Health
Shana's Story
Spontaneous Pneumothorax
17-10-05 - We have a big problem at the moment as Shana
is at the vets having been coughing on and off, and then today was breathing
with short, shallow breaths only. Xray apparently shows large air pockets in the
lungs where there shouldn't be which is often caused by trauma - but there has
been no trauma. He's even had a second opinion on the Xrays but we're no wiser!
We're off to fetch her home in a moment but the outlook seems to look very
bleak, unless she spontaneously recovers. Nigel, the vet, is going to alert the
night vet as he seems to think that we shall have to rush her there in the
middle of the night - please God we won't have to. We shall see how she goes
overnight, but there is a possibility of major surgery to remove a lobe of lung
and inspect the chest cavity, or have a thoracotomy - whatever that is. We shall
find out more when we collect her. I am shell shocked - from taking her in for a
mild cough which I thought might need anti-biotics to being told it's a life
threatening situation is beyond belief. She is bright eyed, no temperature, coat
shining, eating like a horse - how can this happen?? Even Nigel can't equate the
two situations - her apparent wellbeing with what seems to be happening inside
her.
18-10-05 - Luckily we had no major happenings in the night so no visit to
the night vet - I shall be ringing Nigel at 8am to report to him, then we shall
see where we go from there. I shall certainly mention the possibility of
pneumothorax to him - can't help thinking they must be somehow overlooking
something obvious! Jayne also suggested chylothorax but he did say last night
there was no sign of fluid around the lungs - again I shall mention it to him. I
shall let you know today's outcome later. Just keep fingers, toes, legs etc.
crossed for Shana
18-10-05 - We went in today to be talked through the Xrays by Nigel.
There is evidence of slight pneomothorax but not enough to warrant draining - it
really was only a tiny line or two and that is only an effect of the main
problem not the cause. The left lung is definitely showing large pockets of air,
where there should be normal lung tissue. the heart has been pushed slightly up
from it's normal position, and there could be a shadow behind it (tumour?) but
this isn't at all clear. Her diaphragm shape looks very slightly "wobbly" but
the vets felt this might just have been due to her not lying exactly in a
straight line when they Xrayed her lying on her back. All the vets involved,
including those called for a second opinion, are stumped particularly in view of
the fact that there has been no trauma whatsoever. There has been apparently
incidences like this in afghans in the States, but there are not enough afghans
in Australia for this to have been studied here in the past. The prognosis isn't
too good, particularly in view of the shadow, although there is a slight chance
that all the symptoms could clear spontaneously.
The drastic option is to operate and remove the left lung and then hope that she
will not develop the same problem in her right lung, but this is by no means a
cure - only a way of finding out what's going on. I don't think we are prepared
to go down that road as it will put such a colossal strain on Shana - she will
be 9 on the 3rd November.
She is on anti-biotics though whether they will do anything is a moot point as
she has no high temperature or signs of fever at all. Further Xrays will be done
on Thursday to see how things have altered. I don't like subjecting her to too
much anaesthesia but we do need to find out just what is going on. I am still
totally shocked by the rapid progression of Shana being a happy go lucky little
soul one day, to how she is at the moment. please God, things will improve over
the next few days.
Update 19-10-05 - mystified and possibly now thinking it could be a tumour in
the left lung!! She has been fine today - her normal self - typical afghan
behaviour - sleep for ages then be active and noisy. She hasn't been scanned but
there was a slight shadow near the heart on the Xray which made me think the
other day that that might be the problem. Her heart is sound and strong but a
tumour could account for the degeneration of the alveoli in the lung I suppose.
24-10-05 Shana saw the consultant vet today who diagnosed a spontaneous pneumothorax (A dog does NOT always have to have external trauma to get pneumothorax!) where the lungs are leaking air into the chest cavity. He is going to actually discuss her case with a "human" respiratory surgeon, and get back to us tomorrow. She may then have a CAT scan to see exactly which part of the lung is leaking and where the leak/s are. May do a chest drain - but all this is to be discussed after his talk with the surgeon tomorrow. Unfortunately he also pointed out an enlarged lymph node - that's been a fear of mine from the beginning Will write more tomorrow once we've spoken to him again. She is a very ill little girl, though being an afghan she is hiding it very well indeed!
27-10-06 It's not good news I'm afraid. She has a large
bulla still leaking air into her chest cavity. They were going to drain her
chest prior to the scan but she was doing so well at the time that they decided
she could cope. However, she then developed a tension pneumothorax and they had
to quickly drain her. We saw the scan pictures and they were horrendous - how she
has coped with it we shall never know. Her chest cavity had a lot of air in it
which had pushed her heart up from it's normal position and compressed her right
lung. There is no reason for a spontaneous pneumothorax - From the scan there is
not even any internal trauma for it - it just happened that the particular
alveolae in one part of her lung ruptured and created a bulla which leaked air.
We have yet to discuss the options but we don't think we are going to go to
surgery as Bruce cannot guarantee that it will work satisfactorily so it would
be putting her through hell without having a positive outcome, especially as
she will be 9 next week. Keith and I are going to talk later. Shana is staying
at the hospital overnight with constant supervision and we shall ring in the
morning to see if we can bring her home.
The outlook is not good, and her life will be limited, but she is such a little
fighter that we can just hope for the best for her.
28-10-06 She's home, happy and sleeping at the moment.
She now has two huge shaved patches on her sides where the drain was done!! I
think once she is recovered from the anaesthetic she will be given a puppy cut
all over - she will be cooler and the shaved bits won't be quite so noticeable.
From now on, we take each day as it comes - if she starts to stress again we
shall do our best to get her to the vets in time for another drain, but
hopefully that won't be for quite a while. The biggest problem now is to keep
her relatively quiet - Shana and quiet just do not go together!! Every time we
see Bruce he says how amazed he is with her for the way she has coped with the
pneumothorax!
25-11-05 Shana, who was desperately illwith a Spontaneous Pneumothorax
has made a remarkable recovery and is almost back to her old self which has
amazed everyone including the vets
23-01-06 Many of you will remember that our 9 year old afghan, Shana, was very ill with a spontaneous pneumothorax in November last year and at one time we almost lost her. I am now delighted to report that following a check up X ray today she has been declared fit and healthy! Her lung has re-inflated and there are no further signs of lesions. Judging by the noise she makes in the garden we suspected this may be the case but are so pleased to have it confirmed by our wonderful vet!
27-03-06 It is now over five months since Shana was
first diagnosed with a spontaneous pneumothorax. She is now back to her old self
with a vengeance - her speciality has always been a blood curdling yodel when
she gets really excited, and that is in evidence almost daily if she sees the
dogs next door!! Thank goodness for understanding and very nice neighbours. She
was not on any special treatment or medication once she had recovered from the
pneumothorax though on recommendation from a friend I did speak to a herbalist
who recommended a herbal lung tonic which he made up specifically for Shana and
her symptoms. She was on that twice a day and has only now been gradually weaned
off it. I am convinced that this has helped her enormously though her natural
enthusiasm for life was evident too! As Bruce Mackay, the consultant vet said -
"she doesn't think she is ill, therefore she isn't"! We came so very close to
losing her and I still check her breathing regularly - both resting and during
and after exercise but thank God she has not shown any more breathing
difficulties at all. Long may it continue that way!
Thank you all for your good wishes during our very traumatic time - now we hope
for a very quiet year afghan-wise!!
Di Searle (Salamkhan) March 2006
©Di Searle -2005-2006 - all rights reserved
Updated 27-03-06