Cosmo - Keepin' On Keepin' On.

[Tracey]

I've been following Asia's thread and as it happens, Cosmo started coughing this afternoon. She had an episode for a while of gagging. She really seemed like something was bothering her in her throat. Then it went away. Now a few hours later she's doing it again. I'm hoping against hope it's nothing, but she almost never coughs. Obviously I'll call the doctor Monday, but in the meantime if you all could send some prayers I'd really appreciate it.

 

For anyone who's been down this road, if the cancer did spread to the lungs, can you please tell me what happened next? I know they're all different but I guess I'd like to know what to expect and to get an idea of how much longer she has.

 

We're gonna go take her for a walk on the beach now and see if that perks her up. Thanks in advance for the good thoughts.

 

Update Sunday, August 16. Cosmo is still coughing from time to time. She had a brief episode last night when she got up from a bed and sounded like a barking seal. She was quiet all night and then when she got up this afternoon she was coughing a little, more of the throaty type cough. She coughed a little when she went outside too. When we started chemo the vet sent us home with Baytril, just in case. Her temp was 100.9 when I took it yesterday -- I believe that's normal? I'm debating if there's a chance starting her on the Baytril would help any, if there's a chance it could be infection? I don't want to bother the vet on a Sunday if I can help it. Any thoughts on if starting the Baytril might be helpful or if I should go ahead and call the vet or just wait? I know Cosmo won't get to see the vet before Tuesday because she's not in her office until then so if there's a chance a two day head start on the Baytril could help..... Any opinions?

 

Update Monday, August 17. Got a call in to the vet but haven't heard back yet. Cosmo had a few coughing spells yesterday but didn't seem as bad as Saturday. This morning she's been lying on our bed and coughing a lot. Lots of little coughs. Other than that she seems happy enough, if a bit subdued. She's eating well but doesn't seem interested in getting up to get the food; I have to bring it to her. Usually she is so excited about eating she's right there with Morgan and Chase while I dish up the food. I appreciate all the continued good thoughts.

 

Update Tuesday (Monday night late), August 18.

Cosmo's been very quiet today. She ate her food but I had to bring it to her. She's been resting comfortably but she's been very quiet, I don't know how else to describe it. I was just petting her now and I noticed her legs look fluid filled. She's lying on her left rear and I didn't want to bother her, but her left front and right rear look somewhat swollen with fluid and felt fluid-y to the touch. Any ideas about this? Any at all?????

 

 

UPDATE Tuesday 6 PM.

 

Not sure what to start with. The xrays showed five lesions in Cosmo's lungs.

 

However, given the size of them, Dr. Matz didn't think that was what was causing the coughing necessarily. We told Dr. Matz about the swelling in Cosmo's feet (it had gone down quite a bit by the appt. today) and she took Cosmo's temperature and she had a fever of 104.7. She was debating whether to admit her or not but since she's eating and drinking well she thought she'd do better at home. I just have to check her temp every four hours. I'm supposed to call her at 8pm tonight to check in. She gave Cosmo a Baytril injection and told us to start administering the oral Baytril tomorrow. She also sent us home with Doxycycline which she wants us to start with dinner tonight. Anyway, Dr. Matz was kind of surprised to find out she really did have an infection.

 

The xrays did show Cosmo's heart looks good, no fluid around it. She wants to do an ultrasound when we come back on Thursday. Also, she drew some blood for a complete workup today and hopefully we'll have the results tomorrow.

 

As for future treatment options, we'll discuss this further with Dr. Matz once Cosmo gets over her infection but she did mention possibly continuing chemo or trying intravenous pamidronate with the chemo or by itself. Someone on Circle of Greys had mentioned upping the dosage of artemisnin she's on up to 1000-1500 mg per day but Dr. Matz said to hold off on that for the timebeing while we get the infection cleared up.

 

I suspect, given how aggressive this seems to be - Dr. Matz said Cosmo's osteo appears to be much more aggressive than she's seen before - we're probably going to be looking a palliative care. I'm trying to hold it together (I have not been nearly as calm as I sound here...) and just think about getting her over the infection so that she feels better. After that, we'll decide what our next move is. Personally, I'm all about quality of life for her at this point. I just want her to enjoy the time she's got left.

