Osteo Thread Part V I I

[Victor]

He is on Gabapentin every 8 hours (I had gotten him to every 12 hours/due to phantom pain), valium (as needed). The doc increased his Deramaxx to 3/4 tab every 24 hours. Cold compresses. That's it. I am being very diligent about "icing" him. He is a good boy and sleeps with the pack on him. He is also being very good (right now) about strict bed rest. He didn't pee for 12 hours!! He is getting around a little better today, but I am still "slinging" him when he goes out, trying to take some weight off that front leg. He is agreeable to this arrangement at the moment.

Tell Casper to keep up the good work! The icing probably feels good to him. I know when I sprained my ankle awhile back icing really helped. That and not using it, of course!

 

 

We will be sending very strong, positive thoughts Lana's way for Monday.

Also, have you considered acupuncture? I have someone who has been treating Casper for phantom pain, but she also treats other stuff (these dogs have so many issues with this disease). She does a point for white blood cells. Can't say if it works or not, but Casper has not had an issue with his. It's been borderline, but he has been delayed with chemo treatment once for 2 days. He would have gotten it yesterday too if not for his injury. His blood work looked good!!

Thanks! Lana's not a fan of needles and she gets anxious easily, so I'm not sure she'd tolerate acupuncture. I'm glad it seems to be helping Casper, though!

[TwiggysMom]

I'm so sorry to hear that Lana has lung mets already, too. This is awful! I hope she tolerates the Palladia well, it seems that most dogs do.

 

Hopefully, Casper recovers from his sprain quickly! Twiggy had a soft tissue injury last winter, and was 2-legging it for a day or so, and painful for a couple weeks, but recovered completely. It is really terrifying to see your 3-legged dog only walking on 2!

[Guest fastcasper]

I was surprised that Casper tolerates the acupuncture, he is a VERY sensitive boy! I'm bummed that he won't be able to do some things he loves for a while but I want it to heal completely. He is being a really good boy today about laying low.

[Guest bozicj]

Lana's WBC was too low for her 4th carboplatin treatment today. Looks like we have to change course anyways -- her chest x-rays showed a 5cm x 3.5cm mass in her lungs. The oncologist was surprised at how large it was already. He said there's a chance that it's a granuloma, but it's more likely the osteo has metastasized into her lungs.

 

He recommended switching Lana to doxorubicin (by IV every 2-3 weeks) or palladia (oral every other day). Any advice?

Python's oncologist took IV meds off the table as an option after her mets showed up on the xrays because he said it wasn't shown to be an effective delivery method at that point. We were switched to Palladia 3x/week orally and Python has had no visible side effects that I've noticed. Her appetite hasn't even decreased. She's been on for 4 weeks now and has blood tests this week to check her levels (was supposed to be last week but life happened and we didn't get her in).

 

I was also able to get 30 doses of the Palladia from OSU which will be a big help since it is a bit pricey.

 

I'm also giving Python Artemix after reviewing the documents and threads on the artemisinin and cancer yahoo pages and Dr. Singh's notes.

 

She seems to be "normal". We'll see what her bloodwork says later this week.

 

Thinking good thoughts for Lana!

[TwiggysMom]

I'm so glad to hear that Python has been tolerating the Palladia well, and that you've been able to get some from OSU.

[Victor]

I'm so sorry to hear that Lana has lung mets already, too. This is awful! I hope she tolerates the Palladia well, it seems that most dogs do.

Thanks, Wendy. We decided to go ahead with Lana's 4th and last carboplatin treatment yesterday just in case the mass in her lung is in fact a granuloma and not a metastasis. We know it's most likely a metastasis, but the oncologist didn't think it'd hurt for Lana to finish her carboplatin.

 

 

Python's oncologist took IV meds off the table as an option after her mets showed up on the xrays because he said it wasn't shown to be an effective delivery method at that point. We were switched to Palladia 3x/week orally and Python has had no visible side effects that I've noticed. Her appetite hasn't even decreased. She's been on for 4 weeks now and has blood tests this week to check her levels (was supposed to be last week but life happened and we didn't get her in).

 

I was also able to get 30 doses of the Palladia from OSU which will be a big help since it is a bit pricey.

 

I'm also giving Python Artemix after reviewing the documents and threads on the artemisinin and cancer yahoo pages and Dr. Singh's notes.

 

She seems to be "normal". We'll see what her bloodwork says later this week.

 

Thinking good thoughts for Lana!

Thanks, bozicj. I'm glad to hear Python is doing well on Palladia! I was rather discouraged after reading about the potential side effects and the post on the unfavorable study from OSU, but maybe we'll consider it again at Lana's next recheck. We also started Lana on artemisinin (100mg/day) and K9 Immunity Plus. Don't know if it'll help, but we figured it was worth a shot.

Edited October 8, 2013 by Victor

[Guest fastcasper]

Casper and I just got home from his 5th (but not last) round of chemo. My oncologist said just this week, a publication of a protocol came out from UC Davis about using carboplatin for 6 rounds. I'm going to try and find the publication online and read it. I hope OSU will give me one more round of Carbo. Casper's sprained paw was looking good but now it's puffy again and he is back on ice.

[Victor]

Casper and I just got home from his 5th (but not last) round of chemo. My oncologist said just this week, a publication of a protocol came out from UC Davis about using carboplatin for 6 rounds. I'm going to try and find the publication online and read it. I hope OSU will give me one more round of Carbo. Casper's sprained paw was looking good but now it's puffy again and he is back on ice.

