vjgrey

Hmm...I did ask about methocarbamol/robaxin tonight when I picked Gabe up, but it was via a vet tech, because his oncologist was on a phone call. She checked with him briefly and said he'd said no, because it was a "bad idea" on top of Gabe's other meds. He didn't elaborate, and she didn't know, so I'm not sure which of his meds he thinks it would conflict with. I'll ask him to elaborate when I speak to him next.

I have considered that. Really, I have. But he shows no signs of pain or discomfort 99% of the time. He's not limping, and he'd still be running around and jumping if we'd let him. If he didn't have a visible tumor, I might think he'd been misdiagnosed. He may not tell me when he's ready, but right now I know he isn't. Thank you for the advice, though. I do understand your point. And thank you all for telling me it's okay to trust my judgment.

Must be one of those kinds of days - Gabe's white blood count isn't right for chemo today, either. He'll get the Pamidronate drip, anyway, and we'll try again next week. His oncologist thinks the episodes are breakthrough pain and gave me a very negative speech - "He's already on large amounts of pain meds, we may want to consider whether we're really managing it effectively..." etc. Aside from these very brief episodes (30-45 seconds, once a day for the last several days), he's trying to charge around our house like a bull in a china shop, so I don't necessarily agree that they're breakthrough pain. Especially since they're not always in the osteo legs, and i can actually watch the muscles cramp. He's walking mostly without a limp, eating great and is still generally a happy boy. He's also not at a max dose of gabapentin (currently 300mg twice a day) or tramadol (two pills, twice a day). I love our oncologist, but it's very discouraging to be getting a "throw in the towel" speech when I don't feel we're anywhere near that point. *SIGH*

Lucy did that once at 4am. I was home alone, and it scared the bejeezuz out of me. Turned out there were four deer grazing in our yard. I couldn't hear them, but she sure could.

He's also getting five doses of chemotherapy, one every third week. He'll have his third treatment tomorrow. While he's in for chemotherapy, he gets Pamidronate in an IV drip, so every third week for that as well. We're doing the radiation treatment on an "as needed," basis. Our radiologist discussed with us the benefits of various treatment protocols (one a week for four weeks, etc...). She recommended "as needed," to try to stretch the treatments out longer. Once they reach the maximum allowable radiation, it can be six months or more before they're able to treat again. It's been such a "miracle cure," for Gabe that we want it to remain an option for him. He's also on Gabapentin, amantadine, rimadyl, and tramadol.

Pallative radiation has worked VERY well for Gabe so far. Twice, he's gone from relatively fine to completely lame within less than 24 hours, and both times, he was walking again immediately after treatment and walking without a limp the next day.

Does anyone know whether leg cramps are common in (non-amp) osteo pups? We took Gabe for a short walk (maybe 1/4 mile) on Christmas Eve. We were careful (we thought) not to overdo it, and he was happy as a clam at the time. Later that night, 4-5 hours after the walk, he suddenly yelped while laying down. He had his non-tumor front leg fully extended, and we could see the muscles in his shoulder rippling and tightening. We rubbed the area, and he calmed down and went back to sleep. He had similar, brief episodes yesterday and this morning. He'll be in to see his oncologist on Thursday, so I'll ask about them then, but I wondered whether anyone here had seen something similar.

Thinking about you and Hero today. Let us know how the appointment goes.

How has your experience with the radiation therapy been so far? How long does it take for each session? How many sessions (frequency)? Is Gabe ok with the actual treatment? What exactly goes on during the treatment? Is there a radiation machine and Gabe just has to lay there during the radiation procedure? Sorry to be so noobish and wet behind the ears. I'm sure many of these questions will be answered during the consult, but want to be prepared before I go in. Gabe has done REALLY well with radiation. So far, he's received two emergency treatments. Both times, he's gone from completely lame (unable to walk without sling assistance) to walking out of the clinic on his own after the treatment. And walking without a noticeable limp the day after. According to our radiologist, there are about seven different protocols used throughout the country, in terms of treatment frequency. With Gabe, her recommendation was to just treat him as needed for pain. There's a total radiation level that they can't exceed, so reaching that level would mean the unavailability of that as a treatment option. We're trying to stretch them out as long as we can. Unfortunately, it's been a huge learning curve for me to realize when the pain is bad enough to warrant treatment but not so bad that it leaves him completely lame. Both times, Gabe has progressed from a slight limp/off gait (which his oncologist thought was arthritis this last time) to completely lame in less than 24 hours. If I don't get better at recognizing it before it gets to such a bad stage, we'll think about a more regular treatment schedule. It's important for them to lay very still, so they're sedated for the procedure. Gabe has had very bad reactions to anesthesia in the past, so he's given propofol without any other sedatives, and they use a gas mask to keep him under. Sedation of any kind for my hounds makes me nervous, but so far, it's been fine. The treatment itself lasts about thirty minutes, with half an hour or so on each side to prep him/bring him out of the sedation.

My understanding is that the main side effect of chemo is nausea/gastro-upset, but we haven't seen that in Gabe's first two treatments. OSU is happy to mail the drugs - we're getting them in Northern Virginia. You'd just need to submit a consult form requesting chemo drugs: https://greyhound.osu.edu/consultationservice/ They'll get back to you with a list of what they need. I think it was just weight, vet's name and address, and a copy of the pathology report from your hound's diagnosis. According to our oncologist, chemotherapy combined with palliative radiation may buy us another six to eight months. Gabe wasn't a candidate for amputation (osteo in two limbs), so this was the best choice for us. Radiation especially has done absolute wonders for him. I think we would've wound up letting him go a week after diagnosis had the radiation not worked so well in controlling his pain. We're now at six weeks post-diagnosis.

