Max

Our Max had to be hospitalized yesterday. After hours and hours of tests, he was diagnosed with immune mediated hemolitic anemia, which basically means that his body is destroying his red blood cells. He had a blood transfusion last night with lots of IV fluids. He's also on an oral steriod and antibiotic to hopefully combat the origin of the anemia. As the veterinarian told me this morning, "He's not out of the woods yet." But she's very optimistic because he's been responding so well to treatment. He's even displayed some of his "Max behaviors", such as barking one for no apparent reason, and laying down to eat and drink. (Although this worried the vet techs - they thought he was trying to drown himself in his water dish!)

It's looking good that we might be able to bring Max home with us tonight. He'll need additional tests and monitoring, but it will be nice to have him home - for both him and us!

Please pray for Max and for us. Benjamin is too little to fully understand what is happening, but he does as for Max - "Where's Max?" I heard many times last night. Sam is very sad and upset about the entire situation and I'm afraid that he thinks that Max is dying. I am reassuring him about the care that Max is receiving, but can't bring myself to tell him that everything will be OK - just in case it's not. Emily already has a full worry load as a teenager in high school, so this just makes it worse.

I'll keep posting updates here, so check back.