{"id":11798,"date":"2023-12-01T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=11798"},"modified":"2023-11-30T20:30:18","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T01:30:18","slug":"athena-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/athena-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Athena: Almost One Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This post is a continuation of my series on Athena \u2014 her diagnosis, treatment, integration into the household, and life after FIP. If you haven’t already, I suggest taking a look at my previous posts on her. You can find them on her tag page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re just over one years since Athena’s health saga started, and just shy of one year since her diagnostics. This time last year we were desperately trying to get her to eat and gain some weight. I’m planning a post for the one-year anniversary of her diagnosis \u2014 Christmas Eve \u2014 looking back on everything that has happened this past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

There are a few medical terms in this post. I tried to link to easy to understand information, where possible. When I had to use medical terms for which I couldn’t find an easy plain language equivalent, I provided explanations through [def]<\/em> (definition) links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Athena<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Athena<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Athena<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Athena<\/a><\/figure>\n
Our little girl has serious attitude.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This following section is pulled directly from my last post, as I have a bit of an update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It took a few days to hear back about Athena’s results. The vet was fairly happy, content to wait and see if the abnormal values will work themselves out, especially since she’s doing so well otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, her neutrophils [def<\/a>]<\/em> have dropped again, and her MCV [def<\/a>]<\/em> and reticulocyte hemoglobin [def<\/a>]<\/em>, are both low, which indicate anemia. We’ve got a question out to her FIP caseworkers to see if anemia post-FIP is normal. Once we have an answer, we’ll decide what to do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her sodium [def<\/a>]<\/em> and chloride [def<\/a>]<\/em> are both just barely low, and they might be related to the anemia. My guess is that Athena will end up getting an iron shot, but we’ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Athena is, generally, doing so well, I’m going to do my best to remember that vets treat patients, not numbers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve also updated her FIP Bloodwork Google Sheets file<\/a>, which includes all<\/em> of the blood work values that could be related to FIP and her blood work history dashboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her next appointment is on November 28, so my next post about her should be a few days after that. We keep shelling out the money for her, but it’s worth it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

New Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since our vet is so busy, and we had an appointment for Ritz and Dante on October 17, I held my anemia questions until then. According to the vet, blood cell levels are monitored in pairs, where if only one is abnormal, it’s treated as something to watch. If both are abnormal, then it’s something to investigate and potentially be concerned about. The pairs are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n