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I'm So Worried...my Heart Is Breaking


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Guest snowberry

:grouphug:grouphug Herbie has had lymphoma since April 07, and despite never achieving remission with chemo drugs, he is still with us, still wanting his walks and meals, and playtime with his toy pheasant. He developed side effects from the first chemo protocol we tried, and then we tried another, which kept the cancer in check for a while, but then stopped working.

 

I've put the links I found useful in my blog (see siggy below) but there were two books I found really useful. One was Help Your Dog Fight Cancer, and the other was Shawn Messonnier's Preventing and Treating Cancer in Dogs - this takes you through all the chemo options, but also tells you what the different supplements do and if there is any evidence for their effectiveness, whether they should be taken alongside chemo, and so on.

 

I'm sure you'll be in excellent hands with OSU. Sending prayers for you and Bonnie.

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Guest gottaluvgreysindy

Prayers to you and your sweet baby girl. I can't believe how much she looks like my boy...minus the angel kiss of course. She is a beautiful girl. Love her and live life as normal. I know that is hard to do right now, I remember the feelings like it was yesterday when I got the diagnosis of Deuce. Know that you don't have to go through this alone and we are all here for you. Sending prayers :hope

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It is lymphoma...our worst nightmare.

 

Our vet is sending all of the results to Dr. Couto. We'll wait for his recommendation on a chemotherapy protocol. All of Bonnie's bloodwork came back normal and the tick panel was all negative. Our vet didn't send out blood for the babesia testing yesterday, but did this morning after we talked the first time in the afternoon (really doesn't matter now). He called back after 5 PM and told me the bad news.

 

So, we'll begin the fight. Bonnie is a quirky, playful, and silly girl who is strong enough to beat this. If anyone has any insights, suggestions, or recommendations, please let us know. I'm thinking about a special diet, acupuncture and such. We're checking into studies at Univ. of Penn, one in Northern Virginia and also driving up to OSU to be there in personal with Bonnie.

 

Thank you again for all of good thoughts. Keep 'em coming.

 

Crap. The upshot is that many dogs do well with the treatment and can have a good quality of life in remission. And you don't have cut any body parts off :). Here's a bit on nutrition and lymphoma from Marvista: Nutritional Therapy Also, though the cancer type is different (OSA), check out what Winslow's mom feeds him - he really is thriving.

 

Big hugs to you and Drew and the pups. Healing thoughts coming to wee Bonnie.


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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We have a foster dog in our group, Ivan, who was returned to us in late summer 07. He was in horrible shape (long story) and had lymph nodes the size of baseballs on his neck, back legs and groin. It was definately NOT caught early. He was down to 65lbs (should be 90) and had lost most of his hair.

 

We decided to go ahead and try chemo on him. He's done very well with the chemo. Our vet said many times they consider it in remission after the first treatment. Ivan wasn't considered in remission until the last treatment of the first round. Even now, his lymph nodes will start swelling again when he's on one of his breaks from chemo.

 

BUT, he's happy, eating and back up to almost 90lbs. You'd never know he was sick. He even caught a rabbit in the back yard the other day!

 

According to the notes our director had from Dr. Couto, lymphoma can respond very well to treatment. Ivan is 11 and we hope he's got lots of time left to be chasing rabbits.

 

Kelly

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Wingnut (DC Wingnut), Voo Doo (Voo Doo von Bonz), Barb (Myokie Barb) & Romey (Nose Stradamus)
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We have a foster dog in our group, Ivan, who was returned to us in late summer 07. He was in horrible shape (long story) and had lymph nodes the size of baseballs on his neck, back legs and groin. It was definately NOT caught early. He was down to 65lbs (should be 90) and had lost most of his hair.

 

We decided to go ahead and try chemo on him. He's done very well with the chemo. Our vet said many times they consider it in remission after the first treatment. Ivan wasn't considered in remission until the last treatment of the first round. Even now, his lymph nodes will start swelling again when he's on one of his breaks from chemo.

 

BUT, he's happy, eating and back up to almost 90lbs. You'd never know he was sick. He even caught a rabbit in the back yard the other day!

 

According to the notes our director had from Dr. Couto, lymphoma can respond very well to treatment. Ivan is 11 and we hope he's got lots of time left to be chasing rabbits.

 

Kelly

 

Thanks so much for that story, Kelly. That's what I'm hoping for with Bonnie...for her to continue to be happy and without a care in the world.

 

 

Meredith- Thank you very much for that link. I think we'll be switching her to Innova EVO or the N/D. I'll be doing more research tonight and probably will start switching her over tomorrow.

