So–there’s no Monday post up as there usually is on MidLifeBloggers. Well, there’s this, but it’s definitely a ByJane, so it doesn’t count (yeah, there is a method to my madness–you haven’t discovered it yet???).

My beloved Molly is VERY VERY VERY SICK. Right now, she’s getting a blood transfusion. The vet hopes that will buy enough time for the meds to start working. She has something called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA). Sounds grotesque, and it sort of is. It’s an autoimmune disease in which the body stops recognizing the red blood cells as good and attacks them. And destroys them. And without red blood cells, you die–end of story. It came on suddenly (as IMHA does) and without warning on Saturday. When I took her to the vet on Sunday, her red blood cell count was 17%. Normal is 37-55. This morning, it was 11, and thus the reason for last ditch transfusion.

IMHA is not that uncommon. Sometimes it’s caused by an underlying disease (which Molly doesn’t seem to have). Most of the time, it’s just spontaneous. Statistically, it happens more often to females in the 6-7 years of age range. That’s Molly. It also happens more to poodles. That’s half of Molly.

The symptoms are not particularly cleancut. Molly was kinda funny-ish on Saturday morning, but was fine after a bit. She ate, walked, played, etc etc etc. We went to friends for dinner, and maybe she was a bit more subdued, but nothing that alarmed me. When we got home about 7:30, she was tenuous jumping out of the car, but again nothing that alarmed me. Normally, when she jumps out of the car, she runs right over to the grass to pee. She didn’t this time. Instead she just flopped down on her side, like she was taking in the sun. But it was night. And cold. And that did alarm me.

I carried her into the house and she spent the rest of the evening on the sofa with me. Normal. But she refused her beloved Greenie. Not normal. I examined her all over and couldn’t find anything untoward. So I left her on the sofa when I went to bed. About twenty minutes later, she came in and jumped up on the bed. Normal. Then promptly fell backwards on to the floor. Not normal. I cuddled her for a while, brought her back onto the bed and fell asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, she got off the bed and in the morning when I got up, she was just lying kinda calmly on the floor. I tried to take her out, but she wouldn’t get up. I’m fairly good about human diseases and what’s serious and what’s not. I’m a dunce when it comes to dogs. Maybe she had doggie flu. Maybe she just needed a day or two to get over it.

This was Easter Sunday and her usual vet is closed on Sunday. Their weekend emergencies are handled by a clinic in Sacramento, miles away. Was this serious enough to traipse all the way into the city? I didn’t know. Some friends said yes. And then I remembered driving by a local vet’s that I thought maybe had 24/7 emergency services. I looked them up–Bradshaw Veterinary Clinic–and they gave me an immediately appointment. Before I took her over there, I put her down on the grass to pee. She promptly fell over again.

I want to blow Bradshaw’s horn a bit because if Molly lives, it will be thanks to them There are TWENTYONE vets on staff there and probably an equal number of licensed vet techs. And no, it’s no more expensive than where she’s gone in the past. Fortunately, Molly has pet insurance (yeah, yeah, I know–but I’ve been down this road before with my Yorkie, so I got it for Molly the day I brought her home).

If you’re the praying sort, or the meditating sort, or just the sort who will think good thoughts for a little dog who means the world to me–please do.

Updated 4/9/10:

Molly came home last night with a bagful of pills.  Her red blood cell count yesterday was 19.  Not great, but stable and will, we hope, improve.  She was in the hospital four nights total.  They did all sorts of tests and xrays and ultra sound to see if there was a disease that was causing the IMHA.  The good news is: nope, it’s just a fluke.  However, considering that exactly four years ago (April of ’06) she ended up in the hospital with what is essentially the opposite of IMHA–her platelets were being destroyed then, not her RBCs–I’m wondering if anyone is doing research on these autoimmune diseases.  It just seems too much of a coincidence.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers and concern.  It really meant a lot to me–and, since she’s on the mend–to Molly as well.