Jaynie's Bloodwork Is Off - Please Spare A Thought If You Can

[Rickiesmom]

Jaynie went in this morning to have an epulis removed. She is at a specialty clinic because I really like the dental surgeon and because they have a board certified anaesthesiologist who takes care of her.

 

They ran basic bloodwork beforehand and just called - it's not good. Dental surgeon is walking the results over to the internal med specialist - the same one who looked after Jaynie when she was so sick the first time (acute kidney failure brought on by a drug reaction).

 

Her last full work up with the specialist was in May and things looked fine then - a little elevated here and there, but stable and not particularly concerning.

 

Her appetite has been fine and she's raring to go whenever anything fun is going to happen. She hasn't been running with Jeff very much recently, but I chalked that up to the fact that he's bigger and quite competitive. She'll still tear around on her own.

 

This news is completely unexpected. I don't remember everything, but protein was low, creatinine was high (I don't think she mentioned BUN), platelets low (no clumping). I didn't get numbers - she was just giving me an update and confirming next steps.

 

I'm waiting to hear back from the internal med specialist, whom I totally trust.

 

This little girl owns my heart, she is my soulmate. I am sick with worry.

 

Thursday evening:

 

Those of you who said to take a deep breath and wait for the internal med vet to examine her were right.

 

He felt that for the most part her high / low values were not terribly inconsistent with those from the last couple of years. Creatinine is up at 197 (don't recall the low end of the normal range, high is 141), but BUN is still normal. Platelets are below normal (114K vs. normal of 170 - 400K) and the lowest they've been since she was really sick, but not awful. Hemoglobins also low (14 vs. low normal of 16 - 36). He is a bit concerned about the hemoglobins as they are the lowest they've ever been for her. Her WBC is normal though so there is no other sign of possible infection. Physical exam was fine.

 

His recommendation was to rebook the surgery for a week from now, and he will examine her and re-run bloodwork beforehand, but feels that as long as nothing changes for the worse, she is probably OK.

 

Now I feel silly for having panicked, but I know she is vulnerable so tend to be easily worried.

 

Thank you for all the well wishes, I was very frightened and they helped.

Edited September 13, 2012 by Rickiesmom

[KF_in_Georgia]

Don't panic. Just because the dental specialist is good with teeth doesn't mean she's good with greyhound innards and their screwy blood results. Wait for the internal med specialist before you panic.

[OwnedBySummer]

Here's hoping it's nothing serious! Edited September 13, 2012 by OwnedBySummer

[gazehund]

Lot and lots of good thoughts and healing prayers heading your way for Jaynie Mary. Please keep us posted.

[Time4ANap]

Don't panic. Just because the dental specialist is good with teeth doesn't mean she's good with greyhound innards and their screwy blood results. Wait for the internal med specialist before you panic.

 

This.......

 

Sending good thoughts Jaynie's way!

[TheFullHouse]

Sending lots of good healthy thoughts Jaynie's way!

[JohnF]

How worrying. Show the vet the Greyhound Health Packet http://www.greyhoundadoptionofoh.org/Library/2010-greyhound-medical-packet.pdf

their kidney levels are usually higher than other breeds and if the grey exercized recently they can be higher still.

 

If it is acute renal failure caused by a drug then let's hope with the pressure taken off the kidneys via sub-q's and other drugs there will be still enough residual function for the dog to cope.

[Guest greytexplorer]

Ester had low platelets, too. Turned out it was thrombocytopenia. Steroids fixed that, and once thrombo resolved, everything else went back to normal, too.

I feel your pain, sweetie. Hang in there and keep us posted!

[carronstar]

I totally understand. Sending good thoughts and prayers for Jaynie. Hopefully, the next reading of the results brings better news.

[duncan41]

Mary, you know how I feel about Jaynie, so my first reaction is no, nope, uh-uh, no way, it just ain't gonna happen! I agree with others to step back and let the internal med specialist do the analysis. There just has to be some other explanation.

 

:hope :candle :grouphug

[Burpdog]

Sending lots of prayers.

[MaryJane]

If she has low platelets and there is a chance that she might need to have teeth removed - I suggest talking to the vet about Amicar, it's used to help control bleeding in greyhounds.

[TheFullHouse]

Glad there was no need for panic. Fingers crossed that her next set of bloodwork is even better.

[tbhounds]

Sounds like "normal" gh bloods except for the Hemoglobin. That usually runs high in hounds. Do you remember what her HCT was?

Glad you ran pre op bloods-as you know now-so important :-)

[retread]

Sounds like a good dental specialist, he saw something he was unsure of and didn't procede.

Better than "damn the torpedos, full speed ahead".

[Rickiesmom]

Sounds like "normal" gh bloods except for the Hemoglobin. That usually runs high in hounds. Do you remember what her HCT was?

Glad you ran pre op bloods-as you know now-so important :-)

All the discussion was over the phone. I will ask for the lab report to be e-mailed to me.

 

When she was so sick her platelets were down to 38K, closing in on bleed out territory, and her creatinine was 743. She was initially misdiagnosed by two vets because she was young (4 years old) and blood work a month before had been fine so they were looking in the wrong places. When diagnosed she was so sick she was moved to the hospital she was at today, and they pulled her through it. It was a harrowing two week journey during the first part of which I thought I was going to lose her. As a result of that experience, when I heard low this and high that today, my heart sank.

 

Mary Jane, thank you, good idea. She's done fine with surgeries before, but none since these new conditions.

[4My2Greys]

Mary there's nothing at all silly about panicking when it comes to a health scare in ones you love. I'm glad to read though that it was not as bad as you had feared.

[duncan41]

:yikes Panic? :yikes You? Me? You're darned right there was panic! It's ok now, so breathe..........deep cleansing breath innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn and ooooouuuuuuuuuutttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt! Ahhh! Isn't that better?

[Rickiesmom]

Thanks Linda.

 

I also need to work on taking the deep breaths first

[greytpups]

OMG i missed this but am very glad it's not as bad as you thought. I couldn't imagine anything happening to sweet little Jaynie after all she's been through and the best care she gets from you . Plus she is just the sweetest little girl (tied with Brooke )

[gazehund]

Don't you dare feel silly! That girl owns your heart. What kind of momma would you be if you weren't worried?

Great news and a wonderful way to start out the weekend.

[carronstar]

I think panicking gets a bad reputation too often. Much better to panic, then have a good rest when it turns out you have nothing to panic about. You panic because you care. Glad to hear that things were not as bad as was feared.

[GreyPoopon]

 

I hope Jaynie's bloodwork looks good next week.