Improvement :D

Life has been on quite a set schedule for us lately.  We've had to add a couple of other medications.  So we get up around 5:00-5:30 for their breakfast and then I sleep again until 9:30 when we do his clavimox (antibiotic).  I've had to stagger when we do the medicines because he was vomiting a lot from gagging and straining against taking them. :S  So, then at 10:30 we do the alternagel (phosphate binder) - this is the one he has the hardest time with - and the TumilK gel (potassium supplment).  Then at 11:30 I give him some pet tinic drops (iron and vitamin supplement) so he doesn't get anemic.  If he were to get anemic the blood flow would focus on the vital organs and be less strong throughout the rest of him so we need to make sure to keep his iron level up and check his color (at his gums and eyes) regularly.  These drops need to be with food so right afterward I feed him - first the kidney formula wet food and then tuna (getting him to eat is important because when I found out he was sick he was barely eating at all and his bowels hadn't been functioning for a while and we had to give him an enema to help him get things moving again).  And I make sure he has plenty of water.  Then at 12:30 I give him his famotidine pill to help soothe his gastrointestinal system so he doesn't develop ulcers due to the change in acidity inside him because of the kidney problems.  At 2 p.m. we do 100cc's of his subcutaneous fluids.  It's getting more difficult because since we do it every day he's sore all over his shoulders from being poked with needles and is getting more angry about it each time. :S  But I still manage to out-stubborn him and have him sit there with the needle in for the several minutes it takes for the fluids to pass through the tubing and into his system.  Then he eats again.
Then I am freeeeee! =D  I usually eat first thing because I often don't eat anything or just get in a granola bar during the medicine times.  If he vomits - which he frequently does - it causes me to feel pretty nauseated (well, he eats tuna... 'nough said) and I have to clean it up.  I also get really nervous to do the fluids every time still and food settles better if I just wait until afterward.  So then I have time to do laundry and dishes - which I am forever trying to get caught up with mainly because of all the towels I go through wiping off Miles after medicine - they cause him to foam at the mouth a little and drool a lot due to the bitter taste - and the towels I lay down on the floor to try to catch the splatter of meds if he shakes his head - my bathroom is speckled. x.x  So, I usually eat and do some chores and grocery shopping and litterbox cleaning (daily since he urinates so much more now).  He eats again in the evening and then I do again, too.  And then the medicines all happen again starting at 9:30, since most of them need to be given every 12 hours.  And he eats after his iron drops at 11:30 and I stay awake - often I call my mom and chat since it's earlier for her - until I give him his pill at 12:30 and then I can go to sleep so I can get a few hours in before he wakes me up for his breakfast.  It's a little like having an infant. xD  ... That you stick with needles. :|
We added some hairball medicine once or twice a week to help reduce the vomiting.  We've also started doing shots of epogen to help his red blood cell count.  It had been down to 22 which is getting low so we gave him .22.  But then a few days later when we went back to the vet, his level had dropped to 19. D:  This was upsetting.  So we figured out a dosage to be administered 3 times a week so I gave him the shots 3 times a week for about a week and a half.  Then when we checked, his blood count had gone up to 40! =D  He was back in the normal range!  So we did the same dosage 2 times a week.  And his blood count has stayed at 40!  Also, his weight has increased to 9 lb. 15 oz. (he was at 8 lb. 4 oz. - down from 12 lb. 4 oz. - when I first took him in).  So now we are going to do .17 on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening and see how that goes. =)  2 of the vets I've been working with both met with me together yesterday to let me know how happy this is.  With the kind of numbers he was at when I first brought him in and to get to these numbers is really great and that I'm a very good nurse. =D  Yay!  So this week I did his epogen shot yesterday evening and keep administering his other medicines and the fluids and do his next shot on Sunday morning and I just will call the vet on Monday to let them know how he's doing. :D  I expect we'll go in to draw blood for a blood count on Wednesday.
This is all probably very uninteresting to everyone. Lol.  But, it's been my life for the last 5 weeks or so.  He was almost to kidney failure so that eclipsed anything else in my world.  I stopped going to see my therapist temporarily because it interfered with the medication schedule and also because I'm freaking exhausted. xD  The vet is pretty far away and I have to go on the roads with the heaviest traffic to get there so on the days I don't go to the vet or to the store I want to stay home.  I'd only talk about Miles in therapy and worry about him while I was there, anyway, so might as well postpone it for now.  I'm so glad he's doing better.  I thought I was losing him.  Every cuddle I was afraid was our last.  If he was sleeping I worried if I touched him he'd have stiffened in death.  He's been such a good boy letting me take care of him this way.  If he really hadn't wanted to allow the medications and needles he could have freaked out enough to make it impossible.  But, he knew I was trying to help him so he lets me (with some small hissing and grumble growling lol).  We'll still need to continue treatment and keep tracking everything - and I won't even tell you how much all of it has been costing x.x - but I'm really happy and feeling so optimistic about our boy. =)