Week 2: Fevers, Lesions & Sleep, Sleep, Sleep

Day 12: (7/19/14)

Xena's about the same as yesterday breathing wise. She's eating puppy food this morning (not her food, but food for dogs none the less). She appears bored. It's raining outside so of course all she wants to do it be outside. So we went to the farmer's market for her first outing with me since all this madness started. I figured it wound't be very crowded due to the rain and then I wouldn't have to answer as many questions about her eye, her shaved legs, or her poor scrawniness. We were only there for 15 minutes, but she did great. Wasn't out of breath at all and seemed to be excited to get out of the house for something other than to go see a vet. She's been sleeping well now. And sleeping a lot, which has to be good for her body to try to heal. The cat, Sir Lexicon, does a great job at watching over her. You can tell he missed her the last week while she was in the ICU. Tonight she didn't want to eat after we went and hung out at my friends house (she slept on her couch the whole time) but I was able to at least trick her into taking her meds! She's out cold now and hopefully dreaming of happy puppy things. 

farmers market outing (10 min tops)

the cat loves his "little" sister

DAY 13:

Xena's been doing fairly well the past 2 days. Breathing has steadied some, fevers much less drastic and less frequent, still having ups and downs with the eating, but did give her an appetite stimulant today and she's eating much better! (More like her normal self!) 

Her front left leg (really just the ankle area) has been swollen the past couple days, which isn't really new since they aspirated fluid out of it to confirm blasto. So we knew it was in her joints as well. She'd been licking at it on and off the last day or so and I just thought it was because of the hair starting to grow back on the leg might be itchy. Well, there is definitely now a small lesion (pea sized) with clear drainage. I read up on blastomycosis.ca (my hero mentors across the US that have battled through this and share their advice) about keeping them from licking it, keeping it open for air, and also doing the pascalite clay on there. 



I guess I just wasnt really thinking that she'd have any other 'new things' pop up now that we are on treatment (silly me, i should know by now that this blasto crap is not predictable).



Day 14:

I can't believe that tonight's round of medication was her 14th dose. Tomorrow is 2 weeks from when all this craziness began and 1 week from when she came home from the ICU. It feels like it was yesterday -- probably because I haven't slept well in 14 days or really done much other than concoct crazy food prep ideas to get Xena to eat and just show up for work (fortunately my patients medical issues help distract some from my dogs). Xena seems to be doing well still. I say well, but there are baby ups and downs. She sounds like she has pneumonia when she sleeps, is sneezing gross things 1-2x day, really dislikes the 2 hour time frame after her meds kick in, and I'll spare you her bathroom habits convo. On the upside she is eating chicken breast more consistently (not enough, but better), getting a lot of rest, still drinking a lot of water, and showing signs of her puppiness here and there (yesterday stuffed a treat in the sofa to hide it for later, today chased the cat around the dining room and onto the patio -- they are 15 feet apart mind you, but those 2 used to go for days chasing each other up and down the halls -- and yes, the cat also chases the dog). Oh, and her lesion from yesterday appears to be dried up and scabbed over today, so that's another win we will take. One day at a time around here. Xena's 'dad' gets into town in 4 days and I cannot wait to see him. He's been taking care of her (and me) the best he can from Texas, but man are we getting excited to see him.


Day 15: 

Well, we survived the 2 week mark from all of this. Xena;s been home for 1 week as of tonight and it feels like it was a blink of an eye ago. From what I've read we still have many more ups and downs, but today we will settle for Xena eating a normal portion of food. She managed to eat 3 cups of dog food (covered with either yogurt or cottage cheese) and 3/4 of a steak today. Tomorrow we head back to the vet to get her kidney and liver blood work checked to make sure she's doing okay on the meds. Her leg lesion burst today -- kind of gross, but as soon as it happened the swelling in that ankle went away so I know it's just her bodies way of healing.