That's interesting that they're recommending 6 rounds of carboplatin! Our oncologist said studies had shown that there was no advantage to continuing carboplatin past four treatments. It's so frustrating not knowing what does and does not work. Either way, I agree it makes sense for Casper if he tolerates it well. Hope his paw recovers soon!

[krissn333]

I would absolutely do 6 rounds. Pinky did 5 - that was the most that OSU would send us. I was prepared to pay for the 6th myself (it is really not that expensive *relatively speaking*) but our vet said let's just stop at 5. I'd do the 6th one.

[TwiggysMom]

Victor, I think it's a good idea to keep going with the chemo. Your reasoning is sound, and the extra round may help.

 

I don't have a link, but I know that I've read on at least a couple sources that 6 rounds of carboplatin (and possibly even better, 6 rounds alternating carbo/doxo) show somewhat longer survival rates. For whatever it's worth (as one case, probably nothing...), Twiggy did get 6 rounds of carboplatin; of course, she had serious complications from the last round. I'm pretty sure if I'd known she would have had that happen, I'd have decided to stick with 5.

 

All any of us can do is what feels like the best course of action.

[Victor]

I posted this on the Palladia Update thread, but I thought I'd post it here too:

 

I e-mailed Dr. London about the efficacy of Palladia in treating osteosarcoma that has metastasized to the lung. Here's her response:

 

"I am sorry to hear about your hound; there are no formal studies on Palladia and lung mets in osteosarcoma, but I usually tell owners that about 40-50% of dogs will benefit from therapy with Palladia; we see primarily stabilization of disease for 4-6 months, then the disease generally starts to grow again."

 

I also found that NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is currently conducting a study on Palladia and osteosarcoma, so I guess the jury's still out?

[Guest fastcasper]

I'd go for it!! 40-50% isn't great, but it's better to try!! I'm glad to hear there are several studies or clinical being conducted. Maybe someday.......our hounds won't have to deal with this nasty disease, or at least have a better fighting chance.

[Charlies_Dad]

Victor, you know where I stand on Palladia. If you can afford it and Lana handles it okay, then go for it.

 

As for Casper, I know went we did chemo, six rounds of carbo was recommended so I would do it if Casper is okay with it.

[Guest fastcasper]

Casper is going to go for it!!!!! He is a trooper!

[Victor]

We'll have to wait three weeks for Lana's blood work to return to normal, but after that I think we'll try Palladia.

 

Go Casper!

[TwiggysMom]

Allright, Casper!

 

Victor, Dr. London's info sounds pretty encouraging. Even though Twiggy couldn't tolerate Palladia for long, I'd still give it a shot with another dog. I'd just keep a really close eye on side effects, and stop as soon as there were problems. It is unfortunate that she can't have that in reserve if she develops lung mets, but that's the way it goes.

 

Kyle, I love SuperStewie!

[Guest fastcasper]

Yeah!! I'm happy to hear Lana is going forward with her new treatment. Does her doc have her on any antibiotic for her white blood cells? My guys puts Casper on SMZ 10 days after his last chemo and Casper is on it for 7 days. It seems to help keep his blood work "in check".

[Guest bozicj]

Python's first blood work after starting Palladia 3.5 weeks ago came back today. All is well. Yay! Now, if only the xrays reflect similar good news in a couple weeks.

[TwiggysMom]

Great news on Python's bloodwork!

[Guest fastcasper]

Go Python!!!

[Victor]

Yeah!! I'm happy to hear Lana is going forward with her new treatment. Does her doc have her on any antibiotic for her white blood cells? My guys puts Casper on SMZ 10 days after his last chemo and Casper is on it for 7 days. It seems to help keep his blood work "in check".

 

They only seem to put her on an antibiotic if her WBC is below a certain point. Once it was low enough that they prescribed an antibiotic, but the other two times they didn't. I wonder if she wouldn't have had to delay treatment those two times if they had given her an antibiotic.

 

Python's first blood work after starting Palladia 3.5 weeks ago came back today. All is well. Yay! Now, if only the xrays reflect similar good news in a couple weeks.

That's great news! Fingers crossed for good x-rays, too!

 

 

Lana seems to have contracted an upper respiratory infection. She's had a runny nose, watery eyes, and occasional sneezing these past few days. The vet thinks it's viral, but she gave us a prescription for Clavimox in case it gets worse.

[Guest fastcasper]

Casper is recovering very well from his sprained paw. Swelling is way down and he seems to back to his old self. I'm still restricting his activities for a few more days. Might try and go on a short walk maybe Monday.

[TwiggysMom]

Oh, I hope Lana recovers from this quickly! Chemo really does tank their immune systems. (Twiggy had several infections while on chemo, and her vet was great about treating them with as little assault on her system as possible).

 

for some walkies for Casper on Monday!

[Victor]

Oh, I hope Lana recovers from this quickly! Chemo really does tank their immune systems. (Twiggy had several infections while on chemo, and her vet was great about treating them with as little assault on her system as possible).

Thanks, Wendy! I hope so too!

 

Keep up the good work, Casper!

[Guest fastcasper]

Casper's blood work came back looking good. His sprained paw continues to heal. He re-injured it this week playing with his sister. I can't control that! His 6th round of chemo is this coming Friday. I hope everything goes well. He and Wynnie are going to our annual greyhound picnic (GPA-NoVa.) this weekend, am looking forward to getting him out and about.