Alex Update

[Guest CyndiW]

Alex goes in tomorrow for his first adria. We weren't going to use this chemo because of his age and status at dx but he has handled all the other chemos wonderfully and he is a lot stronger and healthier now than what we started out as over a month ago.

 

He went into a full remission after just a few treatments of Vincristine and the Cytoxan at home. However, the Cytoxan gave him a nasty bladder infection which came on quickly but was treated quickly with Baytril. His remission was short lived but when the cancer came back (after a week), she still considered it a partial remission. She has to monitor his cancer through ultrasound of his intestines. He quit eating almost anything for 10 days so we knew something was up and that another ultrasound was needed.

 

She gave him another Elspar last week to help put him back in remission and I am assuming it worked because he is eating like crazy. She had mentioned the words feeding tube if he didn't start eating but frozen Bil-Jac saved him (don't think I could have went through with that). He is eating soaked kibble, cottage cheese, baby food, and ground hamburger now fortunately and a pet store near the onco is saving me 4 bags of Bil-Jac just in case. It will be nice to have those on hand, especially after the adria. He ate his first bag in about 24 hrs!!!

 

He normally gets chemo treatments on Mondays but his onco is sick so they rescheduled for tomorrow. Then, today I got a call that she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia so the internist that dx his cancer will be administering the chemo. She also has a senior grey.

 

The nice thing about Alex is that he doesn't have a clue that he is sick and plays with his squeaky "babies" (stuffies) on a regular basis. Even when he wasn't eating, he wanted to and followed me around trying to tell me what sounded good to eat (if only I spoke greyhound). We were even able to take walks last week when the weather was nice for a couple of days. Of all 4 boys, he was the only one that I didn't think I was going to have to carry home! Go figure - cancer and chemo and he just trotted along without a care in the world.

 

He has been very lucky to not have any vomiting or diarrhea from the chemos so far but I am trying to prepare for the adria because I know it can do him in for awhile. However, this is a risk worth taking at this point to get a longer remission for him. My husband has about 71 more days in Iraq and we are hoping to have a wonderful summer with the boys (all of them!).

[Shaysmom]

Sending healing thoughts and prayers to Alex....

[Guest argolola]

Alex will be in my prayers.

[MerlinsMum]

Will be thinking of Alex tomorrow and keeping my fingers crossed. Sending hugs to you both :grouphug

Please let us know how it goes when you can.

[4greyhounds]

Sedning prayers and whit light.

[Guest vahoundlover]

Sending lots of prayers!

[CaliforniaGreys]

Alex will remain in our prayers

[Guest KRKWMU]

Go, Alex, Go! I'm so glad he's eating again! 10 days probably seemed like forever. Bonnie also likes cottage cheese and ground meat. I recently tried tuna fish and canned salmon and she really likes those too. I've heard the name Bil-Jac, but I don't know what it is. Is it a liquid supplement? Thank goodness Alex took a liking to it!

 

Good luck with this new chemo medication. Here's hoping that Alex will be around for many more summers to come. We'll be thinking about you guys.

[Guest ss556]

Sending prayers for Alex.

[Guest CyndiW]

10 days did seem like forever. He would eat a couple tablespoons of cottage cheese here and there and maybe a few bites of kibble but I really thought this was it and that he had given up and the cancer had won. I would fix an entire buffet of food and offer one thing after the next just to have him smell each thing and walk away. He would get as excited as I would about new things but then one sniff and it was over. He even turned his nose to Ensure and he has always loved that.

 

Bil-Jac is a frozen dog food. It is very hard to find though. No one in Louisville had it or I would have drove an hour to buy more this past weekend. Several places in Cincinnati have it. It stinks and some of the ingredients are questionable but when the onco mentioned it (and several people have recommended it before when he wasn't eating) and they had it at their local pet store, I was willing to try anything so a feeding tube was not mentioned again. With his esophagus problems, it is perfect. I just add some water to make it slick and it goes right down. It is also low fat so it shouldn't bother his pancreatitis issues.