 

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes, everyone. Please keep 'em coming.

UPDATE Thursday, August 20.

 

The good news is that Cosmo seems to be feeling a bit better. Her temperature has stayed in the normal range for the last 27 hours (yesterday around 10:30 it was 103.4 but as of 12:30 pm today it was 101.4) and she seems to be feeling a bit more energetic. She never lost her appetite, but she was lying down to eat. Now she's eating standing up again and she's been more engaged with us, demanding "head pets" and "tummy rubs" with her usual methods of the pointed stare and the "shovel nose" under the hand. She wasn't doing that for a few days.

 

Her blood work all came back great. Her white cell count was fine and in the proper proportions also, according to Dr. Matz. She hasn't entirely ruled out an infection though, suggesting it could be some latent TBD that came to life after the chemo suppressed her immune system.

 

Now the less good news on my part is that Cosmo's feet are still full of fluid. Dr. Matz didn't think it was pulmonary osteopathy because usually there is no fluid with the swelling and Cosmo's feet are definitely sponge-y as if they are full of fluid. I'm supposed to hear back from her today as to whether to bring Cosmo back in to xray her legs just to rule it out. Obviously I'm not the vet, but I'm hoping we can just get some sort of diuretic or something and see if that helps first. The swollen feet do seem to be making it uncomfortable for her to get around and I think if we could get it to go down she'd feel pretty much like herself again.

 

She still has the cough, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as it was. What I notice is it seems worse in the morning after she's spent all night shut in our room with the A/C going. We have a window unit and she likes to lie in front of it on our bed.

 

Anyway, that's where we're at. Dr. Matz has surgery this afternoon and then she'll give us a call to discuss what we do next. I will update again then. Thanks for the continued good thoughts and prayers. They mean the world.

Update Thursday night

 

The xrays ruled out the pulmonary osteopathy, which is good.

 

The ultrasound revealed some sort of mass around her heart. Even though she'd gotten chest xrays Tuesday, they hadn't shown the mass, so Dr. Matz ordered more chest xrays today. Logic tells her the mass could not have grown that much in two days because everything looks very different today from Tuesday. Nothing she could come up with really explains her swollen feet. The only thing Dr. Matz could think of was if the mass was pressing on her lymphatic system and causing the edema (I'm trying to recount this from memory, so I hope that makes sense).

 

Anyway, this mysterious mass either may actually be a mass or it may be pneumonia. We don't know. At this point there's nothing much to do but keep administering the doxycyline and baytril and see if she continues to improve. If her temperature spikes (and I have to keep taking it regularly and track the results) we add amoxicillin to the mix.

 

If it's not pneumonia then we have to prepare for the fact that this mass is growing incredibly rapidly. It's unfortunate that the results of all these tests have not pointed to a conclusive answer. I know Dr. Matz has researched the hell out of this. She's truly incredible and I think she's our vet for life, or at least as long as we're in Connecticut. She did make a point of telling us to call her cell any time if we need her over the weekend, which is great to know that she's willing to be that available, but unfortunately also somewhat telling as to what she thinks Cosmo's prognosis is.

 

So now I guess I just need to ask all of you to keep praying and sending good thoughts. We're hoping for pneumonia now and that the antibiotics will take care of it. The alternative is too sad to contemplate.

 

Friday August 21 update

Sending more prayers and hoping the swelling will go down. How is she feeling today?

 

Bout the same. Feet still swollen, no temp, not much energy....although she was trying to roach earlier (kind of tough now with one shoulder even when she was feeling good) and has been guarding a Milkbone she didn't feel like eating but didn't want Chase to eat either. I'm clinging to what good signs I can find. At least she isn't in pain.

