Phoenix

I haven't posted anything in forever but I wanted to give an update on Phoenix.

For those of you that do not know, Sunday we found out our dog has IMHA, which means his white blood cells are killing off his red blood cells too fast for his body to make more red blood cells. This causes two problems: first, the rbc's (red blood cells :)) carry oxygen so with those getting destroyed, his body is not getting enough oxygen; second, there is the risk he could get a clot and have a stroke. Unfortunately this is not a very nice disease and it will probably be around for the rest of his life if we make it through these next few days.

He has been in several doggie hospitals since Sunday with multiple tests done. Basically, a normal dog's rbc count would be around either 50-60%. For the majority of the past few days, Phoenix has been around the 18% mark. Yesterday, however, was pretty rough. He definitely went downhill energy wise and we found out his count had dropped to 9%. With it being that low, we decided it was time to do a blood transfusion. Unfortunately, we were having a hard time finding an emergency clinic (since we needed a 24 hr facility) in this area that had enough blood. So, David and I brought out our spontaneous side and drove straight from the vet to an emergency clinic in League City to have the transfusion done. With the cost of all this rapidly rising, we knew this transfusion would be very crucial. Well, when we picked him up this morning we found out that his rbc count had only gone up to 20% but he was like a completely different dog!! He actually ran up to us with his tail wagging! The day before he pretty much could not move so this was extremely encouraging.

While we were really happy today, we both realize that we are not in the clear yet. The crummy thing with this disease is that it can come back anytime. We also realize that euthenasia is not unrealistic. There may come a time where it just would not be fair to Phoenix to keep going. As much as that will break my heart, we are definitely keeping his best at the top of our list. But for right now, we are just so happy he has some of his energy back. And the best news, he is coming home for the night!! He will probably be back in tomorrow for another transfusion but it will be so great to have him home for at least tonight!! He is such a sweet boy and we definitely appreciate all your prayers!!!