In need of happy thoughts and good vibes for Tex

I could use some happy thoughts and good vibes for Tex. Over the last 3 weeks she's had a good amount of un explained weight loss. Neither I or the vets that are caring for her really have any idea what's going on. Without getting technical on too much of it, blood chemistry tests showed elevations in both Sodium and Chloride, high Glucose levels, low red cell count, high white cell count, and about 1/2 a dozen other things that make you go "huh, that's not right". Radiology shows a spot in her lung of undetermined makeup. Could be anything from fungal to cancerous, we don't know yet. She also has an underlying infection from something...again, we don't know yet. On the bright side, she's responding to fluid treatments and antibiotics. She's been more alert and active over the past three days. Currently she's in ICU at NC State. She's been there since Friday and will be for a bit longer. I do get regular calls from the staff for updates. She's apparently more reactive to her environment and checks people out as they work with and near her. Again, improvement. I just wish we knew what was going on.

The plus side is that the vets are pretty confident that it's not contagious, or at least airborne and not RI related in any way. And before anyone asks, yes. These are exotics vets. The lead actually produced some of the first Hypo RTBs in the States. They know snakes.

So...happy thoughts, good vibes, prayers and all that are greatly appreciated. I'd be heartbroken of I lost her.

Thanks,

Dave

Prayers and happy thoughts sent for Tex!

Sending prayers for Tex and you right now! Hope the snake recovers fully!

Good vibes for you and Tex


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Prayers and thoughts


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Sending you good vibes and wishing a healthy recovery for Tex.

Good thoughts and vibes going your way.

Good thoughts going out to Tex. I hope she recovers soon.

NC State is excellent! I know they will do everything in their ability to help her. And they are very able.

Is it possible for snakes to become diabetic????

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Originally Posted by melcvt00

Is it possible for snakes to become diabetic????

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The answer is yes. Rare as a three legged buffalo nickel, but yes. It was dismissed in Tex's case though. If she were diabetic there would have been glucose present in the urates that I brought in, and the ones the vets were able to collect. At least we were able to cross that off the list.

Thanks to all that have posted on this thread. This community is pretty awesome.

Dave

I wish the best of luck to both you and Tex, hope you and your vets figure out what's wrong with her.

Could it be some kind of bacteria that got into her through a feeder?

A contaminated feeder is a possibility that we are looking at. There's the spot on her lung to deal with too....

Dave

Sending good vibes to your girl!

Oh no :( I'm so sorry to see this. I have admired her so much and even have one of the babies from her most recent clutch. I really hope they figure out what is going on.

so sorry to hear that Dave, but i'm sending tons of positive energy over your way.


also me and my peeps just made Tex a post-it card.
http://i.imgur.com/GlNnREkl.jpg


we're sending happy thoughts from Seattle to Texas.
http://i.imgur.com/NIRYVrtl.jpg


stay strong girl!

You know when people write LOL just because they think they should....this is not one of those times. You and your peeps cracked me up. I needed that. Thanks, Ax.

Now for the update:

Tex is still hanging in there. I speak to the vets, who actually call me, a couple times a day. As of this morning she was described as being feisty. She's gaining strength back which is great. Not sure if it's the antibiotics, the fluid treatments, or both. Another blood chem panel is scheduled for today so hopefully it'll show lower Sodium and Chloride levels as well as some higher and lowers counts of various things that need to happen. The head of the exotics department really has no idea how she survived the initial spike of the salts in her blood. They were off the chart bad...literally off the chart. To bring the weird back into it, she showed now outward signs of dehydration, but obviously she was. The vets words, not mine. So even though the prognostic indicators were horribly bad at the onset of veterinary care, things are looking up. I'll know more after the next round of tests.

In the mean time, if anyone wants a kidney let me know. I have an extra. Yeah, I'm kidding, but only slightly. I'm happy to do this for her, and I'd do it for any of my animals, but this stuff is not cheap. On the bright side, the department is looking into grants to cover some of the costs. We're in uncharted territory for some of this and verging on experimental medicine. The last study goes back to the mid 1990s on BP blood chemistry. The phrase "if she were a dog or cat, it would mean..." is common. I really don't care. Whatever they are doing seems to be working.

Thanks for all the support....you folks have been great.

Dave

I'm glad to hear its possible to treat mystery illness's in snakes, I do hope everything goes well. That said if you your pet manage to provide some useful scientific data then that is something deserving of respect and more than most achieve.

Aww...I hope Tex makes a full recovery. But think of it this way....these "uncharted territories" your entering into, will now have some documented data that could help others in tbe future.

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Good luck with Tex, this must be very stressful.

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Get well soon Tex! Good luck to the both of you.

Tex came home last night. We're continuing fluid treatments and antibiotics for now and will recheck her in a week. At least my vet feels confident in my ability to care for her, and she's out of the critical danger zone enough that they felt confident sending her home.

Dave

So glad she's home! :D

glad she's improving and home b/c...

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/73...b3f35df2df.jpg

Latest tests came back and there's of course good news and bad news. The sodium and chloride levels in her blood had dropped, so that's good. Uric acid is up though, probably indicating a shock to the kidneys and they (or is it it?) tried to cope with it. Calcium is also low now which is affecting her muscle response. Still have no idea what the spot on or in her lung is, or the cause of all of this to begin with. White blood cell count has also spiked, which is good and bad. She has an underlying infection, but her body is fighting it. We're adding another antibiotic to the regiment now, as well as something to help with kidney function. Speaking of which, I am seriously considering selling one of mine now. This is adding up...

One the behavioral side, that is improving. She will move from the hot side to the cool side as she sees fit. She's also more interactive with her environment when we have her out for treatments. More tongue flicking than I've seen recently and looking around. Probably looking for an escape route. Can't blame her really.

Thanks again for all the support. She's a member of the family and I do appreciate it.

Best,

Dave

Just an update:

Tex is still recovering well, and acting more like herself as of late. Her latest blood work from last week showed good signs of improvement. The Sodium and Chloride levels are within normal limits and her kidney functions are returning to normal. White blood cell count is still on the high side, but red cell count is also coming up which is great. She's off a couple of her meds now and we are no longer having to do sub-q injections to keep her hydrated while she worked out the salt issue. Really glad about that. 25ml of Ringers every night sucked, for both me and her. But it did flush her system and she's on the mend and gaining strength. Feeling good enough to take a swipe at me the other night. It was good to see. She's put on a good amount of weight too. All said, the vets at NC State did an amazing job with her. We still don't know what caused all of this, and may never know. Treating the symptoms and the supportive care was the right call. We'll finish out the antibiotics and be done hopefully. One more round of testing next week. Thanks again for the support and well wishes.

Dave

thats wonderful to hear shes on the mend!

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Thanks for the update glad she's improving!

So glad Tex is improving, she's lucky to have a good family!!
Prayers and positive vibes your way as she improves back to 100%.

Prayers and warm wishes coming your way for you and Tex. Please keep us all updated.

Positive thoughts!


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Well wishes for Tex making a full recovery!

Just an update and the final posting I'll make in this thread.

Tex ate on her own a few nights ago, taking a small f/t rat. She's continuing to gain strength and seems to be her old self again. It was nice to have her whole body wrap my arm the last time I had her out for a cleaning and evaluation. The wet noodle behavior was worrisome.

Thanks again for the well wishes and private messages.

Best,

Dave

Wonderful news! I'm so happy for both of you. :dance:

Glad she's doing well. (:

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Wonderful.

Great news! Glad to hear she is back on track.