Another Sophie Update

So you'll recall we pushed the big red button for Sophie when she was abruptly very ill in May. I updated again in June. Here's where we stand at the moment...

We have run a fuck-ton of tests.

And it's not...very good.

I think I mentioned last time the vet had said maybe Cushing's, but she was leaning toward no--then I read about it and noticed some extra symptoms I hadn't thought to mention.

On Tuesday, Soph went in for a few more tests: bloodwork to check her liver values (again), a urinalysis, and a cortisol/creatinine ratio test, along with a checkup (she's down two pounds, which is good for her ACL injury). I got the results today.

Liver values: still very high but down slightly from last time. I'm hoping the fact that I'm monitoring her diet and disallowing anything high protein (harder on the liver for processing) is helping. Her vet does want her to start taking some supplements called Zentonil Advanced, and then to recheck those values in a month.

We will not talk about how expensive those pills are or what I'm going to have to do to pay for them every month. *cough*

Urinalysis: she has another UTI starting. Antibiotics twice a day for twenty-one days this time, then another check to see if the bacteria is gone. The sudden UTIs she's getting is another check in the Cushing's column.

Cortisol ratio test: it did not rule out Cushing's. Her levels put her in the range that suggests it could be the culprit.

Unfortunately, there's no standard test for hyperadrenocorticism aka Cushing's. There are a bunch of tests that can HELP diagnose it. If this is the case, she more than likely has a pituitary tumor, and the short version is that it's causing her body to poison itself with cortisol. More UTIs, eventual liver and kidney failure, diabetes, congestive heart failure, blood clots--all of those things (and then some) are staring me in the eye at the moment. Treatment is possible but none of it's too pretty, and we don't even have a proper diagnosis yet. The tests to diagnose it? I will probably have to sell a kidney at this point for that and treatment.

The point of everything I've read, however, is that with treating Cushing's, the focus is on improved quality of life and not really life extension. I have an issue with this. I am not an "either/or" kind of girl. I'm a, "My dog will be healthy and happy and live a very long time even if I have to kill every motherfucker on the planet to do it."

Yes. Issues.

Sophie's fine. Happy. Uncomfortable I think with the new UTI but otherwise delighted because some work was done on the building this week, which meant "VISITORS! OMG I LOVE PEOPLE WHEN THEY COME TO SEE ME!!"

She's on three different supplements/meds right now, so it's like ALL TREATS, ALL THE TIME, and she thinks this is awesome, and doesn't understand why Mommy keeps crying.

My girl.

So this is where we stand at the moment, and I wouldn't've even gotten this far if not for the donations from everyone in May--for that, once again, I thank you. If you want a weird little rural fantasy novel, exclusively available here, and didn't get it previously, you can still get Soulless by dropping some pennies in the jar.

What I will more than likely do is release Nate's novella and bonus short stories here next week instead of at resellers, for 2.99. I realize that will probably cut sales down from people who prefer Amazon, but they only pay out when you hit $100 and I'm not going to make that any time soon. Plus I'm not giving them 1/3 of my income right now. It'll be in multiple ebook formats and I'll have more detes net week.

I have various decisions to make and they're glaring at me from all sides. But I'm not capable of deciding tonight beyond, "Which bottle of alcohol should I open first?" Thankfully, we're not in a dire place at the moment, so there are easy steps to take before diving into anything else.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to play eeny-meeny-miny-moe with my kidneys...