good day!

Dave's doing well today - no GI issues, active and playful - very much himself. I'm expecting to see some difference over the next few days, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Tomorrow marks exactly four months since starting treatment, so the fact that he's still acting like himself is a very good thing.

Dave enjoyed a little treat yesterday after chemo. He was playing in the yard while we were grilling, and suddenly, in slow motion, I saw him go after something in the grass. I yelled at him and ran over, but it was too late - he caught a mole (vole?) and scarfed it down. I wonder if the holistic vet would approve. After all, it is a free range, grass fed animal... I love my little predator.

hope

I cried a little today. Dave has one more chemo treatment left, in two weeks. It's such a bittersweet feeling. I'm so happy that he's had many more good days than bad ones, that he's been himself through most of this, that he still gives us kisses and hops into bed like everything is the same as it was six months ago. But there is a nagging in the back of my head, counting down... On January 30th, we were told that he had nine months with treatment. As of today, that gives us five more months.

Hopefully he's in the five to ten percent of dogs that stay in remission. Or his remission time is much longer than they thought. Or we don't have to deal with what we (realistically, logically) know that we will. We're holding out hope.

Dave's visit was good, with no notable incidents to report. Mike said that there were no dirty looks from other owners, either. Dave had a pretty full appointment today: his regularly scheduled bloodwork and chemo, in addition to a follow up echocardiogram and opthalmology check. His echocardiogram was good - there is no evidence that the Adriamycin (a.k.a. doxorubicin) has damaged his heart. His eye pressures were good. His bloodwork was good, which was a relief to us. We were concerned with the GI issues that he was fighting something. Upon physical exam, his lymph nodes were normal and he felt good. The black spot on his belly is going to be monitored, but the vet felt it was a normal pigment change.

His meds:
Adriamycin, administered @ Penn
Baytril antibiotic, 136 mg, 1x/day, starting Friday 5.30
Flagyl (anti-diarrhea), 250 mg, 2x/day, starting Thursday 5.29 for 5 days, then as needed
Reglan (anti-nausea), 10 mg, 1/2 tab 3x/day, starting Thursday 5.29 for 5 days, then as needed
Zofran (anti-nausea), 8 mg, 1/2 tab 1x/day, starting Thursday...
Eye meds:
Cosopt (down to 2x/day)
Xalatan (2x/day)
methazolamide (2x/day)

I'm a bit overwhelmed with all of these meds. The poor guy is going to be getting five pills and two eye drops for five of the next fourteen days. I think we may need to buy stock in peanut butter and cream cheese!!

After the next treatment in two weeks (June 10), he'll go for a complete restaging on June 24th. Assuming that his bone marrow, x-rays and ultrasound show that he's completely in remission, he'll start the vaccine trial.

who knew?

Dave's stomach issues are still lingering. The only change is that they're now at the other end. We introduced regular food on Wednesday, after the vomiting was done, and the diarrhea started. He didn't seem to be himself on Thursday, so I called the vet, who advised us to go back to chicken and rice and prescribed a anti-diarrheal medication for him. Since starting the medication, he's perked up and been more Dave-like.

This made me laugh. Who knew that you could call dog meds into a regular pharmacy?

The other issue we have now is something that looks like a sore on his belly. We first noticed it last night, and had given him a bath the previous day, so he had to have just done it. It doesn't seem to bother him at all. I'm a little concerned that it could be a weird skin reaction because it doesn't look quite like a scab or open cut. Being a worst-case-scenario person, I thought for a minute that it could be some sort of skin cancer, but I'm hoping not, obviously. There's always something, I guess. The positive side is, as I said above, he was much more himself yesterday and this morning (so far).

busy weekend!

It was a crazy weekend, with lots of running around, a 30th birthday party and a wedding. Dave says happy birthday Jay and congratulations Eva!!

Dave had a decent weekend. There were a couple more spit ups. That's the best description for them. TMI alert - not for the squeamish: when Dave is really not feeling well, he doesn't try to lick up the mess.

We had one incident Saturday afternoon, and then again Sunday morning. We decided to go against our holistic recommendations and try some boiled chicken and rice, which we started yesterday. Nothing so far today, so we're on the right track. I didn't get a chance to call either vet today, but I'll be reaching out to them tomorrow if work is a little slower. He definitely has his energy back, which makes me happy.

already a not so good week

I think the stronger chemo's cumulative effects are really starting to show. Dave vomited twice today, again the 'excitment' vomit, when he gets a little worked up and spits up. He seems a little more lethargic than usual. I think we have to expect this for the next month or so. He started on his Baytril, the new antibiotic, along with the stronger nausea meds. I hope he starts perking up a little tomorrow and Sunday. If not, the doctors will get a call next week!

okay...

