more eye issues

Ugh. Another loooong day at Penn. My mom came up to go with me, so she could learn the ropes in case she ever needs to bring him. We had a 10:30 appointment, and Dave was taken back around 10:50. The nurse said they were trying to get people in and out quickly, due to the forecast of snow and then freezing rain. She said that an opthamology consult wasn't on his chart, but said they could always get one, depending on how the vet thought his eye looked. We decided to wait, hoping it wouldn't be too long.

Three hours later, the vet called with false hope - Dave's bloodwork was good again and he did well with his chemo, but they were waiting for the opthamologist. We waited for another hour, and he came running out of the back, looking good.

His nurse reported that he did well. They removed his sutures, and he can get a bath! We've been squeezing the fish oil into his bowl, and it's been getting on his head when he's trying to lick every last drop, causing him to smell like the bay at low tide. He can also get his Heartgard tomorrow. He lost weight again - he's down to 28.4 lbs, but his old vet wanted him around that weight. He looks skinny to me, so the oncology vet gave us the go ahead to feed him more. They said that it's completely normal for dogs on chemo to be losing weight while eating normally.

The pressure in his eye was increased. According to the nurse, it is due to the glaucoma rather than lymphoma, which is good news, I suppose. The opthamologist recommended stopping the NeoPolyDex and gave him a new eye drop (also expensive) to be taken with his Cosopt. We were prepared for the cost of the chemo, but the opthamology tests, meds and consults are adding up quickly. The good news is that his eye looks clearer - maybe his new medicine will work.

His meds for this week:
Vincristine IV (administered at Penn)
Xalatan - 1 drop every 12 hours
Cosopt - 1 drop every 8 hours
Prednisone - 5 mg 1x/day
Cytoxan - 50 mg 1x/day for four days

I hopefully asked if we should expect the same (non)reaction that we saw last week. The nurse said that sometimes when people are expecting that, that the dogs don't react quite as well. We're hoping that we don't see too many side effects, if we see any at all...

Next week is another opthamology consult, more IV chemo (with an echocardiogram to monitor his heart's reaction to the chemo) and his last week on the Pred. One of the side effects of it is increased appetite, so it's yet to be seen if he'll still be as hungry as he is now. Then, after next week is a break week! Bloodwork only, no chemo!!