 

------------------

 

Scratch that. I just took her temp again and it's spiked to 103. Dr. Matz said to let her know if it gets over 102.5 so I called her and she wants to add amoxycillin to the mix since she says there's a range of bacteria the doxy and baytril don't cover. She's also going to let us try a dose or two of lasix to reduce the swelling since Cosmo's still eating and drinking well. She's calling them in right now so hopefully once we get these two in her we can see some real improvement. Please keep your good thoughts coming. Cosmo's still eating and drinking and doesn't seem in pain and is breathing just fine, so I'm not throwing in the towel on her yet.

Update Saturday August 22.

 

Got Cosmo started on the antibiotic and the lasix last night. After looking it up online last night I realized the vet put her on a really low dose of lasix; 20mg twice a day when the norm for her weight would be 60-120mg twice a day. Since I noticed slight improvement in her fluid retention I asked Dr. Matz if I could up the dose when I spoke to her this morning. She gave the go ahead to give up to 50 mg twice a day but said to increase gradually, so at 3:00 pm I gave her 40 mg. I hope we'll start to see some improvement. She's drinking a lot and peeing like a racehorse so I'm hopeful we can get the swelling reduced. I just know she'll feel a ton better if we can. She's alert and eating and drinking great, it's just the feet....

 

And her temp's been up and down. It was steady around 103 most of the times I took it but at 2:30 last night it had spiked up to 104.3. I wrapped her in a damp towel for a while and at 5:00 am her temp read 100.2. At 9:30 this am it was 103.1 again but at 2:30 this afternoon it was 102.6, just a hair over normal. We have only had to do the damp towel routine that once. Besides that we've just been keeping her in a/c and I got some sugar free vanilla pudding cups and froze them and she's been enjoying her cool snacks.

 

The only other thing I really find odd is how much water has been leaking out of her eyes. It looks like she's been crying and there's a wet spot where she's been lying. Just don't know what would cause this. Can't check in with the vet this evening because she's at a wedding (the other vet she works with is getting married tonight) so I'll have to ask her about it tomorrow. Hoping it's nothing major.

 

Anyway, that's where we're at. I guess when you look through this thread it seems like we're putting her through a lot. We're trying to do as little as possible and just keep her comfortable. It's really difficult to know what to do for her because the temperature (when she has one) really doesn't seem to bother her and she's alert and seems happy and is eating and drinking and her breathing is fine. She seems to have a coughing jag in the morning but other than that she hasn't coughed much. Really, other than those darn feet...

I just hope she'll let us know when she's had enough.

 

Please keep sending those good thoughts Cosmo's way. Thanks.

 

UPDATE SUNDAY, AUGUST 23

 

Cosmo's a bit better this evening. Her temp's been normal and she's been eating today. If you haven't seen my other post, I've had to get really creative. Today she's had frozen vanilla pudding, peanut butter, mixed veg and turkey baby food (9 ounces of it, yay!) and an ice cream bar. Whatever it takes. She's peeing and she finally pooped - not sure how long it had been but this was a big one. She's getting up on her own a bit better and the swelling in her feet is slowly going down. I think because I upped the dose to 60mg. The initial 20mg was useless. Her eyes are bright and she's alert and whining for attention now so I will cut this short, but just wanted to update.

 

UPDATE MONDAY, AUGUST 24

 

Cosmo still seems to be doing ever so slightly better. She hasn't coughed at all today, oddly. Today she's eaten cream cheese, chicken and peanut butter. Not much to say, really as nothing remarkable is going on. The vet called and is going to give us a refill of the lasix at a higher dose since it does seem to be helping with the swelling.

 

The vet keeps preparing us for Cosmo's breathing to get a lot worse and quickly. I don't doubt her, but she almost seems skeptical that it hasn't happened yet. Cosmo is totally quiet and unlabored almost all of the time. When she gets up to go outside it tires her out but like I said, she didn't cough at all today when I let her out. She tried to go upstairs on her own when she came in earlier. It's not that I think she's going to get better or anything unrealistic like that but she isn't as bad off as the vet seems to think she should be, if that makes any sense. I won't let Cosmo suffer but at least for today she seems okay.