So... Dave's reports weren't perfect yesterday. He bit a dog while they were outside using the bathroom area. The vet said that the person who took him out was warned that he is not dog friendly, but allowed him to get close to another dog, and he snapped at him. Apparently, Dave caught the dog's lip/jowl and broke skin. The vet said it was completely their responsibility for allowing him to get that close. I apologized profusely, and she continuously reassured me that this kind of thing will happen, especially as many of the dogs are in a heightened state - nervous, scared, agitated - when they are there. Still, I feel horrible. The other dog was fine, and playing right after it happened, but I can't imagine being that owner and getting that information. I asked if we would be kicked out or Dave needed to be muzzled (how exactly that would happen with the smooshed Boston snout I don't know), but she said that they would ensure that he is not able to get to another dog. She laughed when I asked about being kicked out, saying that it takes a lot more than that to have to leave.

I was very upset yesterday, and blame myself for not doing more for him in the past. He's been to training, puppy playtimes and met dogs in neutral spots one-on-one, and still hates other dogs, aside from a basset hound he met seven years ago and our friend's boxer, Moochie. The ironic part is that I had just remarked to Mike how much better Dave seemed while in the waiting room around the other dogs. He's been acting much calmer.

What I didn't mention in my brief update yesterday was the further detail the vet went into regarding his lymph nodes. She said that there are some dogs whose lymph nodes never feel normal and soft, but Dave's do, hence the "beautiful" lymph nodes comment. It was the bright spot in the discharge news yesterday.

The picture in this post is from Grammom's house last year. He unmade her bed to get comfortable. I think he looks remorseful. The new profile pic of him is from five or six years ago, when Mike's parents still had their pool. Dave LOVES swimming!

good reports!

Dave's appointment went pretty well today. After navigating through the traffic on move out day at Penn, he got in and out quickly. Physically, he's great - weight, eye, bloodwork, etc. The chief of oncology saw him today, and remarked that his lymph nodes were "beautiful." She said that he is doing really well overall. She changed his antibiotic to Baytril and gave him a stronger nausea med, Zofran, which he's had before. I'm hoping the antibiotic change won't have as much of an effect on him.

mother's day weekend

Dave is looking forward to spending Sunday with Grammom! As far as his status, it's pretty good. He didn't snore as much the past two nights, and has been playful. Today is a rainy day, so he'll be perfectly content to sleep all day.

I talked to the vet yesterday to update her. She's happy that he's maintaining his weight, and I told her that the main difference since doing the food changes has been his activity level the day of chemo. We were concerned about the amount of each food to give him, but since his weight's maintaining, no changes need to be made. We give a half can of wet food in the morning and evening, and add about a third to half of a cup of pumpkin and/or sweet potato, spinach or kale and occasionally a hard boiled egg. Many of the herbs in our garden survived the warm winter, so they're coming back in full force already. Dave loves mint, and loves to help himself. Sometimes we'll find him relaxing in the garden, eating directly from the plant, so I wanted to make sure that it was okay to give him. The vet said that he's self medicating, since he's a hot dog and it's a cool food. This made me laugh a bit, but hey, whatever works!

I added the above picture for Grammom (yes, we have a lot of closeups of Dave sleeping. He's not a sit long for a picture kind of guy). She was concerned that he looked skinny in the last picture, which is not the case. He's still just under 31 pounds and was being enveloped by his snuggle bed.

still hanging in there...

Dave is still doing well. Other than the unusually loud nighttime snoring and more licking than normal, he's great. We've completely weaned him off of kibble, so he's been thoroughly enjoying the wet food/pumpkin/sweet potato/spinach mix. He loves hard boiled egg time, too. Mmmmm.

From some of his pictures, you may think that Dave isn't feeling well, or that he's lethargic. No, my friends, that is pure laziness. He was lazy prior to cancer, and is lazy now.

cinco de mayo!

Dave would like to wish everyone "feliz cinco de mayo!" After getting his nausea meds yesterday, he perked up and ate. He was still not completely himself, but was much better. He spent a lot of time outside and played with his octopus. Today he seems okay, too, although he did get eight hours of rest time.

not a great day

Dave's been great all week, but we started his antibiotic yesterday, and he's not a happy camper. This isn't the first time we've seen this reaction. He's more lethargic, and is definitely having tummy issues. He wouldn't eat this morning, and was reluctant to take his peanut butter pills. He keeps licking his lips and seems to be salivating a lot. One bad day out of the week isn't too bad, hopefully we'll see some improvement as the day goes on.