Artemisinin Supplier & Charlie Update

[robinw]

I'm so glad the surgery went well . Please don't worry what people might think about the path you've chosen. You made an informed decision, one that you know is right for Charlie and his family.

[Guest Paige12]

I agree with Robin, you are making your best decision for you. I would go IF you are able to take some of your food with you and IF you are able to stay awhile. I'm saying a good hour or more, just being with him. I did not go see Paige, but she was kept only the one night. If it would have been longer I would have gone.

[Guest kydie]

Been following Mr Charlie, glad he is doing well, for me, I HAVE to see my dogs when they are staying at the vet's,,, just me,,, I can tell by looking at them how they are doing, I feel no one knows them like I know them, and for me a visual is necessary, you must follow your heart with the care you choose for your pups, we all must follow our hearts, keep us posted

[HopeForHounds]

I understand your concern Kyle, if the visit would be more upsetting I wouldn't want to do it either. I'd take your lead from what the folks at Alta Vista tell you. If he is calm and doing well then maybe not visiting is best. If he isn't calm or won't eat for them I'd go in to see if he will for you. Remember though he is on meds and confused so having you there for a short time might help. It really is a hard call. I'm helpful huh?

[Guest IrskasMom]

Kyle , the Update on Charlie made my Day . Great News. Tons of Hugs and Prayers for that sweet Boy.

[silverfish]

 

I do have a question for everyone. Would you go and see your pup or would you not? The reason for my question is often the pup gets more agitated if they see you and then find out they are not coming back home with you.

 

Personally, yes, I would always go and see my dog if he was staying longer than a night. We went twice to see Jack in two days and I knew by his demeanour that it was time to say goodbye, the second time. Not osteosarcome, but a very tired old dog with chronic airway disease and embolisms. Does it upset them to see you go away again? Well, yes, just as it upsets a child in hospital if Mum or Dad can't stay, and it used to be a reason that staff kept parents away. Now, it's recognised that children heal much faster, with fewer psychological scars if their parents are allowed to visit as much as they can. Dogs aren't the same as kids, of course, but I do think they benefit from seeing us.

 

And again a big thank you for the well wishes from everyone. I know not everyone agrees with the path I have chosen but I felt he was a good candidate based on everything I considered and make no mistake, this is a fight that we plan to make last a long time. We might not win the fight in the end but it will go many many rounds. If he was 11 or 12 I may have decided otherwise.

 

For what it's worth I do agree with your decision, but in the end, it's not up to me, it's up to you and your vet. It's very tempting with a forum like this to listen to everyone on here and think we all know best, but unless we are vets ourselves, we just don't. The value of this forum is to keep everyone aware of options and suggest things which you may want to ask your vet about, but in the end, the vets are the people with the knowledge and experience on medical matters.

 

The best of luck with Charlie, bless his heart - and you too. We all know you're doing your absolute best for him.

[GreyKarma]

Charlie...your friends at the Greenbrier M&G are thinking of you and praying for a speedy recovery.

Molleigh

[TheFullHouse]

If it were my dog, I would go visit. Mostly because chances are he'll eat for you, especially if you normally cook for him. I continue to keep him in my prayers and as far as the path you've chosen, you know him better than anyone and are doing what you think is best for him. To heck with what others think.

[Bluesky]

We went to visit Cali at Alta Vista. They were really great and let us spend as much time as we wanted. Cali was very food oriented but wouldn't eat at the vet, even when we brought her raw food from home. She didn't want to get up at first, but when we were there she tried her darndest to get up to say hi, so our visits helped for that. That being said, after you talk to the vets, you could go once and see how it goes and just take it from there.

 

Glad Charlie made it through!

 

 

 

 

[Trihounds]

Kyle - when Bumper was down last summer (and was heavily medicated), I visited him every day as he wasn't eating the canned food at the vet. They had no qualms whatsoever about me bringing his raw food and within 24 hours, vomiting stopped, bloody stools were clearing up, etc. I agree with Janet - it is tough and dependant on how he's coping, but familiar tastes and smells can also go a long way towards being comfortable. One step at a time in times like this also makes things less overwhelming. Hang in there!

