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llm51807

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Everything posted by llm51807

  1. Neylasmom's Zuri and my Cecil are both doing zoledronate right now. I'll let Jen tell you about Zuri, but Cecil has had 3 treatments and until this last one on July 15th it hadn't seemed to help with pain much. Cecil had Cyberknife radiation in December and then 5 rounds of chemo afterward and was pain-free until the end of April. Based on X-rays it appears his tumor is not active, but he still he was in pain and is still limping. The month of June wasn't good and I feared we were nearing the end of our options. We stared acupuncture and Cannabis Oil (Rx Vitamins for Pets - Hemp Rx) and got a 3rd zoledronate infusion all within 2 days in mid-July and he improved significantly. Not sure what did it, but those are two other things you might want to try. BTW, he's on 2 Rimadyl, 3/3x Gabapentin, a few Tramadol a day, and various supplements and homeopathic treatments. Sending Crouton good healing thoughts. Poor baby, a brood Mom and only 7. I really hate this disease.
  2. Thanks for asking! Cecil is doing pretty well still. Still limping but more comfortable and moving much faster and easier. We'll go for bloodwork next week and another zoledronate treatment on the 15th if the labs look OK. July 28th marked 8 months since his diagnosis. You don't see many 4 legged osteo hounds make it this far, so it's clear Cyberknife did what it was supposed to do. Who knows how long this will last, so we try to focus on the present and not get too caught up in anything beyond the next week or two. Still, I can't help but hope the zoledronate is starting to work and we're seeing improvement because of bone healing in that shoulder. Jen, hows Zuri doing?
  3. You gave advice to someone earlier about being good to yourself; well, I'll pass that back to you. Go get yourself a massage after Zuri gets his!
  4. Oh, the guilt when we make them go through these unpleasant procedures and tests. The sad but indignant eyes. Oh well, we're the humans and I think we're making some good choices for our boys. Luckily they rarely hold grudges Sounds like your vet is very careful. Treading that fine line between keeping them healthy (well, you know, besides the osteo), staying ahead of the pain, and keeping the tumor at bay is so hard. Sounds like you're getting good advice and Zuri is getting great care. I'd say a good day overall, right?
  5. Sending soooo many good, positive thoughts for you and Zuri today! I'm thrilled to hear the zoledronate didn't wear off (or that the radiation treatment finally kicked in...or whatever!) It's so hard to tell what's working, I know. Happy to hear you enjoyed your time at the cabin. I try not to medicate unless it's necessary, but now with Cecil's osteo, I really don't hesitate, especially with the Tramadol. If he gets extra exercise or in/out of the minivan to the vets, I'll give him an extra Tramadol or two. Best to get ahead of it and at this point, we're trying to focus on having good days. A lesson in living in the moment! Cecil is also doing better. And once again, I'm not sure what did it. We did acupuncture, added CBD oil, and had his 3rd zoledronate on 8/14 and 8/15. He was already a bit better on 8/15 when he went in for the zoledronate and by 8/18 he as significantly better. It's the first time in a while that he's been able to shake his head (you know how their long legs flail about when they shake) without yelping or standing there looking sad holding up his leg. Up/down from lying on his bed is faster and easier. He's still limping but moving much faster. More of a hitch in his giddyup than a painful limp. Who knows how long it will last, but we'll take every second of it. Lots good vibes for Zuri!
  6. I'm so very sorry. Two so close together and Maverick so suddenly. Sending you peace and hope for a healing heart.
  7. So good to hear Zuri is doing well enough to go camping! Going to be pretty toasty here this next week, but I imagine a cabin in the woods will be shady and cool. Enjoy! Cecil is doing a little better. We did acupuncture on Thursday, we added hemp oil on Friday and also got a zoledronate infusion on Friday. Who knows what did it (that's the problem with doing more than one new thing at a time, but who can wait considering...). He's very much improved. Still limping but much more comfortable based on how he's moving. Best I've seen him in over a month. Maybe the 3rd zoledronate kicked in finally. I don't know, but we'll keep doing everything we've been doing and hoping he continues to improve. It may be unrealistic, but because we had a good X-ray last month with no active tumor in the shoulder I keep hoping his pain is from radiation damage and that it will actually heal on its own w/the zoledronate. I know he has osteo and I know it will come back, but I hate thinking the pain in his cancer leg will be his undoing. The Cyberknife was my choice; had we done an amputation, he wouldn't have this issue. We caught it early and that's why we could do Cyberknife. Catch it early, catch it late...I think we all second guess our decisions. There's never enough time; please don't feel guilty about wishing you had more. I want a hundred more years with Cecil and I'm already so sad I won't have it. I just try not to let my broken heart spoil the time we have left. The level of love and care GT members shower on our beloved greyhounds surpasses many human relationships. I believe Chase knew how much you loved him and that you did the very best you could for him. And I believe Cecil thinks the same about me and Zuri about Jen. Have you ever read the book Sight Hound by Pam Houston? It's told mostly through the eyes of Dante, an Irish Wolfhound who is a tripawd due to osteo. It will tear your heart out, but there's something about it that I find comforting.
