10 Months Later.....

It's been 10 months since Coby's GME diagnosis & he continues to do well with his treatment. He has been prednisone free for 121 days now!! He had his 8th dose ("round") of lomustine on Saturday - his CBC drawn the 22nd was normal. Next month he will presumably have his 10th round of cytarabine injections & 9th round of lomustine. He continues on the Atopica for allergies, as well as clavamox for his leg infection. Unfortunately, he is still wearing his e-collar.

101 Days Prednisone Free!

Today is day 101 Coby has been prednisone free!!! :-) His CBC & chem profile done yesterday was fine - platelets were normal (they had been low 2 weeks ago). Because the labs were ok we will be giving Coby's 9th round of Cytarabine injections tomorrow & Friday. I still hate giving those! After this "round", we will only have at most 3 more "rounds" to go! I guess that would make June our tentative last month of Cytarabine!! We will continue to monitor his blood work & he will have another CBC drawn before his Lomustine dose scheduled for the 26th. His leg is also starting to look better from the antibiotics & e-collar (which hopefully we can remove within the next week or so).

Allergies & Leg infection?!?!

Here are some pictures of Coby's latest "problem" that we believe is allergy related. His leg had been getting progressively worse over the past week or so - going from a dry slightly red skin to a bright red color and moist skin. He is now on a daily antibiotic (clavamox) which was started Wednesday night. Hopefully this will be the answer we need, besides just wearing the e-collar. We have a follow up appointment with the dermatologist Tuesday morning.

9 Month Update

It has been about 9 months since Coby's GME diagnosis & he continues to do well with his treatment. Coby has been Prednisone free for 92 days!! :-) He continues on 25mg Zonisamide (anti-seizure med) twice a day & 10mg Leflunomide once a day. Most recently added was the 20mg Atopica for his allergies. Coby received his 5mg Lomustine on February 26th, despite slighly low platelet counts on 2 different CBCs drawn the 22nd & 24th. Because of the low platelet count, it is possible Coby’s Cytarabine & Lomustine treatments will be stopped early before 12 of each are completed - with 12 being the "goal". The most recent Lomustine was Coby's 7th dose. The Cytarabine injections given February 10th & 11th were the 8th dose. The 9th round of Cytarabine injections are planned for March 10th & 11th - but those are dependant on the results of the CBC drawn March 8th. Coby has a follow up appointment with Dermatology on the 8th & we will also have a CBC & fasting chemistry profile drawn.

Although I have an idea of the expenses I have spent since May - a "running tally" in my mind, I decided to look back at my credit card statements & bank statements. Yikes!! Estimated price of medications, vet fees, hospitalizations, blood work, etc. since May = > $10,000. Having Coby home, healthy & happy = priceless!!! :-)

Coby's "Newer Look"

Trying to make it more comfortable for Coby!!

Coby's "New Look"

Because of Coby's constant licking from his allergies, he's been forced to wear his "cone" for the week! However, he has still found a way to get into the toilet paper!

Allergy Test Results

Coby's blood allergy testing results are finally back! He is allergic to quite a few things! Thankfully, he is not allergic to human or cat dander! We will continue with the Atopica pills to control these allergies & we have a follow up appointment with the Dermatologist next month.

Explanation of Results:
Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 represent levels of IgE antibody specific for the respective allergen. Consider class 2 level & greater for allergen immunotherapy.

Class 6 – Ultra high level
Class 5 – Ultra high level
Class 4 – Very high level
Class 3 – High level
Class 2 – Low level
Class 1 – Very low level
Class 0 – Absent or undetectable

ALLERGEN & CLASS SCORE

Weeds
Short Ragweed 3
Mugwort 2
Plantain 2
Russian Thistle 2
Rough Pigweed 2
Sage 0
Giant Ragweed 2
Dandelion 0
Lamb’s Quarter 2
Cocklebur 0
Marsh Elder 0
Yellow Dock 2

Trees
Maple 3
Birch 0
Elm 0
Sycamore 1
Cottonwood 0
Alder 0
Oak 0
Walnut 0
Willow 0

Grasses
Sweet Vernal 0
Timothy 2
Red Top 0
Orchard 0
June 0

Epidermals
Cat Dander 0
Human Dander 0
Sheep Wool 0

House Dust Mites
D. pteronyssinus 1
D. farinae 2

Molds
Penicillium 0
Aspergillus 0
Alternaria 2
Cladosporium 0
Mucor 2

Insects
Cockroach 2
Black Ant 0
Flea 0
Housefly 0

Additional Allergens:
Malessezia 1
House Dust 2
Cotton Linters 3