Just got a call from Dr. Beltz at the Wisconsin Veterinary Referral Center. Here's the report:
Mack is doing well, clinically, which means he's responding well to the supportive care of IV fluids and nutrition. Tonight, when he's had a good 24 hours of this supportive care, they will attempt to switch to syringe or tube feeding, because they need to know whether he can take food orally without the vomiting reflex kicking in. I agree!
They're still planning to do an ultrasound on Monday when the technician is back, to find out whether he has a liver infection or more serious problem (cancer). I'm unclear whether they still need the biopsy to be certain. I'd think so.
I asked about the x-rays they took last night. They showed an enlarged liver with rounded borders, which is indicative of an inflammatory problem. I asked whether he thought the cortisone shot Mack had earlier in the week had helped the situation at all. He said it didn't help and he wouldn't have expected it to. In low doses, he explained, steroids can act as an anti-inflammatory, but in high doses, they work to suppress the immune system, instead. (I wonder why anyone thought the cortisone was a good idea, then.) Step One should have been to determine the cause of the liver problem.
I asked about the blood tests they did last night. Dr. Beltz confirmed that Mack's blood values were much worse than the ones taken last Saturday. At that time, his values were twice normal; last night they had doubled THAT. They won't plan to retest his blood until Sunday or Monday. If they do them Sunday, they'll need to use a different instrument because the Marshfield clinic they use is only available to them Monday through Saturday, which would make it difficult to actually compare the values. If they retest on Monday, they will be better able to tell how much he's improving, if at all.
We're welcome to visit Mack in the hospital, we just need to call ahead so they can tell us whether it's a good time (depends on other activity in the emergency center).
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2 comments:
Wow. Reminds me of a case study we just read for ethics class, about medical care available to three different people with the same condition varied greatly - based on location, income, and social class.
So? What's new???
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