[Guest Furmom]

If it were my dog, I would go visit. Mostly because chances are he'll eat for you, especially if you normally cook for him. I continue to keep him in my prayers and as far as the path you've chosen, you know him better than anyone and are doing what you think is best for him. To heck with what others think.

 

I completely agree!!! We have (against vets wishes busted the girls out of hospital (one didn't think we could provide 24/7 care - ummmm yes we can)…and they are still alive and well – sometimes you just need to know your hound… you will do the right thing – so did you go and see??? Update???

[Guest Furmom]

If it were my dog, I would go visit. Mostly because chances are he'll eat for you, especially if you normally cook for him. I continue to keep him in my prayers and as far as the path you've chosen, you know him better than anyone and are doing what you think is best for him. To heck with what others think.

 

I completely agree!!! We have (against vets wishes busted the girls out of hospital (one didn't think we could provide 24/7 care - ummmm yes we can)…and they are still alive and well – sometimes you just need to know your hound… you will do the right thing – so did you go and see??? Update???

[Tracey]

 

 

If you will be doing chemo with Charlie, usually they recommend you wait to start the artemisinin until AFTER chemo treatments are done.

 

 

We were told not to give Transfer Factor until after chemo was done. Artemisinin with chemo is fine.

[Charlies_Dad]

We did not end up going to see Charlie yesterday. After several calls with the hospital staff and the vet, we decided not to disturb his sleep as that is what he was doing most of the day yesterday. If he is not anxious, then we do not want to disturb him. It took a lot for me personally not to at least visit and even just take a peek at him sleeping but Lynn reminded me of what happened with our Angel Josey who was staying at the same hospital for Glaucoma, she became extremely anxious when she knew it was us (she could not see well after laser surgery) and when we left, they told us she was a handful for a couple hours after that.

 

So the update on Charlie is that he is doing well, the edema is the bad thing right now of course and he has a little bit of seepage. He also had some blood in his urine once yesterday however the vet did not seem too concerned but would watch it. The good news is my boy ate all his dinner last night!!! Even the vet was shocked a bit as she had to check his paperwork to see whether he ate anything after I asked her and she read, "it looks like he did eat some of our delicious type of food late this afternoon, oh....he ate the whole thing, the full can!"

 

We will be visiting Charlie today in the afternoon and I hope Lynn (DW) is truly prepared to see his wound. I have seen a number of photos so am somewhat prepared but she has never wanted to know about these things. I am sure we will both be a little shocked but I will not allow myself to show that to Charlie. I just want to see his big brown eyes and let him know we will take care of him.

 

I hope someday soon I will get to see this again:

 

He is my crazy boy, full of zest for life and a complete goof when he is loose in the yard.

 

Kyle

Edited July 18, 2010 by Charlies_Dad

[CaliforniaGreys]

We'll be thinking of you and your wife today and hoping for a really good visit.

Please be sure and tell Charlie that people all over the world are pulling for him!

[Guest DundeeToddsMom]

Sending prayers for Charlie, you and DW. I have a tripod still going strong at 11 years old. Best wishes.

[teri_d]

thanks for the update - we're really pulling for charlie!! good boy to eat all of your dinner, charlie!!!

[HopeForHounds]

Sounds like he's doing really well Kyle. Even ate their icky yummy canned food.

 

Have you showed Lynn any pictures now that she will be seeing him today? It might help. The hardest thing will be to be as calm and normal as possible.

 

Good thoughts and prayers for all of you.

[DevilDog]

Just seeing this Kyle. I'm sorry this has happened! I'm glad he came through surgery well and here's to many healthy years with your boy!!! Say hi to Lynn for me and give the pups a big hug.

