. My Hobbsgoblin is SO worth the alteration in plans, tho!
Keep your fingers crossed for us - thanks again for the good vibes, everybody.
