We are coming out of our "rainy" season here in the Pacific Northwest, though it wasn't all that rainy or dreary this season.  This means we are about to start that time of the year when we have mostly sun and very little cloudiness.  Not great for a dog that has DLE (and Pannus, an immune-mediated eye disease that is worsened by UV exposure).

We are going into this bad time of year with what we think is the best her nose has been since July 2014!

We kept her on the Doxycycline all winter and she has been taking all her herbs, vitamins, and other supplements.

We are very pleased with the management of Chance's DLE so far this winter.  We are continuing the Doxy because our weather, which should be rainy and cloudy, has been dryer and sunnier than it should.  Chance is also outside more this winter helping us with various outdoor projects.

I'm including a picture that shows what her nose looked like on September 14, 2014 (on the left), September 22, 2014 the date of diagnosis (center) and what it currently looks like (on the right.)

We had considered stopping the doxy usage over the winter.  Our vet had mentioned it at Chance's annual exam.  We decided against it because we had a stretch of dry and very sunny weather which meant we weren't seeing the re-pigmentation (is that a word?) that we were wanting.  So, we decided to keep her on it so we would be that much better of going into the summer months.

We were able to find Doxycycline cheaper at our vet.  A little more than we had been paying but half what we were charged last month.  We could probably find it cheaper but are happy being able to get it from a place that is driven by twice every weekday.

Refilled Chance's Doxycycline prescription today to find out the price increased dramatically in just 4 weeks.  We went from paying $0.80 per pill to $1.97 per pill!

Chance is on Doxy to help suppress the damaging immune system response caused by the Lupus.

I'm going to see if I can find it cheaper elsewhere.  I'm hoping I can find it cheaper!

We had a very hot, sunny, rain-free summer but Chance's nose did well.  No lesions, no bleeding, no hair loss, no crustiness or scaliness, and the pigment is coming back already.

We'll be consulting with her vet team about tapering off of the Doxycycline this winter.

Here is a picture of her nose today.

Now that we are transitioning from a very wet, dreary winter to sunny weather, Chance is getting Lupus nose.  So far, it is some loss of pigment.  She had her senior wellness exam the Friday before last and her vet said she wouldn't have known she had Lupus by looking at her.

Her nose looked really good over the winter so we are going into the summer months better off than we were last year.

Her vet thinks we might be able to try tapering off the Doxycycline this winter based off how her nose looks right now.  Fingers crossed!

Chance's nose is looking better than it has since July 2014!

We had a regression a couple of months ago caused by stress.  Chance had an "incident" on our garage steps and her rehab vet evaluated her, made some quick adjustments, and ordered weekly TENS treatments until we could get in for our regular appointment.  Chance and Chance's Lupus nose did not like having to be still for 20 minutes at a time every week!  She lost some black pigment on her nose but that was it.  Her nose healed up extremely quickly after the TENS treatments were stopped.

I am in the process of becoming a certified Animal Aromatherapist (I figure it will complement my massage work) and am happy to see one of the covered condition is Lupus!  I wish I had this information back in September 2014.

Chance's nose is still improving.  Hair is growing back and the black color continues to fill in.  Her rehab vet even commented that she may have a normal looking nose again.

She still gets her Doxycycline once a day and have made no changes in what she's getting.

We noticed the accelerated healing when I started testing essential oils for fear based emotions, including stress and anxiety.  Three times a day, for up to 30 minutes each time, I would diffuse a single essential oil and see what kind of reaction she had to it.  I would diffuse that oil for 2 or 3 days in a row then move to another essential oil.

You can read more about how I picked the oils in the "Supplements" blog.
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