[robinw]

you're both in my thoughts...

[Guest HeatherDemps]

I hope that this next chemo treatment goes well. This is the same chemo that Dempsey is receiving. So far, things seem to be going well (3 treatments so far). I will say that the first one really impacted his appetite. He never threw up, but just seemed "off" and the doctors said that was the nausea. He also had problems with diarrhea, starting a few days to almost 1 week after the treatments. After each treatment, we have used meds for the diarrhea (the med that starts with met- can't remember the rest!) and it really seems to help. With the second treatment, he was given a shot of Cernia and we also were sent home with this in pill form to help with his appetite. I gave him one after the second and third treatments and it made a huge difference- we haven't had to deal with him refusing to eat or weight loss now. It might be worth seeing if the doctor would give you these meds to have on hand, just in case. I really hope that Alex does well with this treatment and that it works for him!!

[patricia]

Keep fighting sweetie...we are so proud of you. I know what a nasty demon Lymphoma is. Angel LaceyLaine is sending you love and hope from the Bridge.

[Guest LolasMom]

Sending my prayers for an easy treatment and the best summer ever for you and all your boys.

[gryhndsr4us]

Sending good thoughts your way. My 16 year old kitty has intestinal lymphoma (his is small cell). He has been on chemo (two pills every other week) and pred for over a year now. When he got sick he went from 10 lbs to 6 lbs we thought we were going to lose him. The only thing he can consistently keep down is canned food (the mushy kind). We have him up to a little over 7lbs and he plays and acts silly. You wouldn't know he was sick or 16.

I hope your Alex is as lucky.

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

Keeping Alex in my prayers!

[Burpdog]

Sending lots of prayers.

[sweetdogs]

Best wishes to Alex - he sounds like a fighter. I think we all wish we could speak greyhound.

[Guest gr84me]

Poor sweet Alex! Just offering my prayers and good thoughts for him, and for you.

 

Alex is one of my favorite GT hounds; he has been through so much and is such a sweet boy.

[Guest snowberry]

Sending prayers - the first dose of a new chemo drug is worst, because you don't know what to expect, but if he gets nausea or vomiting, it is treatable - hope all goes well

[Guest CyndiW]

Alex is 2 days post Adria. He "spit up" twice yesterday and didn't act like he felt well for about 2 hours. Thank goodness that was short. He was playing, barking, and running around after that. I wouldn't exactly call it vomiting because it was just a very small amount. Then, this morning he is a little quiet and has had some projectile vomit but it still is just mostly water with a little food in it. He is really good at making sure his mouth is aimed at me when this happens! Hopefully, he won't completely vomit anything because he really needs the nutrition. He is still about 10 lbs underweight but he looks good to me. I am used to the emaciated look so when he puts on a pound or two he looks huge to me.

 

So far, so good but they said days 3-5 would be the worst. He got a Zofran injection at the vet's and I have Cerenia, pepcid, and reglan to give here. As long as he doesn't get the big D, we should be OK. I ended up buying 6 bags of the frozen bil-jac but he has already decided he prefers the ground beef, cottage cheese, and white rice better. I don't really want to give him the rice because of the carbs but I figured it might help sop up some of the stomach acid.

[Batmom]

Sending lots of hugs and gentle scritchies. Hang in there, Alex!

[lovinggreysslp]

Sending prayers that Alex continues to feel ok. Sorry to hear that he has good aim when it comes to the projective emissions. I will put Alex in my prayers.

[Guest KRKWMU]

Poor Alex! There were times when we resorted to giving Bonnie rice or pasta with chicken. If Alex has some stomach issues, a bland diet with the rice might also help calm things down. Good Luck We'll be thinking about you guys. Glad to hear that he's playing and acting OK. Keep us updated when you can.

[galgrey]

Sending healing thoughts your way.