Re: Harley's visit to the Univ. of Penn.
Hello Lori,
I wanted to stop by and say hi to you and your handsome Harley. My dog Joe is in a similar boat as your Harley- he is positive for Cushings but despite extensive testing we haven't been able to definitively distinguish if it is adrenal or pituitary.
An abdominal ultrasound done on Joe at Cornell Vet Hospital about 4 weeks ago was able to clearly visualize the left adrenal and it appeared normal but slightly enlarged. The right adrenal could not be fully visualized or measured because it was obscured by a loop of bowel.
Not sure what your vet will recommend for Harley, but my vet's advice was to go ahead and put Joe on Lysodren to give him some relief from his symptoms, and at the same time continue to try to get a good visualization of the adrenals, by CAT scan, MRI or re-check ultrasound. So we just completed Lysodren loading on Sunday and I'm awaiting results of his ACTH stim test done yesterday AM.
I wanted also to tell you that I asked the ultrasonographer (her name was Dr Yaeger) about the guideline that 'when there is a tumor on one adrenal gland, the opposite adrenal is atrophied.' She responded that she has found that to be often not the case- that even with a tumor on one adrenal, the other may be normal size or even enlarged. Just thought I'd pass that along for what its worth.
Wishing you success in pinning down Harley's diagnosis and hoping you will get good results on his bloodwork.
Karen & Joe
Hello Lori,
I wanted to stop by and say hi to you and your handsome Harley. My dog Joe is in a similar boat as your Harley- he is positive for Cushings but despite extensive testing we haven't been able to definitively distinguish if it is adrenal or pituitary.
An abdominal ultrasound done on Joe at Cornell Vet Hospital about 4 weeks ago was able to clearly visualize the left adrenal and it appeared normal but slightly enlarged. The right adrenal could not be fully visualized or measured because it was obscured by a loop of bowel.
Not sure what your vet will recommend for Harley, but my vet's advice was to go ahead and put Joe on Lysodren to give him some relief from his symptoms, and at the same time continue to try to get a good visualization of the adrenals, by CAT scan, MRI or re-check ultrasound. So we just completed Lysodren loading on Sunday and I'm awaiting results of his ACTH stim test done yesterday AM.
I wanted also to tell you that I asked the ultrasonographer (her name was Dr Yaeger) about the guideline that 'when there is a tumor on one adrenal gland, the opposite adrenal is atrophied.' She responded that she has found that to be often not the case- that even with a tumor on one adrenal, the other may be normal size or even enlarged. Just thought I'd pass that along for what its worth.
Wishing you success in pinning down Harley's diagnosis and hoping you will get good results on his bloodwork.
Karen & Joe
Comment