The New Pharmacy

I have been wroking with the Vet and the Pharmacy to get Beau's medicine. Things are now set up. I am getting a 3 month supply for around $90. Beau will have to be seen by the vet in 6 months and have his blood tested again.

Beau's Valley Fever

I have had a few requests for information on Valley Fever. Basically, it is a fungus that lives in the soil here in the Southwest. When it rains a lot, the fungus will grow and create spores. Then it dries and the spores disperse. Any creature that breaths with lungs can breathe in the spores, which then get into the blood stream. In the bloodstream, in grows and infects the individual with Valley Fever.

Evidently, to diagnosis this, the doctor has to dilute the blood sample to determine how strong the Valley Fever. The more that the blood has to be diluted, the stronger the infection. Beau's number in 1:8, which means that the blood needed to be diluted four times before the fungus was not present. If he was a 1:64, that would be twice as bad. The counting is similar to half-lives of radioactive materials.

A co-worker was telling me that her big dog had Valley Fever. She spent 8 months trying to convince her Vet to test for it. Her dogs number was 1:32. So they are worse off then Beau. I told her about the medicine and how much it cost. She suggested a difference pharmacy that provides the medicine at a much more affordable price...and they deliver...and they sent a toy with the medicine. I am currently working on getting this set up.

So all in all, Beau is doing better. The bump comes and goes, but the valley fever is under control. We are going to keep up the medicine and keep an eye on him. Hopefully, this will be a short time to solve, but I understand that it may be a long time.

Beau

As some of you may know, Beau was diagnosed with Valley Fever in December. This is how it came about. A couple of months ago, Beau had a bump on his cheek, below his eye but on the upper jaw. He also was not walking on one of his legs. I thought that maybe he pulled a muscle and that the bump would go away.

Ha! That's funny!

Then about a month later, Beau had a bump and was limping again. So, I took him to school for a reading therapy day and to show him to his Nana, my mother. She said, "Take him to the Vet."

So to the Vets we go. After a lot of probing and testing, he has Valley Fever and the bump is not related. He got meds for the bump and the apparent pain. The bump went away in a couple of days. He is doing great, but needs to be on medicine forever...

Check out the picture of his bump. This was taken January 1st. The bumps on his right side.

Good news is: After two days of Asprin, the bump is decreasing!