Reposted in Plain Text - Pam's Beloved Tilly
Tis better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all. Definitely true when it comes to Berners. Unfortunately, I am sorry to update, our Berner family has lost a great friend. Our girl Tilly didn't make it. I arrived at the hospital Saturday morning and was greeted with a thunderous Tilly greeting. (It's amazing given how critically ill Tilly was that every time I arrived she jumped up, bounded to greet me, wagged her tail furiously, gave me a big Berner smile and howled as if she hadn't seen me in years.) Although Tilly's condition was stable and her numbers were holding Friday night, as she did many other days she again took a turn for the worse. I spent a few minutes with Tilly and then looked at her chart. My heart sank. Her PCV had dropped to 13. Her TS to 3.8. I looked at Tilly and saw it in her now sunken eyes. It was time to say good-bye. The DVM came in and based on my sobbing, he knew I knew. The first thing he said was I'm sorry. We did everything we could. He told me her PCV and TS were down, her liver enzymes were up, he did not see any platelets on her blood smear and she was beginning to waste away. I looked at him, and sobbed I want to take her home. They offered me to drive my truck around to the back to pick her up. But Tilly and I wanted to walk out the front door the way she came in. My girl wasn't going out anyone's back door. We gathered her things and began our walk to the truck. She was psyched. She knew she was outta there. Tilly - the character she is wanted to make sure she had the last laugh. When we got to the middle of the waiting room Tilly proceeded to squat down and take the longest pee I have ever seen. The Vet just looked, chuckled and said Well, that's okay. She can pee there. Being a Saturday morning, the waiting room was very full. Everyone was just watching. I'm sobbing and laughing saying, It's okay girl. You pee where ever you want. People had to be wondering what the heck was going on. When she was done she picked up her head and proudly walked away leaving a spot about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long of pee. My funny girl Tilly decided that wasn't enough. We went outside and started down the walkway and just as Tilly reached the end of the walkway she squatted again and left a big poop right at the walkway entrance. The Vet laughed and said what a good dog she was, so good she would never go in her cage because she was so well trained. As soon as Tilly saw my open truck she started jogging towards it. The Vet remarked that she's one amazing dog. She certainly didn't look sick. He said all other dogs would have given up 5 days earlier and what remarkable spirit she has. We put her in the truck, I gave her a frosty paw for the ride and we started home. Tilly's favorite place in the world is at my parents - in the middle of 25 acres of woods. Tilly loved to chase the chipmunks and squirrels, dig holes, lay in my mother's garden and spend lots of time there. It was obvious that would be her final resting-place. We called our home Vet and he agreed to come over that afternoon. What a wonderful day we had. We laid down a blanket on the lawn, under a dogwood tree and spent the next 5 hours enjoying our time together. All Tilly's favorite people were with her. She never lost her ravenous appetite, had another frosty paw and stole a blueberry muffin, a tuna fish sandwich and some chips from our plates. My parents made her a special last meal, a Venison burger. You would have thought she hadn't eaten in years. Being the wonderful dog she is, despite her condition, twice she jumped up, walked off the lawn into the woods to pee and came to lie back down. She knows that Grammy and Grammpy prefer she didn't pee on the lawn. Then Tilly got up and went and laid down in the garden under the dogwood tree. We knew and she knew it was time. In Tilly's last moments she was surrounded by her favorite people and her Buddy Sasha (and her Golden Retriever cousin Winnie). I held her in my arms and told her it was okay and she didn't have to fight anymore. She peacefully went to sleep. Several odd things happened that day. Just minutes after Tilly was in her final resting place and we said our good-byes, what was a sunny day turned into a cloudy rainy day. Next, when I arrived home I went to the candle I had lit for Tilly a week earlier and it was down to the end and just about to go out. A friend said we should go for a ride just to get out and away. We're driving down the highway, it's 9pm, raining hard and there is low cloud cover. When up ahead I see a fireworks display. My friend and I just looked at each other in astonishment. Why on a random, rainy, cloudy June 21st? We pulled over and watched the fireworks and knew it was a sign. Tilly had crossed over the rainbow bridge and was letting us know she was okay. (she always did everything in big fashion.) Oddly enough while we were watching the fireworks I saw a vision in my head - the candle I had lit for Tilly
