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Stellaluna Starts Chemo Tomorrow, Final Update #41


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Luna was back at the vet's office yesterday afternoon. Consensus is that the decline is related to chemo &/or pred. They did check for pancreatitis as a just in case. She's got 4 new meds added to the regimen for GI protection & to treat big D. She is still very lethargic but will get up if I insist. That's better than yesterday when I actually had to put a leash on her just to get her up. Her appetite is still almost nonexistent BUT I got her to eat 3/4 of a chicken breast this morning. That's progress.

 

Does anyone know if there is any correlation known in dogs between lymphopenia and poor response to or increased toxicity from chemo?

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Guest goofydog

Stellaluna, aka Luna-tic, aka Monkey, had a very bad recurance(sp) of lumps all over her body on Sunday with considerable pain and was helped to the Bridge Monday morning. Godspeed sweet girl, you are dearly missed.:weep

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Oh no. I'm assuming you talk to her person (kudzu). Please convey my heartfelt sympathy. Lovely sweet girl gone much too young.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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I'm so very sorry for your loss. :cry1 She was much too young. :brokenheart Godspeed, precious Monkey... :gh_run

Jeanne with Remington & Scooter the cat
....and Beloved Bridge Angels Sandee, Shari, Wells, Derby, Phoenix, Jerry Lee and Finnian.....
If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again.

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Guest goofydog

Oh no. I'm assuming you talk to her person (kudzu). Please convey my heartfelt sympathy. Lovely sweet girl gone much too young.

 

Thank you Jey. Get Em & I had the pleasure of spending time Saturday evening with Laura, Scott and Luna. Luna and Get Em have had a 'thing' since she arrived as a wee puppy and it was a special evening. I'm sure Laura will check in in a day or two and thank you herself.

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Oh I'm so sorry to hear this. sad.gif Thank you for letting us know. angelwings.gif

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Deirdre with Conor (Daring Pocobueno), Keeva (Kiowa Mimi Mona), & kittehs Gemma & robthomas.

Our beloved angels Faolin & Liath, & kittehs Mona & Caesar. Remembering Bobby, Doc McCoy, & Chip McGrath.

"He feeds you, pets you, adores you, collects your poop in a bag. There's only one explanation: you are a hairy little god." Nick Galifinakis

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Guest greyhoundgirl1

I am so sorry. I have been following your posts having just gone through this with Zevon this spring. Just know you did the kindest thing by letting her go and not letting her suffer. Zevon too had the reoccurence of lumps even with the chemo, so I knew not to proceed and have him suffer. My heart goes out to you. f_yellow

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Thank you, Toni. And thank you to everyone who offered suggestions & concern. Luna adored her visit from Toni & Get Em Saturday. It was the best gift anyone could have given her right then. Things went downhill very fast Sunday, the lymphoid masses returned with a vengeance & by early Monday AM we could not control her pain. I wanted so badly for her to beat the odds. I think my girls body just couldn't fight these things off. She always did everything at warp speed & I guess that trend applied to illness as well. There are a lot of pathology reports pending from UGA & CSU. We still don't know what type of sarcoma it was. No one had seen anything like it before.

 

Stellaluna was a special girl with such a spark, a fun-loving spirit. The house feels empty & much too quiet now. I miss her something awful.

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I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Donna
Molly the Border Collie & Poquita the American-born Podenga

Bridge Babies: Daisy (Positive Delta) 8/7/2000 - 4/6/2115, Agnes--angel Sage's baby (Regall Rosario) 11/12/01 - 12/18/13, Lucky the mix (Found, w 10 puppies 8/96-Bridge 7/28/11, app. age 16) & CoCo (Cosmo Comet) 12/28/89-5/4/04

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This update is for posterity, just in case someone searching on lymphoma. The UGA pathologist called our vet with the preliminary report on Stellaluna's necropsy. (Yes, it hurts to write that.) All samples, taken from multiple locations, are consistent with a diagnosis of histiocytic sarcoma or malignant hystiocitosis.

