Blastomycosis - Histoplasmosis -- Please Help - Liver Damage

Hello,


Someone told me to talk to a person named Geri on this list (i think)
because they were knowledgeable about Blastomycosis.


My 2 year old lab x husky has blastomycosis, although I am now
suspecting it may be histoplasmosis instead.


Symptoms:


Started with Fever
Skin lesions along spine
Pain in back leg
Enlarged Lymph Nodes
Bleeding in the anterior region of one eye


Started taking a double dose of Itraconazole (400mg) a day.


After about 4 weeks his liver was tested, and was very toxic (460
instead of 60-80). They took him off the drugs for about 10 - 12 days,
put him on IV 12 hours a day. He had already stopped eating or keeping
food down. When the drugs stopped, he got new lesions. They then tried
to put him on a stronger IV drug for 1 day, but it made him violently
ill.


Today we are waiting for results of a kidney enzyme test to see whether

or not he can ever take the itraconazole again.


He now does not eat, has lost 10 pounds, has new skin lesions, and alos

has a horrible smell coming from him, which the Vets think is coming
from his stomach, meaning he may have it in his stomach, or it may have

even originated there.


He has gone down hill very past in the past 2 weeks. We also thought we

caught it relatively early, compared to other cases of Blasto we have
dealt with in the past. This is another reason why I suspect it may be
histo instead, because my limited understanding tells me that if histo
is in the lungs, it tends to clear up on its own, but if it
disseminates throughout the body it becomes worse than Blasto. Our vets

had never treated blasto before, but were going under the direction of
vets we have in other parts of the country (Canada) who have treated
it.


I'm at wit's end - i want to find a way that we can make his liver and
kidneys capable of dealing with the drugs he needs to fight the fungus.

The drugs clearly had to have been working a bit, as the lesions
stopped and his eye was beginning to look a bit better.


Please email me directly - if you have any
information at all that could be helpful.


Thank you!


Karen