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Just wanted to give you all an update. Not a whole lot has happened today. Bonnie is her spunky self. She has been panting during the night the past two nights though. I'm not sure what that's about. The first night there was a good reason- we had left the humidifier on and our bedroom was really hot. But, yesterday I couldn't find a reason for it. Maybe I'm just overanalyzing things, but I am going to start keeping a journal with stuff like that. Hopefully it doesn't happen tonight.

 

We are waiting to hear from our vet so we can discuss chemotherapy options. He is talking to Dr. Couto about what would be best. I hope to hear something specific tomorrow. We also have an email in to Dr. Couto about whether it would be beneficial to be seen at OSU personally.

 

I've pulled myself together and gotten organized a little bit today. I've ordered the two books that were recommended, have gone through an article about holistic supplements, gotten a lot of advice and support from members on Circle of Greys, Lymphomaheartdogs, and of course, GT and purchased the EVO food so we can switch over! So, I feel like we're getting somewhere! :yay

 

Thanks again for all of your posts and PMs. I will pass along all of your good vibes to Bonnie. She's hogging the couch at the moment :P

 

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Just wanted to give you all an update. Not a whole lot has happened today. Bonnie is her spunky self. She has been panting during the night the past two nights though. I'm not sure what that's about. The first night there was a good reason- we had left the humidifier on and our bedroom was really hot. But, yesterday I couldn't find a reason for it. Maybe I'm just overanalyzing things, but I am going to start keeping a journal with stuff like that. Hopefully it doesn't happen tonight.

 

We are waiting to hear from our vet so we can discuss chemotherapy options. He is talking to Dr. Couto about what would be best. I hope to hear something specific tomorrow. We also have an email in to Dr. Couto about whether it would be beneficial to be seen at OSU personally.

 

I've pulled myself together and gotten organized a little bit today. I've ordered the two books that were recommended, have gone through an article about holistic supplements, gotten a lot of advice and support from members on Circle of Greys, Lymphomaheartdogs, and of course, GT and purchased the EVO food so we can switch over! So, I feel like we're getting somewhere! :yay

 

Thanks again for all of your posts and PMs. I will pass along all of your good vibes to Bonnie. She's hogging the couch at the moment :P

Know that my heart is with you. Did Dr. Couto mention starting her on Prednisone while you are waiting to begin chemo? Hug Bonnie for me! Tell her an Angel is watching over. :grouphug

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I'm so sorry that the news wasn't better :(

Deerhounds Darcy, Duffy, Grace & Wellington, Mutts Sprout & Buddy, Lurchers Ned & Jake plus Ella the Westie + cats. Remembering Del, Jessie, Maddison, Flo, Sally, Stanley, Wallace, Radar, Mokka, Oki cat, Tetley, Poppy & Striker.

 

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Guest bugsmom
:grouphug:grouphug All of us at Gold Coast and the trainer from SOKC, send hugs to you and Bonnie. She is special to many of us and you know where we are if we can help in any way.
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:grouphug:grouphug All of us at Gold Coast and the trainer from SOKC, send hugs to you and Bonnie. She is special to many of us and you know where we are if we can help in any way.

 

Wow! That post means a lot of us. I know Bonnie was a favorite at her SOKC kennel. They are the ones that taught her how to give hugs :) Please give Judy an update for us. We saw her at Beach Bound Hounds and I had Bonnie with me. Judy was so excited to know that we had indeed adopted her and everything was going so well. Thank you for the good thoughts!

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Guest bugsmom
:grouphug:grouphug All of us at Gold Coast and the trainer from SOKC, send hugs to you and Bonnie. She is special to many of us and you know where we are if we can help in any way.

 

Wow! That post means a lot of us. I know Bonnie was a favorite at her SOKC kennel. They are the ones that taught her how to give hugs :) Please give Judy an update for us. We saw her at Beach Bound Hounds and I had Bonnie with me. Judy was so excited to know that we had indeed adopted her and everything was going so well. Thank you for the good thoughts!

 

We were all at the kennels cat testing yesterday and I was telling Tommy (the trainer) and Judy about Bonnie. I told them that you didn't know for sure yet- Tommy made me stop talking about it because he was crying so much. Bonnie is very special to many people. We are here if you need us.

 

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We were all at the kennels cat testing yesterday and I was telling Tommy (the trainer) and Judy about Bonnie. I told them that you didn't know for sure yet- Tommy made me stop talking about it because he was crying so much. Bonnie is very special to many people. We are here if you need us.

 

That made me cry. I had no idea. :cry1 I remember meeting a woman (she had one or two small children with her) when we did a kennel tour last January. I'm going to send you a couple of pictures by PM if that's OK. Could you please share them with the "Bonnie's Florida Fan Club"? Thanks so much. It's greyt to know that Bonnie is so loved! :)

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