 

The lumps first starting reappearing Sunday in her neck & her pain appeared to be primarily in her front right, same side as the majority of lumps. Among the samples sent to pathology was muscle tissue from her neck. My personal belief is that the HS had infiltrated the muscle of her neck causing her unbearable pain. There was also a nodule on her kidney. (Though the ultrasound had been normal.) Pathology confirmed it was HS.

 

Luna did not have lymphoma. Her cancer was extremely rare. Malignant hystiocitosis is an extremely aggressive form of histiocytic sarcoma. My girl was doomed by the time I felt the first subcutaneous lump. It seems reasonable to believe that her under functioning immune system contributed to her developing such a thing at a young age. It is quite unlikely anyone's Greyhound will develop HS. I pray no one else's dog has to go through this. I only wish the other forms of sarcoma could be eliminated as well.

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:(

 

I don't know if it is a comfort or not, to know that there was nothing you could do.

 

My angel Batman had malignant histiocytosis though a different presentation from your sweetheart's. IIRC one or two other people here have had dogs who passed from it as well.

 

Rest well, pretty Stellaluna.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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I am so sorry or your loss of Stellaluna :cry1:grouphug :grouphug

Edited by MerlinsMum

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Kerry with Lupin in beautiful coastal Maine. Missing Pippin, my best friend and sweet little heart-healer :brokenheart 2013-2023 :brokenheart 
Also missing the best wizard in the world, Merlin, and my sweet 80lb limpet, Sagan, every single day. 

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I don't know if it is a comfort or not, to know that there was nothing you could do.

I didn't think it was. Yet after getting this news, I went to bed that evening & slept through the night for the first time in weeks. With the amount of pain she was in plus the chemo only effecting the outward symptoms & that for just two days, I knew what I had to do for her. Still, there are always the what if's & in her case so very many unanswered questions. It would have about killed me if the news had come back with something treatable but better I & the various vets know that for the future. Am very sorry your Batman and any others have gone through this.

 

Few people choose to do necropsies, which is understandable. It may or may not help owners struggling to cope with their loss. What it can do is provide important info for future cases, thus helping someone else's dog. So far I have chosen to do necropsy on three of my dogs. The first for my own peace of mind. It was quite sudden & I had approx. three minutes to make a decision to attempt to save her or not. I let her go but had to know if it was the right choice. It was. She had hemangiosarcoma that already metastasized. The second was my attempt to help educate the many vets, one in particular who still wanted to believe the various urinary & GI symptoms were not connected to polyneuropathy. It proved the polyneuropathy was indeed the cause. With my sweet, young Stellaluna, overflowing with life & potential, it was a little of both. I needed to know but I also wanted to help the kind & caring vets. They had done their best & were left with as many nagging, painful questions as I had. There are still more reports left to get on her case but the final diagnosis is now made & it has helped me in a way.

 

Stellaluna, 5/25/2008-8/15/2011 - "You were too fast to live, too young to die. Bye bye." James Dean by The Eagles

Edited by kudzu
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I am so so sorry for your loss of Stellaluna but am glad she had a life well lived, and even at the end had a good time with Toni and Get Em. It is always sad to hear a pup has gone to the bridge, but especially sad when they are so young.

 

My heart goes out to all who knew and loved her.

Jan with precious pups Emmy (Stormin J Flag) and Simon (Nitro Si) and Abbey Field.  Missing my angels: Bailey Buffetbobleclair 11/11/98-17/12/09; Ben Task Rapid Wave 5/5/02-2/11/15; Brooke Glo's Destroyer 7/09/06-21/06/16 and Katie Crazykatiebug 12/11/06 -21/08/21. My blog about grief The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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I'm so sorry you had to say good-bye to your beautiful girl.

Mary, mom to kitty Rebel.
Always missing Sherri (SO DELICIOUS) (12/6/2005-8/29/2018) kitties Marley (4/2000-12/3/2015) and Beady (4/1998-2/24/2006) and Dalmatian Daisy (7/25/1984-5/13/1999).

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work

and give to those who would not - Thomas Jefferson

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