  8. Zuri is so handsome and distinguished with his white face. I'm so happy he continues to do well!
  9. I'd say that's great news! And most importantly it sounds like Taylor is enjoying life! I love hearing good news coming from the osteo front.
  10. Yay Yay Yay!!!! I'm so darn happy when I hear good news like this!
  11. Sending you peace and love, Judy. We'll be thinking of Chase later today and wishing him Godspeed on his trip to the Rainbow Bridge. Very rough week for the Osteo hounds, indeed; I'm so sorry.
  12. Oh no. I'm so very sorry. You did everything you could for your boy and I'm sure he knew that. Sending hugs and peace to you.
  13. Fantastic news! Lots of that it keeps working for him! I've been doing a lot of reading on Zoledronate because I'm trying to decide if we'll do more treatments. It doesn't seem to be helping Cecil's pain, but I've read that it may inhibit tumor growth and mets in OS as well. So happy it's working for Zuri! Enjoy every moment!
  14. Well, at least it looks like the trachea should heal on its own. A grass awn? Wow, I hate when they eat grass but I never considered that. I thought I could spot danger anywhere; I guess I'll have to add that to my extremely long list. Not sure how you feel about homeopathic treatment (I'm not even sure how I feel about it), but we have been on Dr. Loop's regime for over a month. You can find more info here if you're interested. http://nutrition.tripawds.com/2010/02/02/2-years-and-more-eisen-fights-bone-cancer-with-homeopathy/. He does consultation by phone and then sends the remedies by mail. All good healing thoughts to Pogo.
  15. Yay, yay, yay! Keep the good news coming! And you know, I'm really trying to soak up every good day and worry less about what tomorrow will bring. Easy to say, hard to do though. Although, with all the alarms going off for meds, we shouldn't have any time to worry!
  16. We're still on the every 8 hour plan. I didn't want to change anything until after his chiro adjustment and acupuncture to see how that helped. It did help. I think we'll stick w/200mg every 8 hours and supplement with tramadol. We've got loads of room on the tramadol dose and we've only been doing 1 every 8 hours; sometimes I add in another capsule and give 2 if he seems gimpier than usual. I just got a Fitbit watch the other day, and this morning I set alarms for each of this pill times. We also dose homeopathic liquid remedies 4-5x per day that cannot be at mealtimes, so I totally get your 8 alarms! I should have set alarms sooner! Do you think the zoledronate has kicked in for Zuri? That will be our next decision...whether to do another one of those.
  17. Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about Pogo's lung mets. We're still sending you both our good thoughts.
  18. This is all such great information. I'm dealing with the same thing with Cecil. I was late getting home from work yesterday and missed his dose of gabapentin by 3 hours and he's been doing so well the last few days. I felt awful. So then I was afraid to give his nighttime dose so close to the midday dose because if was late (he's on 200mg 3x/day), so I took it to bed with me and put it on the nightstand. I thought I'd wait to midnight to give it right before I fell asleep. Well, I fell asleep and woke up at 6AM and sat straight up and yelled OH CRAP! Needless to say his meds are totally off now and I'm wondering about throwing in an extra 100mg midday today to get the total amount in his system up. Does it even work that way? He seemed OK this morning - no worse, but I feel horrible. I'm going to pick up a pill case this weekend to be sure this doesn't happen again. Ay yai yai! When you find someone to put you out of your misery, please send them over here next!