 

~Lisa, Roscoe and Sage

[mychip1]

We did not end up going to see Charlie yesterday. After several calls with the hospital staff and the vet, we decided not to disturb his sleep as that is what he was doing most of the day yesterday. If he is not anxious, then we do not want to disturb him. It took a lot for me personally not to at least visit and even just take a peek at him sleeping but Lynn reminded me of what happened with our Angel Josey who was staying at the same hospital for Glaucoma, she became extremely anxious when she knew it was us (she could not see well after laser surgery) and when we left, they told us she was a handful for a couple hours after that.

 

So the update on Charlie is that he is doing well, the edema is the bad thing right now of course and he has a little bit of seepage. He also had some blood in his urine once yesterday however the vet did not seem too concerned but would watch it. The good news is my boy ate all his dinner last night!!! Even the vet was shocked a bit as she had to check his paperwork to see whether he ate anything after I asked her and she read, "it looks like he did eat some of our delicious type of food late this afternoon, oh....he ate the whole thing, the full can!"

 

We will be visiting Charlie today in the afternoon and I hope Lynn (DW) is truly prepared to see his wound. I have seen a number of photos so am somewhat prepared but she has never wanted to know about these things. I am sure we will both be a little shocked but I will not allow myself to show that to Charlie. I just want to see his big brown eyes and let him know we will take care of him.

 

I hope someday soon I will get to see this again:

 

He is my crazy boy, full of zest for life and a complete goof when he is loose in the yard.

 

Kyle

 

What a beautiful picture! I'm sure you will see joy in his eyes like that again! Those happy-go-lucky types are awesome! I think you made a good decision on the visiting front. It's such an individual choice and can only be made based on the specific dog and the condition at hand. If he is resting comfortably....why agitate him? If he was restless, then your choice might have been different. God Bless...

[krissn333]

Just checking in to see how Charlie is doing...great news to hear that he's eating!

 

Oh, thank goodness! I saw Charlie's topic had been locked and was afraid ...

 

So glad to see he's OK, and that Dr Bruce is good with Dr C's protocols.

 

Sutra takes 200mg in the morning on an empty stomach. You should give it with cheese or PB...nothing meaty as iron makes it less effective. Sutra takes his with a fig newton

 

 

 

I really hate to tell you this, but figs are quite high in iron - they contain about 50% as much as beef liver. Peanuts contain 'a significant amount' but cheese is low. Hot-dogs are actually lower in iron than figs, believe it or not!

 

Table of iron-rich foods

 

CRAP. Thanks Judy. Will switch him to cheese ASAP. He's just always very inclined to eat the fig newton since they're his favorite thing in the world.

[Charlies_Dad]

So we visited Charlie this afternoon. We were very stressed waiting in the room as they got him out of the ICU. After waiting about ten minutes, we heard the door opening and a noise down the hallway, I peeked out of the room we were in and saw Charlie pulling the vet tech on three legs! Yep he's a strong one and they told us he had been out several times today and is eating like a horse which is all good news. The incision site was bruised but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it's not pretty but I think the rear leg amp doesn't look as bad as the front. We stayed with him for about thirty minutes and he stood all the while with us, he refused to lay down. He did eat some tofu hotdogs out of our hands but he seemed a little stressed with us being there. Actually I think it was just the drugs confusing him more than anything. So it looks like things are proceeding well and the vet said she was quite impressed so hopefully he keeps at it.

 

We picked up a ramp at Petsmart as it was close by and figured Charlie would have initial difficulty getting into the back seat area of our pickup as it's a little high. We also picked up a loaner harness that was left at Alta Vista by BruciesDad - a huge thank you to him for being so generous! Tomorrow we'll speak to the surgeon likely later in the afternoon to determine whether it's time to bring him home or not. We want to make sure he's ready because we are an hour away and don't wish to have to rush him back there if there is anything.

 

Kyle

[GreyKarma]

Super news....dogs are amazing...sounds like Charlie has everything already figured out.

Edited July 18, 2010 by GreyKarma

[teri_d]

oh so happy to hear charlie is doing well and already making headway!! we're cheering for him! teri

[HopeForHounds]

Sounds like things are pretty much on track. I'll be in touch as soon as I have things on my end worked out.

 

Hugs to Charlie and of course the rest of the pack too.