 

UPDATE TUESDAY, AUGUST 25

 

Here's where we're at today. Cosmo doesn't seem to be coughing any more. At all. Which is surprising, especially if you ask the vet who said her breathing should be a lot worse by now.

 

She's eating but she's being picky. I did some research yesterday to see how many calories she needs since she's on all people food now, and I came up with anywhere between 1500-1800 calories for a 60lb dog. So far today she's had about 600 calories in the form of two jars of baby food, a cup of pudding and some peanut butter. I figure with one or two more attempts throughout the day I can get the rest into her without too much hassle. She sure does like the pudding if nothing else.

 

My biggest concern still is the swelling in her feet. Her front foot and her left rear aren't too bad any more, but the right rear is still really swollen and it makes it really difficult for her to get around. I suppose I sound nuts but I really think she'd feel okay except for that.

 

We have an appointment at the vet at 6:00 pm on Thursday since she suggested another xray. Mainly we're just not sure what's going on since the symptoms still don't add up. Why is the swelling going down in two legs but not the other? Why did her cough go away? It would be easier to say this is all the osteo at work if her breathing was getting worse and she was coughing more. Not that I'd wish that on her of course. But it would make it easier to know what to do. But with everything resolved except for the swelling in her foot, it makes it more difficult to know if we should press on or not. She's up to 60mg of lasix twice a day. Wonder if that's enough?

 

 

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26

 

I think our little girl is out of energy. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 6pm. Her cough has gone away but the swelling in her feet hasn't, despite the lasix and cold paks we've been applying. She can't get up on her own any more. She's still alert and drinking and eating if I offer her the right thing in the right way (baby food out of the jar or out of a cup but not her dog dish even if I hold it for her) which is what makes this so tough. But she's weak. I have to put her on her feet so she can walk. Jason carries her up to bed at night and down in the morning. I took out her collar and leash to see if she wanted some fresh air just now. She struggled mightily but could not get up on her own. I got her to her feet, she walked to the front door, looked out and decided she didn't want to go out, something she has NEVER done. Coaxed her to the back door, thought she might like to go out in the yard to go potty. She looked, turned around, went back to the living room, took a drink of water and flopped down on her bed. To say this is heartbreaking and gut wrenching does not begin to cover it. Anyway, her appointment tomorrow was supposed to be for more xrays, but Dr. Matz has already said there's nothing else she can do. In my heart I think I know Cosmo's appointment tomorrow will be her last. I can't believe she didn't get more time than this.

MINI UPDATE THURSDAY, AUGUST 27

 

Thanks so much for all the good thoughts, guys. They mean the world. I've been wracking my brain and poring over the internet trying to find anything else we can do. It's so frustrating. She seems fine, if only she had still had the strength to get up on her own. I know as the dose of lasix has gone up she's gotten weaker. Don't know how quickly or severely she could become potassium deficient due to the lasix but we'll ask the vet about it. It's just so hard to wrap my head around this. She lies on her bed napping quietly, eats and drinks well, looks around and looks interested in stuff when she's not sleeping. She looks like herself most of the time. But she just can't get up on her own. Jason doesn't want to let her go yet and I don't know what the answer is. Please throw any extra prayers at us for the next hour or two if you don't mind as we're leaving shortly for her appointment.

 

UPDATE, THURSDAY night, AUGUST 27

First of all, Cosmo came home with us under her own steam (for the most part).

 

Second of all, I feel like I have to tell you that if the vet really thought it was time, we would have done as she advised. We listened to the vet's suggestions and based on those, we got another xray and then a cbc to see if the lasix is having any adverse effects. She put Cosmo on 30mg of prednisone once a day for the next week, then 20 mg once a day the week after that. Dr. Matz conferred with an oncologist and another vet and based on what they said, thinks trying a different chemo drug may be in order. My first priority is and always has been quality of life, whereas Jason is more of the try anything type. Since we couldn't (because of Dr. Matz's schedule) do anything with chemo before next Tuesday at the soonest, I said let's try the prednisone for a few days and see how it goes. It also turns out we may have inadvertently made Cosmo worse by letting her lie around so much. She was actually getting around pretty well at the vet's office and again outside of it. And when we got home Jason walked her about three houses up and back which is more than she's felt like doing in days.

