0218E: Yoshi's New Normal


So after visiting every single Mercury Drug in the Araneta Center area (we found at least 5), we finally assembled all the needed supplies for his subcutaneous fluid injection treatment at home. And while we are free to bring Yoshi over to the vet for his injections every 2-3 days, these treatments are really a part of his routine for the foreseeable future and the doctors had been encouraging us to try handling it ourselves at home. After a few practice sessions at the vet the past week, we finally bit the bullet and setup our little refueling station for him.

For those who haven't been taking notes, the injections are the canine equivalent of dialysis for human patients. The saline solution is injected under his skin where it can seep into his system and hopefully take some of the toxins with it. His creatinine level remains high and may remain at this level for quite some time. And while his initial confinement in December did bring it down somewhat, the doctor explained that we may not see any significant movement in this area any time soon.

Thus he will continue these treatments and all of his supplements together with a renal-friendly diet. Making sure that he continues to eat is important since the kidney disease is still causing a state of anemia and thus there are various possible complications because of his condition. It's a lot of work to keep things balanced for now, but Tobie and I are strongly committed to his care. Tonight was the first time we tried to handle the saline injection ourselves and we eventually managed to get things done after a few tries and some spillage.

What is most amazing is what a "stoic" patient Yoshi is, as described by his doctors. Unless you hurt him significantly, he does not react to most injections, blood extractions or even this subcutaneous injection that we had to administer tonight. After we had finished things he was back to his bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self as we was excited to have his dinnertime meal.

For now we're taking things one day at a time. And we continue to hope for the best for Yoshi.

Comments