nine months

Today is exactly nine months from Dave's first chemo treatment. His discharge paperwork said that he'd come out of remission about four months after a full course of chemo, which lasted five months. In reality, it was less than three months, and that didn't include the hope of the vaccine trial. Throughout the entire time, I had in my head "nine months, nine months." Nine months is here, and he's still with us, doing well and not seeming sick at all, and that makes me a happy person.

And, he got to see the Phillies win the World Series! Now that is exciting!

100 posts!!

And why not something fun? Pictures of Dave's toys from Aunt Tina, and of him making quick work of a couple of them.




























That's a rubber cat on the left, with no ears or tail, and a weiner dog in a bun in his mouth.

Dave's still quite fine, and we're quite happy with that right now.

no more rushed posts

Dave was fine all week. More than fine, actually, he was great. He took long walks, chased small animals in our backyard and tore up some new toys. Aunt Tina gave us a large bag of toys last weekend. I took pictures prior to, and during the destruction of some of them, and will get them posted here later this week. I came back from the weekend at grammom's a little congested, so maybe he was having the same issues. Regardless, Dave is wonderful. Mike's parents saw him this week, and are amazed at how well he's doing after the estimate the vet gave us when he came out of remission (2 weeks to 2 months). Today marks five weeks. It's good and bad. I love that he's still our dog and completely himself. However, there are moments when we get upset looking at him; he doesn't know what's coming, but we do, and when we let that creep into our thoughts, it's difficult.

We still have him on the antibiotic for pneumonia, along with his eye meds and prednisone. The spacing out of the pills requires him to get three peanut butter and/or cream cheese dollops a day, which is fine by him.

hmmm

Things don't seem quite right tonight. Dave seemed well all weekend, including in the morning, but this evening he seems slightly uncomfortable. He's breathing a little heavier than usual, and his lymph nodes are more noticable than they have been. They're still soft, but more palpable. He ate, however, which is a good thing. At least for tonight.

more items checked off!

We're at grammom's house, so Dave will get to go to the beach. He also had a visitor last night who he tried to get frisky with - thanks Christen! He seemed to enjoy the extra attention! He's hanging in there with no noticable change.

update

Dave is doing well - he's active, and is eating and playing like nothing is wrong. We're giving him 15 mg of prednisone, and it seems to be keeping the lymph nodes small and symptoms at bay. I spoke with the doctor yesterday (I love that she called on a Sunday, btw), and asked what to expect. She said that generally there is a pretty quick onset of symptoms, and that the lymph node usually get larger as that's happening. I suppose that it's good that we have something to look out for, especially since the days seem pretty normal right now.

bucket list #4

Cooper River Park is one of Dave's favorite parks (pictures taken by a cell phone camera, so they're not that clear).

The park has a large walking trail and several smaller ones. We stuck with a smaller one with some criss-crosses through the grass so Dave could pick up on all of the delicious smells. The first time around the loop, he just sniffed the traces of the geese. Dave was a little unsure of wading in. He won't go in the ocean, but used to love swimming in pools. After taking everything in for about a minute, he happily went in!

He didn't smell very good after his dip in the lake, but that didn't matter! He was happy and we were happy. He's still very much himself.

Dave's bucket list

I decided a few days ago that Dave needed a bucket list (i.e., things to do before he kicks the bucket). We started it before I had this genious idea, but it looks a little like this:

1. lots of treats (he hadn't been getting a lot throughout his treatment)
2. ice cream
3. go to the park and chase geese
4. lots of walks (not much different than usual, but why change status quo)
5. table scraps (he's NEVER been fed table scraps, and we're still only giving him the good stuff, like chicken and veggies vs. crap)
6. stuffed toys to destroy
7. trip to the beach

We've hit every one but the beach trip, and I hope to get him there next weekend for grammom's birthday. Any other suggestions?

October

Thursday night was not a good one - Dave was up for several hours, with vomiting and diarrhea. I contacted the oncology department on Friday, seeing as things tend to get worse on weekends, when our regular vets/nurses are not available. The vet I spoke with recommended we start prednisone. She posited that the stomach issues were symptoms of the lymphoma because he'd been on anti-diarrheal medication since Tuesday. We're continuing with chicken and rice since any small introduction to the kibble makes it worse. I was pretty upset, as he'd been well otherwise; I didn't want to hear that the lymphoma is already symptommatic. However, Friday night, when I got home from work he was fine, and he had an uneventful sleep last night. Today he's been whining to go outside, which is definitely status quo on a beautiful day.

I don't know if Dave will make it to Halloween. After watching "Best in Show" many, many times, I always joke to Mike that Dave needs a busy bee costume. Thanks to Target's great pet section, he got one today! He looks too cute in it, and tolerated it much better than I thought he would. Here's a little video - please note that the chair he jumps on is strictly his chair, and not representative of our home furnishings.