 

I feel guilty in some way for taking you all on this ride with us so I hope you'll forgive me for putting you all through this too. I can really tell how much all of you care. I really didn't think Cosmo would be coming back home with us. Dr. Matz is being very frank with us that she doesn't think Cosmo has a whole lot more time, but she did think there was some quality to be had and based on that we decided to try another thing or two. Thank you so much for rooting for Cosmo so hard and standing by us at this difficult time.

UPDATE, FRIDAY, AUGUST 28

 

The vet said it could take 1 1/2 - 2 days for the pred to start working but I don't know... she had her first dose at 10 pm last night.

 

Jason carried her downstairs to go potty when we got up today but once on her feet she was getting around much, much better. I let her back in and expected her to go lie down in the living room, but before we knew what was happening she was bounding back up the stairs to our bedroom. And once there she ate most of a Milkbone. It's been days since she's done either. All I can think now is thank heavens we brought her back home with us last night since she's clearly not finished here yet.

 

Thanks so much for all the love and support, you guys. It means the world.

 

UPDATE, MONDAY, AUGUST 31

 

Each day since Thursday Cosmo's been doing better than the day before. She can get up on her own and get up the stairs if we can't catch her first. She laid down and caught some sun in the yard on Sunday which she hadn't done in a while, I suppose because she knew if she did she wouldn't be able to get back up. The only thing that's really been missing is she's seemed somewhat mopey and I suppose I can't blame her for that. If I was reduced to either laying in bed or going to the doctor all the time I'd be mopey too.

 

The vet said keeping her moving was good for her and we had some beautiful cool weather tonight so even though it was about 11:30 pm when we set out we decided to drive to the beach and take her for a short walk on the boardwalk. We really expected it to be very brief in fact, but thought she might enjoy the outing all the same. We just figured we'd let her lead the way and when she'd had enough she'd let us know. So we walked and walked and walked some more and frankly it was hard to keep pace with Cosmo, she was going so fast. After about a half mile or so we thought we had better turn around and shortly after we did Cosmo came to a stop, which she does from time to time when she gets tired. So we thought we had made the right call to turn back even though Cosmo had wanted to keep going. We'd walk a bit further and then she'd stop again so we thought she must be really tired. Then Jason said "let me try something" and he turned around, in the direction Cosmo had wanted to keep going and suddenly Cosmo was off at a jolly clip again. Turned out what we thought was fatigue was really just reluctance to head back to the car. We finally got her buy in when we told her we could just keep on going once we got to the car if that's what she wanted to do. And it was. All told I'd say Cosmo walked us about a mile, mile and a quarter or so.

 

Now she's resting gently on her bed again, having polished off a cup of pudding with her night time meds mixed in it. And I can't be for sure, but I think I see a little smile on her face. And you should see the gigantic smile on mine.

 

UPDATE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3

 

Cosmo's been doing very well. We've taken her to the beach for a walk every night this week so far and she's done at least a mile each night. Tuesday night she did the entire boardwalk, up and back, which is a mile and a half. Last night she was so cute. She has always been quite a meeter and greeter, but usually she's kind of subtle about it. She'll just stop and look at people and hope they approach her. Last night we were walking past a bunch of people on some benches and you have to know that there were a couple hundred people up and down the boardwalk last night at least. But there was this guy in his 20s sitting on a bench with his family and Cosmo made a beeline for him, she just decided she had to meet that guy. She never does that, and then she buried her head in his lap. Fortunately he was very glad to see her or it could have been embarrassing. Anyway, she's really been enjoying her trips to the beach. Last night after the beach we took her to McDonalds and boy did she light up when she saw an entire ice cream cone all for her. She was in heaven. She also had a cheeseburger, just the meat and cheese though. She saved the crappy bun for her siblings.

