goodness

Dave is having a good week. We're not seeing the same reactions we did five weeks ago. He was hesitant to eat, but we added some chicken and rice to his kibble, and he was no longer hesitant!!

Dave is enjoying the sun at grammom's right now. The picture is a not-so-goood one from my cell phone, but you get the idea.

week nine

Dave had a good check up today. He is still in remission, had an otherwise unremarkable physical exam and his eye pressure was normal again! Due to the nausea he experienced last time, they gave him a stronger anti-nausea medicine. In case his white blood cells are lowered from the chemo, he also got an antibiotic; both meds are prohylactics. His paperwork says he does not need bloodwork next week, but the vet told me on the phone that he does. Since he would have to go on my birthday, I'm hoping we can add a no vet week to my pile of presents (hint, hint, mom).

His meds this week:
Doxorubicin/adriamycin administered @ Penn
TMS (antibiotic) 480 mg 1/2 tablet every 12 hours; starting on Saturday 3.29.08
Zofran (anti-nausea) 8 mg 1/4 tablet once a day starting tonight

Eye meds are staying the same:
Cosopt 3x/day
Xalatan 2x/day
Methozolamide 25 mg 2x/day

As if we didn't know, Dave was a super star once again. Thanks to everybody who has been reading!

two months...

I can't believe that it's been over two months since Dave's diagnosis. Time goes by so quickly...

Dave had a good week again. It's so nice to have nothing to post sometimes! This week he'll get the strongest dose of chemo, doxorubicin. He'll get an echocardiogram to monitor his heart, and then, hopefully, we'll have two weeks off before bringing him back to begin his third induction cycle.

dave is a super star

Another day, another sticker!! Today started off well when I learned that I-95 was shut down. This was the first week that I was taking Dave and then going to work, and I-95 was my way from West Philly to Willingboro. Luckily, we didn't encounter too much traffic on our way there, and it was an easy detour for me after dropping him off. If he didn't have to sit in a cage all day, 7:30 would be a perfect time to take him every week - there was one other dog there, and Dave was actually being friendly and not seeming like he wanted to eat him. Amazing!

This was a pretty uneventful visit, much like the week. Dave has gained more weight (he's almost 31 pounds), meaning he's actually slightly overweight while on chemo. His eye pressure was normal, again!

His meds are the same as last week:
vincristine injection @ Penn
25 mg cytoxan orally starting tomorrow for 4 days
25 mg methazolamide orally for his eye
xalatan drops
cosopt drops

This is Dave on Saturday, when he wanted to get out and enjoy the nice weather:

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Dave loves holidays, even when they are the day before chemo day.


He wore a little bit o' green this morning. He is from Boston... aren't they all Irish up there?

dino-mite week!

Dave is truly living up to his sticker this week. He's been 100% fine, which is a relief. With the nice weather today, he is looking forward to a couple of walks and some milling around in the backyard. He already was out for a while this morning, enjoying the sun.

His protocol this week will be the same, so hopefully there will be the same result. We made a slight change in our plans for the week: Mike had been switching his day off (it rotates each week, one week it's Sunday/Monday, the next Sunday/Tuesday, etc), but this upcoming weekend is his three day weekend, which he gets every six weeks. Because he enjoys consecutive days off, I changed my work schedule to drop Dave off at 7:30 am. This involves me getting up way earlier than usual. I am not a morning person, so the next two weeks should be interesting.

week 7

The past week was pretty eventful, so we're hoping this week is a little less so.

Dave's visit was great! They think that the GI issues were due to a combination of the methozolamide (oral eye medication) and Dave's "sensitive" system. His bloodwork and physical exam were both very good. He was there for six hours, but saw the eye doctor for more good news - his pressure is normal!! His eye looked a little foggy this morning, but I guess it's not always indicative of the pressure.

He was an excellent patient today. He got a sticker!

He received his week two protocol:
vincristine injection
cytoxan to start tomorrow for four days

They also refilled his nausea meds, just in case.

