Sunday, December 6, 2015

Henry’s Health

I think it has been a while since we have given an update on Henry and his health issues. We go for blood work about every 4-6 weeks and sonograms and xrays every over month or so, and I am not sure how recently we have shared the latest results. Well, like most things, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Henry's remaining kidney continues to be free of cancer and functioning well. The bad news is that he is still not retaining proteins as he should be. We have tried a few different courses of action and now we will be moving to a different steroid. One that is specific to "the gut" and hopefully will be the miracle that we are seeking. We will try for 60 days and re-do blood tests.

We also know that he is not doing well on the protein front as he is starting to get a bit of fluid on lungs/retaining water. Hopefully the new meds will help with this as he will start to keep his proteins. If not, he will go on Lasix. Luna was on this and there were some side effects for her. This concerns me since Luna rarely suffered medication side effects and typically needed larger doses of some meds to get the desired results, if Henry needs to go on this, he will likely have side effects. He has nowhere near the medication tolerance that Luna had. So, we are hoping this new med (Budesonide) will work wonders.

The really good news, though, is that Henry is improving cognitively. He still has good and bad days/moments, of course, but we can link his rough days to days when he is short in the sleep department. As far as social skills, those have also been on the upswing. He has started to show some interest in meeting other dogs, and has been seeking out love and attention. So, Henry of old seems to be creeping back to the surface. We are not sure if it's his depression that is lifting now that it's been over a year since he lost so much and he is finally getting accustomed to being the lone wolf and being able to navigate without sight, etc. No matter what it is, he is in better overall spirits. His anxiety is less and he will not tantrum in the mornings quite as quickly and even when he does tantrum it is not as bad as it once was. Even the doc is impressed. In an upcoming post, I will share a story that the vet shared with us recently about the day Henry had his kidney out. I am glad the vet waited to share some behind the scenes with us until MUCH later. It was a very risky and tricky surgery. Much more than we thought. But Henry is a trooper and he is our little Superman and Underdog all rolled into one!