 

Anyway, we went to the vet again Tuesday. Additional xrays have told us that basically we're in the palliative care phase now, no more chemo, just continuing with the lasix and pred. Dr. Matz wants to keep her on some antibiotic so she's on another round of Baytril. Also potassium supplements and 600 mg of artemisinin as well. It's tough sometimes not to let the sadness of her being sick overshadow the good times but we truly are so thankful that our little sweet pea is still with us and genuinely do feel that every single day is a gift. A week ago I thought we would be saying goodbye and now she's motoring up and down the boardwalk every day. Cosmo is truly our little miracle.

Edited September 4, 2009 by Tracey

[HopeForHounds]

Thinking nothing but good thoughts for our Cosmo girl.

[Guest Energy11]

Ah... a walk on the beach, is perfect! Our Max, who had Osteo, started coughing toward "the end," ... I knew what it was, so didn't bother to xray. Honestly, the cough didn't seem to bother him too much ... it was more the leg. When he started hopping on three legs on a Friday, ... we spend the weekend with him, HEAVILY medicated, and sent him to The Bridge on MOnday.

 

Just because Cosmo is coughing doesn't mean it is " time," yet ... Might want to get xrays, and Lasix, like Asia's mom did. Will make your Cosmo more comfortable. Good luck, love, and hugs!

[GeorgeofNE]

Oh no!!

 

No words for you...just concerned support.

[TheFullHouse]

Good thoughts and prayers for Cosmo that it's nothing.

[Guest argolola]

I have sweet Cosmo on my prayer list.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Many many prayers coming from us too Tracey

[GreyhoundNan]

You got it Tracey, coming all the way from Yorkshire.

[GreyTzu]

:grouphug

[Guest 3greysinPA]

many prayers coming your way from PA.

[Batmom]

Try not to assume the worst, OK? I know, easier said than done, but with all she's been thru and especially if she's had chemo, she could easily have a simple infection.

 

Sending hugs and prayers.

[Guest hannahmom]

Sending care and comfort

[Remolacha]

[Guest KennelMom]

I don't have any advice or experience to offer but I'm sending prayers

[MerlinsMum]

I'm keeping you and Cosmo in my thoughts Tracey. :goodluck

[Guest FrostyBottoms]

Sending nothing but good thoughts Cosmo's way! A walk on the beach sounds so nice, I'm sure it will do everyone good!

[seeh2o]

I have no experience with cancer in a grey, but my lab had it. It spread from her abdomen to her lungs - she never ever once coughed from it. Maybe Cosmo just has an infection or irritation from the chemo? I'd call the vet and ask for guidance.

 

My heart goes out to you and your sweet Cosmo. Taking a walk on the beach sounds wonderful and healing in so many ways.

[Magdalyn58]

 

Prayers coming from NEPA.....

[Guest zoolaine]

for you and sweet Cosmo

[Jackandgrey]

I'll be thinking of you and Cosmo, Tracey.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

I'm betting it's related to the gagging and not lung mets.

 

For Alex, he didn't seem to bounce back after the 3rd chemo. It just seemed like everything was taking more effort. He coughed a few times so I asked for the chest xray. He had lung mets but the Vet Onc didn't think it was bad enough to cause the coughing. Once lung mets are found, they stop chemo. We put Alex on the Metronomic Protocol but it didn't go well. With how quickly he went downhill, the Vet Onc thought the cancer had spread to his bone marrow.

[Guest goodtimekid]

Sending prayers and scritches for our Cosmo.

[Guest Vinnie]

Tracey, hoping that Cosmo perked up after the beach walk. The coughing always scares me, but it could be something as simple as a dry throat, food caught or even a cold. We would give Vinnie lots of ice cubes and would keep him wiped down and cool, this kept the coughing down considerably. But when the coughing was every day, I knew in my heart what it was. Sending good thoughts and prayers and of course extra scritches.

[2hounds]

A million hugs for you, Jason, and Cosmo. I am thinking good "just a hair in her throat" thoughts for you.

[Guest Gert]

More prayers and hugs for pretty Cosmo!