Tilly
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Re: Tilly - thank your for her story- you touched our hearts
Dear Pam and family... thank you so much for Tilly's story... my heart was breaking and then warmed up as tears rolled down my cheeks this morning as I read your tribute to her. Tilly was so blessed with a companion like you. I will never forget your sweet baby after reading her story. Thank you for touching my heart. I hope in time your pain will ease into a gentle warmth. lori Tail Wagging Designs by www.lodoosh.com Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ---REMAINDER OF MESSAGE TRUNCATED---* * This post contains a forbidden message format * * (such as an attached file, a v-card, HTML formatting) * *Mail Lists at Prairienet only accept PLAIN TEXT* * If your postings display this message your mail program * * is not set to send PLAIN TEXT ONLY and needs adjusting * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
My beloved Tilly
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Tilly Update
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RE: Tilly Flash
Hi Pam, One of the suspected causes for IMHA is vaccine reaction along with virus and stress, generally speaking there is something going on in the body to cause the immune system to become too aggressive and it destroys the red cell hence the name Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anaemia. This is a very serious condition and I have not heard of a Bernese surviving it though other breeds may stand a better chance. Rose T.
The latest on Tilly
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Tilly Flash
Pam Years ago I had a ShihTzu that had autoimmune deficiency. We almost lost her in the beginning - was given an initial booster dose of prednisone and stayed on that until we lost her at 13 yrs. old. She was diagnosed at 5 yrs old. So there is hope,. Of course, had to have blood checks every few months once she was stable and levels done of the meds to make sure they we enough for her system. For a while she was on pred 3xs a day. She needed extra care but it was worth it!!! So don't give up - will be praying for you and Tilly Denise Heffel Farmingdale, NY
Tilly
Hi, Pam, Very sorry to hear about Tilly. I had a girl who died of histiocytic sarcoma (a form of MH) more than three years ago. She too had anemia that would not respond to drugs (diagnosed initially as AIHA), inappetence, swollen spleen and liver. She was transfused three times (a universal donar at a vet teaching hospital), but could not hold onto her transfusions for very long; they were done to keep her alive so that hopefully a diagnosis could be made and she could then be treated successfully. Many tests were done, includng bone marrow tests. Except for the hemacrit and the platelets, her tests were often normal. She also tested postive for a tick borne illness (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever), but when retested, she tested negative. I suspect the test picked up on the autoimmune disease process and that's why we got the false positive. Two pathologists disagreed regarding the bone marrow samples that were done. One said the samples were normal. The other said that a process called hemaphagicitis (sp?) was going on. Hemaphagicitis is when white cells start eating red cells--which leads to the anemia that cannot be controlled with drugs or even with spleen removal although perhaps pred can slow the process down a little. I think the spleen swells because of all the damaged cells and because of this process. Hemaphagicitis occurs in infections and in cancers. A food tube was installed (fairly minor surgery) so that she would not starve to death before a diagnosis could be made. Since she was not healing from this surgery, the vets decided to not remove the spleen. Also since her platelets were low, operating to remove a spleen would have been dangerous. She eventually was euthanized (the anemic part of the disease process was about two months but the fussiness regarding eating occurred about five months before that) without a diagnosis but after necropsy and examination at the vet teaching hospital (no cancer was found), I asked the tissues to be preserved at the teaching hospital. I then asked that tissue samples be sent to UC Davis for examination when I learned that the folks at UC Davis were specialists at diagnoses MH. I knew that MH was a common cancer in berners and someone else on the list had gotten a diagnosis for her girl from them and her girl had had similar symptoms. UC Davis diagnosed histiocytic sarcoma in a couple of weeks. Maybe you could call them and ask them if you could have your vet send them some bone marrow--and ask if that would be sufficient for a diagnosis--I don't know if it will be. Contact Peter Moore. You might end up with an