Lots of good thoughts for you and Hero.

Yep, all three of mine are shedding like crazy. Thank goodness for my Dyson.

I'm so sorry. You may want to see if your vet can refer you to an advance veterinary medicine/oncology center if you have one nearby. For us, they were better equipped than our regular vet to discuss with us our full range of options. You may also want to see about upping her pain meds and/or getting additional ones. Gabapentin and amantadine, along with the Tramadol and rimadyl have been a good combination for Gabe. He's also benefitted HUGELY from radiation treatments. OSU will provide your vet with free chemotherapy drugs if you choose to take that route.

OMG! YOU were the one story that had be freaked out the most Sunday morning after I fully woke up and started freaking out! During his episodes did he act like he was seeing something to growl at? If it's a seizure I'm confused why she would go and check each room in the dark afterwards. I kept thinking "Is this how it started out with them?" I didn't even think of Xpenning her couch off for nighttime. Thanks! No, he didn't seem to be looking AT anything while he growled. It was more like he was looking through things. He also didn't seem to have any memory or awareness at all of what had just happened. Even when he attacked me, he didn't seem to be aware of what he'd just done. He seemed confused/worried that I was upset and crying. There's probably a simpler explanation for Sunshine's behavior. I certainly didn't mean to freak you out!

[i feel this response should come with a disclaimer - I'm ONLY describing what we've been through with our hound. NOT saying any/all of it applies to Sunshine's situation], Oh, boy. I'm not sure whether my old threads are still around, but we've gone through something similar with Gabe. During his "episodes," he would snarl/growl at absolutely nothing for 3-4 minutes. Vicious, awful growls that always reminded me of the rabid dog scenes in "Old Yeller." Usually, he stood still during these, but during one, he actually crossed our bed and attacked me. He'd snap out of it very suddenly and would be back to his sweet, normal self with seemingly no idea what had happened. We discussed his case with a neurologist, who recommended a lot of testing, but we ultimately decided not to go through with it. Our regular vet felt that we'd wind up spending thousands of dollars, put Gabe through a lot of stress, and probably still wouldn't get a definitive answer. He did feel we could narrow it down to two good possibilities - idiopathic epilepsy (essentially a focal seizure) or something called REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (Essentially the same disorder that causes people to act out violently in their sleep). While Gabe seemed wide awake during his episodes, they did always follow sleep. We chose to deal with it physically/behaviorally by making sure he never sleeps near people or hounds. For a while, he was crated or muzzled, but since our other two hounds have learned to avoid him, and we don't have children, it's not really necessary anymore. He IS crated or separated from the girls when we're away. It's worked fine for us. He had two or three episodes a year for several years but hasn't had one in...about three years, I think? We're not really sure why they stopped. I would recommend crating or muzzling Sunshine at night until you can figure out what's going on. Or maybe you could get an X-pen and fence off the area with her bed?

I'm so sorry you're facing this with Abby. It's definitely good to get a second opinion from OSU. My Gabe (10 1/2) has osteo in two legs - the site on his front leg shows as a visible tumor/growth, and the one on his back knee (which is giving him the most trouble) just shows on the x-ray as a less dense area.

So very sorry about Callie.

We do cross-country trips once a year or so to visit family, and that's what we do. Find a nice rest area or park, feed the pups, let them do their business and we can all stretch our legs.

He's walking without a limp this morning! :confetti A little bit of stiffness still, but worlds better than he was yesterday. I'm so grateful to Dr. Gustafson and her staff for squeezing him in.

Had his oncologist check him this morning, and there's no sign of a fracture. Just pain at the osteo site on his back leg. It's so odd that the tumor leg (front) hasn't seemed to bother him at all. They got him squeezed in for radiation today, so we're hoping that does the trick. Last round, he was trying to run (over the objections of a terrified mama) the next day. The radiology nurses said he insisted on giving kisses to everyone who walked by. :wub:

We had an absolutely horrific night. Gabe went from "fine" to completely unable to use his back legs. Neither of us has slept. The last time this happened, radiation helped almost immediately, so I'm hoping we can get an emergency appointment. His radiologist leaves TODAY for Christmas. Pray for/think about us, please.

Gabe had bloodwork done this morning, and everything still looks great. He's walking a bit stiffly but was trotting/prancing for the oncologist and didn't show any signs of pain when he manipulated his legs. He thinks it's just a touch of arthritis and suggests I keep PJs on him to keep his legs warm. We don't have any four-legged PJs so I suppose I'll have to shop...*SIGH* Edited to add - I've put a different collar on Gabe for each onco visit. The receptionist says it's the first thing she looks for when we come in - "What's Gabe wearing today?"

We constantly joke about wanting to wrap Gabe in bubble wrap, because while he's still okay with jumping/running around, he's taking years off his parents' lives. We're so terrified/paranoid of a fracture that we even put pillows between our bed and his at night, because he tends to kick out really hard in his sleep.

My initial consult request (also sent on November 9th oddly enough) was lost in the shuffle. A few weeks later, after Gabe started chemo, I called and then submitted a second request. I received a response to that one within 24 hours.

I'm so sorry you lost your beautiful boy.