October 31, 2017

White Dog laughed, "Really? Dr. Julia was dressed up like a big kitty? And Shawna had platinum hair and a unicorn horn? Wow! I would ALMOST say YoYoMa was lucky...but he was still getting a checkup."

And what a good checkup it was. YoYoMa has been on the new IMHA protocol for 90 days and we wanted to take a big picture comparison of where he is now versus then.

The overbloom of red mange has subsided although the treatment medication continued for two more months...a pill a month. And new hairs are growing in strong and healthy. The open sores from the pred/cyclosporine interaction which caused the protocol change, have all healed completely.

YoYoMa's organs and enzyme levels are all improved levels.

His glaucoma is still responding to the eye drops, thankfully since we all agree surgery is still out of the question. It was funny that both Steve and I looked at Dr. Julia questioningly when she asked what we thought was, "Is Yo still on I-Meds?" What she actually said was "Is Yo still on EYE-Meds?" We felt pretty silly when it dawned on both of us enough so that we could answer in the affirmative.

YoYoMa's white blood cell count is staying in the normal range. This is wonderful news because with his compromised immune system, my boy is an open invitation to whatever bad bugs come his way.

Dr. Julia was delighted not just in the exam and test results but also in YoYoMa's alertness, mental liveliness, and bounce to his step. "SO much better," she said. Her perspective is valuable since she sees his blood work every week not him in person.

The only "just OK" thing is his current HCT count of 35.5. Again, Dr. Julia was not dismayed. "If he is bouncing between 35 and 38, we are still in acceptable range," she said before I could express disappointment. "We will continue the course. There are LOTS of things that go into the final number even crazy things like the change in weather. I would not get too excited about small swings."

We agreed that my boy was quite the Warrior and we are doing the right things. As a reward, Dr. Julia suggested that we stretch the next blood panel...skip next week...and see where we stand in TWO weeks.

Yo wagged his thanks at avoiding being stuck. and I whispered to the Universe to keep him safe and healthy.