inaccurate diagnosis or a superficial diagnosis without their help--or the help of an institution that is similarly knoweldgeable and equipped to diagnose this disease in berners. Again, very sorry to hear about Tilly's condition, Pam, and best wishes. Hope it isn't histiocytic sarcoma and that you can get an accurate diagnosis about what's going on as not knowing can add to the heart ache. If you do transfuse, try to find a universal donor--sometimes this is tough if you aren't at a teaching hospital or a big urban area. A universal donor (usually a greyhound) will be less likely to cause a reaction in your dog when the transfusion is done. Also try to transfuse before her hemacrit drops below 15. With my girl the transfusions became progressively less helpful but it was still nice to see her perk up and feel better for a little while. You probably will need to be testing her red cell level once a day now to know when she has dropped too low. Christy Kabler
Tilly
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Tilly Update
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Re: Tilly Update
Here's where I need some thoughts. Since we don't have the biopsy results yet, the Vet isn't sure if it is cancer or Hemolytic Anemia. The confusion is that Tilly's RBC is very low and not staying up with the transfusions. But she also has a very low protein count. Yet she is not losing blood anywhere so where is it all going? The spleen is very enlarged. Clear weight loss (boney on face, hips, back). Could it be that the cancer is in the spleen and liver hence the RBC and protein. Or is it not cancer and the spleen is enlarged from trying to produce RBCs? Pam, This is very similar to what happened with my Bianca in January - if possible - you need to get a bone marrow biopsy done asap! The fact she is not holding on to the RBC, and apparently not making them, her marrow is a prime suspect. Has your vet done any blood smear slides and looked at the shape of her cells and the percentages of various cells? Bianca was around 20% when we first counted her hematocrit but no organs were affected at that time. She dropped to 18% then we did a bone marrow biopsy for the diagnosis. Her marrow is definitely affected here as she is not making RBC. Can your vet or is there one nearby able to do a biopsy? Depending on what her platelets are, she may need a specialist to do the procedure. The cancer may be anywhere, including the bone marrow, and the spleen and liver are being affected because of what they do to process the dying RBC - without new ones being made, they are being taxed. They seem to be the primary organs affected when the blood becomes so poor. With Bianca the diagnosis was not good - her marrow was primarily histiocytes and she was not producing any normal cells. Her blood smears showed star shaped RBC and these mottled areas which later were identified as histiocyte cells in the blood. The critical care center who did the biopsy gave her the diagnosis of malignant histiocytosis. I took her home, gave her prednisone, drew blood for the cancer study at the Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle, and helped her to Rainbow Bridge 4 days later. Her system completely shut down and there was nothing I could do for her. She was fine Dec. 15 when I returned home from 4 months treating my own cancer in Seattle, slowly stopped eating between Christmas and New Years, was sickly looking by 1/8/03, we did the biopsy 1/10/03, and she passed 1/14/03. It happened very fast. I hope this is not the case with Tilly but I do encourage you to seek a bone marrow biopsy if possible as soon as possible. I have had 10 of my own and although uncomfortable, they are not overly painful. Good luck. Molly and the gang Charlottesville, VA
Tilly Flash
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Re: Tilly Update
In a message dated 03-06-17 10:51:25 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Yet she is not losing blood anywhere so where is it all going? The spleen is very enlarged. Clear weight loss (boney on face, hips, back). Could it be that the cancer is in the spleen and liver hence the RBC and protein. Or is it not cancer and the spleen is enlarged from trying to produce RBCs? First, let me say I am so sorry you and Tilly are going through this. The enlarged spleen is probably what is destroying the RBC's. The spleen's job is to remove old or damaged red blood cells from the circulation. This is probably where they are going following the transfusions. Has an MRI been done of the abdominal organs to rule out any growths? If her blood counts show many immature RBC's compared to mature ones, no matter what the total count is, her marrow is trying to replace them but can't keep up with the need. The marrow is the primary source of new blood cells. I know this doesn't help much, but it is something of which to be aware. Anne C., Flash the Berner and Gypsy the Cavalier