  19. Sending good thoughts to Pogo for his visit to Madison tomorrow; hopefully they'll get to the bottom of this mystery. Hoping Zuri is having another good day after the zoledronate. I read somewhere that it can start working in 24 hours for pain management, but often takes longer. Did they say if there was a danger zone you had to be aware of in terms of the potential for kidney damage? If he's fine after a few days is he out of the woods? I'm always looking for ways to clear my worry plate! Cecil did well at his chiro vet visit; he adjusted him and also did acupuncture. Cecil only yelped once during the exam (not the treatment) when the vet manipulated his neck and shoulder at the same time. Like the ortho vet and the Cyberknife vet, the chiro vet also doesn't know what is causing the limp since the X-rays look pretty good. Again, could be bone pain, shoulder injury due to weak bone from radiation, joint issues, etc, BUT, as he's the chiro vet and Cecil has had neck issues in the past, he also said the neck could be contributing. His range of motion in his neck was terrible. He's definitely less gimpy today after the adjustment. We added a Chinese Herb for cervical spine support (who knows what that is, but it smells like something that would taste good on roasted vegetables!). We'll go back in a few weeks for another treatment. Today was a good day. Hope the same for Zuri and Pogo and the others who unfortunately find themselves in this thread.
  20. Mark, our friend's boy had an amp in December and also 6 rounds of carbo. He's now on Palladia and does not have lung mets. He was taking the Palladia for about a month and then had some GI issues. Bloody diarrhea and not eating. Vet took him off and gave him some GI meds for about a week and now he's back on the Palladia. I was a little surprised she put him back on it, but he seems to be doing fine. And Oh Heck Yeah on the insurance. We're in way over $10K with Cecil at this point since November last year and Trupanion has paid 90% of everything. They haven't had an issue with a single claim, not even Cyberknife which they could have contested since it's not gold-standard treatment for Osteo and really expensive. Hope Taylor continues to do well with his new meds.
  21. That's great news...we'll keep the good thoughts coming for Zuri. Strong kidneys and no pain!
  22. We were JUST talking about dosing Gabapentin at every six hours and were discussing the overnight implications! The Gabapentin has helped for sure, but I can see the difference between an hour after he gets it vs 8 hours later. We're at 200mg every 8 and we're debating on going 200mg every 6 vs 300mg every 8. I saw some of your posts on Gabapentin from a few years ago and that's helped guide us on our decision...thank you for that I'm happy to hear the 1st treatment helped Zuri; we're debating on a 3rd but have a few weeks to go. We have an appointment tomorrow with our Chiro vet who also does PT and acupuncture. Hopefully that helps. I hate to say this, because I'm a normally a glass half full kinda person, but lately most of our choices have been based on what's the least bad option. Sifting through the pros and cons of every decision is tough, especially knowing where we'll end up. Add in the 4AM medicine alarm, the slip here and the "sleeping on it wrong" there, and things just stink for you right now, and we're close behind you if that helps at all. Blah is right! I guess we'll just keep on keeping on trying to make the decisions for our beloved hounds and hope for the best. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for both of them.
  23. Sending good thoughts for Zuri's infusion tomorrow. I've read some really positive things about zoledronate, but it doesn't seem to be helping Cecil after two. I hope it helps Zuri and his kidneys hang tough. The fluids should help with that.
  24. He's a strong boy, Mark, and he's done so well. He'll keep fighting. I'm sure you've read that Pogo's lung mets had disappeared and shrunk in his last Xray. I was just asking about how he was doing over on the Osteo thread. Curious about that rapamycin w/Palladia combo. Wonder if your vet could get his/her hands on that. Maybe compassionate-use access? We're all rooting for Taylor!
  25. I'd love to hear how Pogo and Zuri are doing. The update on Cecil is not great. He continues to limp and it's gotten worse. There was a short time before we started the gabapentin that he was painful getting up and lying down and letting out quiet little yelps, but that resolved shortly after the new pain meds kicked in. Ortho vet said limping does not necessarily mean pain (I'm not sure I get that), but he is still the same boy and his zest for snuggling in bed, tricks and treats, rides, walks, and mealtime are the same. No panting and anxiety; just that limping. He's had 2 zoledronate treatments and he's gotten worse since we started those - that could just be a coincidence, but I'm not sure. Probably won't do another. Ortho vet and Cyberknife vet both think the X-rays show very little change since before Cyberknife in December, so they think small injury from radiation weakness. We just don't know for sure. We'll stay the course on his current meds which are homeopathic remedies from Dr. Loops, curcumin, arteminisin, Rimadyl, tramadol, and gabapentin. We've got room to go on the pain meds so we an add to the doses if necessary, but it doesn't seem like adding pain meds will stop the limp. I'm going to take him to a vet who does acupuncture and chiro work. Cecil has a history of neck issues and his gait is so off right now it can't be helping.
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