Monday, December 22, 2014

Update: Romeo's Vasculitis

Unfortunately, Romeo has worsened over the last few weeks. He has a secondary bacterial infection on his lesions, which the specialist wants to treat with Doxycycline based on his last culture results. For now, she is keeping him off steroids due to this. The lesions on his ears and paw pads started deteriorating again, to the point where his paw pads split open and were bleeding again.

The specialist has discontinued Pentoxifylline and Protopic. She has increased the dosage of Cyclosporine. Her goal is to taper it to the lowest effective dose since this medication may increase the risk of opportunistic infections; damage to liver, kidneys or other organs. Romeo is currently battling a very bad bladder infection.

The specialist wants to start using Mupirocin, to be used generously on his lesions twice a day for resistant bacteria. She will start more steroids once his bacterial infection has improved. I also have to apply Easotic to his lesions as well as bathe him twice a week with Malaseb shampoo.

Since Romeo isn't showing improvements on his current treatment plan, the specialist is seriously considering treatment with Dapsone. It is a sulfa antibiotic that seems to be effective for Vasculitis, but can cause liver toxicity. There is also a treatment called "intravenous immunoglobulin therapy" that we can consider as well, but is quite expensive.

Based on my talks with the specialist, I would consider the Dapsone treatment. I am extremely concerned about the liver problems it can cause though, because Romeo is only 3lbs. He has a very tiny body, so you can imagine what the size of his organs must be. It worries me to put him on such an aggressive treatment. Romeo is very special to me, and I am afraid of him having irreversible liver damage that may affect his quality of life to the point of euthanasia. It has happened in some cases.

At this point, I am feeding him whatever he will eat. His appetite has substantially decreased and I need him to eat in order to give him his medications. I still haven't found something he will eat enough of so that I can give him his medications as prescribed.

The CareCredit card I have for his medical treatment is now maxed out at $1700. His last appointment this past Tuesday, December 16, 2014 was a total of $120.31 and that maxed out his card. At this point, I don't know what else I can do for him. If anyone knows of or can recommend anything, I am more that grateful to hear it.

Please remember, Vasculitis is an immune mediated attack on his blood vessels. The hope is that we can get him into remission and then if he is not vaccinated again, it will not come back. Please help me to continue getting Romeo the treatment he needs. I have done all I can to this point, but can no longer afford it.

If you or anyone you know can afford donating even $1, please consider doing so. Every little bit does help in these circumstances. I can not express my gratitude enough for those who have donated and for those who have helped spread the word. Thank you!

You can read more about Romeo's condition in my previous post or by visiting his page at: www.gofundme.com/c8gy4o

Have a beautiful week and Happy Holidays!

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