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Fighting A Losing Battle


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she did not eat well yesterday. Ken and I, after talking with our vet again and reviewing her past year's medical history from all the medical teams that have treated her, have decided to give her a week to start eating with these new meds. If she doesn't, we will say goodbye :(

 

Despite eating well Monday, yesterday she only ate one drumstick. We'll see how she does the rest of the week. :hope

 

I am so sorry. :( No advice to give except what I have already posted, just support. Hang in there. :grouphug

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Guest KennelMom

Maybe you should have her re-evalutated to see if she's truly a cushings dog by another internist??

 

There's really no question about that, or I should say that there *shouldn't* be any question about that...our primary vet made the initial diagnosis, followed by referral to a board certified internist who re-did all the tests and confirmed the diagnosis independently. Aside from having just about every classic clinical symptom, the ACTH stim was pretty clear, as was her response to the treatment which resolved all symptoms except her appetite. Of course she's had a lot of additional stim tests to monitor her treatment as well. Her medical team at the specialty hospital comprised (all board certified) an internist, a surgeon and an oncologist (also a board certified internist) who all reviewed her case before handling their respective parts of her treatment. If all of those professionals can get that diagnosis wrong, I will lose a lot of faith in the profession!

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Assuming their diagnosis was correct ( sounds like a whole lot of very qualified Drs agreed) then, it brings you back to the question- what underlying condition caused her to develop Cushings. Perhaps the answer would be in the MRI of the brain. I do understand not wanting to do that however.

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Praying she starts eating for your Heather. I went through this with Emmy and it's a horrible road to take. Hugs to you and Ken because I know how hard it is.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

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Guest KennelMom

Assuming their diagnosis was correct ( sounds like a whole lot of very qualified Drs agreed) then, it brings you back to the question- what underlying condition caused her to develop Cushings. Perhaps the answer would be in the MRI of the brain. I do understand not wanting to do that however.

 

we ruled out adrenal tumors being the cause (had a couple abdominal scans done to be sure), so the default diagnosis is a pituitary tumor, which is the most common cause anyway. We didn't do the brain MRI (and aren't planning on it) because brain surgery isn't an option anyway.

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We didn't do the brain MRI (and aren't planning on it) because brain surgery isn't an option anyway.

Pituitary tumors aren't considered surgical. When they're small, they don't need to be addressed at all since they are usually benign and it's only the secondary effects (ie. Cushing's) that cause clinical signs. However, if it's a pituitary macroadenoma causing other neurologic signs (such as lack of appetite), treatment can be considered.

 

The only treatment option is radiation therapy (more info in the article I posted earlier), which is quite cost-prohibitive. Plus, I'm not sure Stella would be a good candidate for the anesthesia for both the MRI and radiation at this point, so I can certainly understand a decision not to go that route. Hope you're able to get some more quality time together with the new meds.

Jennifer &

Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

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Guest KennelMom

We didn't do the brain MRI (and aren't planning on it) because brain surgery isn't an option anyway.

Pituitary tumors aren't considered surgical. When they're small, they don't need to be addressed at all since they are usually benign and it's only the secondary effects (ie. Cushing's) that cause clinical signs. However, if it's a pituitary macroadenoma causing other neurologic signs (such as lack of appetite), treatment can be considered.

 

The only treatment option is radiation therapy (more info in the article I posted earlier), which is quite cost-prohibitive. Plus, I'm not sure Stella would be a good candidate for the anesthesia for both the MRI and radiation at this point, so I can certainly understand a decision not to go that route. Hope you're able to get some more quality time together with the new meds.

 

yeah...the radiation treatment isn't really an option either both financially or in her best interest.

 

She ate pretty well today...not a surplus of calories, but enough to sustain her which is good...we're taking it day by day.

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She ate pretty well today...not a surplus of calories, but enough to sustain her which is good...we're taking it day by day.

 

That's really all you can do, Heather.

 

Keeping Miss Stella in my thoughts.

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Just checking in and thinking of you guys :grouphug

Kristin in Moline, IL USA with Ozzie (MRL Crusin Clem), Clarice (Clarice McBones), Latte and Sage the IGs, and the kitties: Violet and Rose
Lovingly Remembered: Sutra (Fliowa Sutra) 12/02/97-10/12/10, Pinky (Pick Me) 04/20/03-11/19/12, Fritz (Fritz Fire) 02/05/01 - 05/20/13, Ace (Fantastic Ace) 02/05/01 - 07/05/13, and Carrie (Takin the Crumbs) 05/08/99 - 09/04/13.

A cure for cancer can't come soon enough.--

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