What does he do after chemo, you may wonder?

proof that he's feeling good

In a span of about 5-10 minutes... Dave says:




"Hello, chicken,








let's lay in the sun together.










Even though you're made of rubber, you are quite delicious;










you seem to be screaming quietly.











My work here is done."

bleh

Another morning with problems. I called the emergency service after Dave had more diarrhea this morning. He's been acting pretty normally, still playful, drinking, eating and running around outside. The emergency service said those were all good things. They advised that I leave a message for the oncologist, which I did. I'm happy we don't have to run to West Philly on this cold morning.

Oh, and Dave is sitting on my lap while typing, alternately laying down and jumping up to growl at the wind and leaves outside.

more issues

Dave had another incident yesterday. It wasn't vomit, but it was in the house instead of outside. Mike gave him kibble on Friday morning instead of chicken and rice, so maybe his stomach wasn't feeling back to normal. We agreed that he's been slightly more lethargic all week. It's reminiscent of the first couple weeks, where he had spurts of energy and then would rest. He's now back to chicken and rice and being monitored.

I apologize to the squeamish that may be reading this. While I'm using this to provide updates for people, it's also our log of what his reactions are. So you're getting the good, bad and ugly.

feeling a little better?

Dave appeared to be fine the rest of the day yesterday, with no other incidents. I checked on him at lunch time, and he greeted me with his octopus and was running around outside. He decided he likes peanut butter again, too! This is part of the difficulty of this whole process - something very benign and unrelated to his treatment will make us worried, thinking the worst.

up half the night

Dave woke us up twice last night. Once at 1:30 to go outside (we let him out at 11, before bed), and again at 4 in the morning, when he wasn't feeling good and threw up. He drank a little water, but wouldn't take his nausea meds with peanut butter. I didn't like that at all. We all went back to bed, and he slept fine the rest of the night.

This morning, he wouldn't take his eye pill with peanut butter again, but ate it with cream cheese. Mike cooked up some chicken and rice, which Dave will scarf down when it's cooled. He seems fine now; last night I thought he was acting a little off, but Mike said he had played with him for a while, and thought he was more tired than usual. I'm going in to work early so I can take a long lunch and check on him before calling the doctor. A side effect of the eye med is nausea, according to it's website, but it wasn't mentioned in his discharge paperwork... Another fun day of worrying.

seis

It's week six, with sixteen more to go. Dave was apparently in rare form today. The nurse reported that he tried to fight with a 100 pound Golden Retriever and a cat that was on a nurse's lap. Why was in close range of a cat? Because he was making so much noise in his "run" that they decided to let him roam for a bit. We apologized for his misbehavior, but the nurse waved that off. I guess his charming looks and personality with people make up for his naughtiness.

He is still in remission, and they have no concerns cancer-wise. His eye diagnosis is back to glaucoma, and he doesn't have to see the opthamologist next week. However, his pressure was "severely increased" today, and they observed early optic nerve damage. The eye prognosis is guarded, and he is in danger of losing it. I've been referring to it as him becoming a winky dog. I wonder if they make pirate patches for dogs...

Week 6 meds:
Elspar 400 IU/kg, administered through IV
Cosopt drops 3x/day
Xalatan drops 2x/day
methylzolamide 25 mg 2x/day

The Cosopt and Xalatan dosages were increased to (hopefully) help with the pressure. When he had this dosage several weeks ago, the pressure stayed down. Methylzolamide is an oral med for the pressure. Mike said it reminded him of a White Castle burger because of it's square shape. He truly is special sometimes.

yesssss

Dave's blog has hit 100 views! Thanks to everyone who is keeping tabs on him. I think I've enabled comments so anonymous, non-gmail users can comment (*cough*tina*cough*).

Dave is ready for spring and warmer weather, so his profile picture has changed.

This has been another good week overall. His eye is still foggy, so we'll see what the opthamologist says on Tuesday.