Osteo Thread Part V I I

[TwiggysMom]

So glad to hear that Casper is doing well. I hope you had a great time at the GPA-NoVa reunion - Twiggy & I attended the GPA-WI reunion yesterday, and had a great time (Twiggy won a grunty gator and big bag of dog food in one of the raffles!)

 

Will this next round of chemo be Casper's last one? I am also hoping everything goes well for his treatment!

[krissn333]

Wendy, will we see you and Twiggy at the GO RAVE again this year?

 

Poor Casper and his foot. It is hard to tell them NOT to play if they are feeling well enough to do so.

 

This time of year is tough...this time last year we knew Pinky had lung tumors, and two years ago tomorrow was the day she limped for the first time and the next day we learned it was osteo.

 

November 19th marks one year that she's been gone

[TwiggysMom]

Kristin, I sure hope so! I've been thinking about you today. I know Pinky's 1st limp anniversary is the same day as Twiggy's birthday. I will make a toast to Pinky's memory tomorrow.

 

Last year, I posted about Twiggy's 8th birthday as the one she wasn't supposed to have - I don't even know what to refer to her 9th birthday tomorrow as. Miracle doesn't really seem too strong a word... I am so thankful to still have her here with me and having fun.

[Guest fastcasper]

Casper and I will toast to Pink and Twiggy!!

Casper won a big white statue of a greyhound at yesterday's picnic raffle. Appropriate, since he is all white.

Friday is his last chemo session if everything goes well. What will be next? Does he go on oral chemo right away or what?? The oncologist hasn't talked to me about what is next, I think he was just getting us through this chapter. Any input would be appreciated.

Edited October 21, 2013 by fastcasper

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Is anyone treating holistically that could use some supplements?

[greysmom]

Wendy, reading about Twiggy makes me smile!

 

Last Sunday was two years since we lost Dude. I still miss him so much.......................

 

Good thoughts for casper and his last treatment!

[Charlies_Dad]

Missing Dude He was and always will be a special pup. And to Pinky, one of my favourites and how I loved her pink nose.

 

I am glad to read about Twiggy's upcoming B-day and am glad Casper has made it through his Chemo and continued good thoughts for Lana.

[TwiggysMom]

Wow, time flies... I absolutely can't believe you had to say goodbye to Dude 2 years ago already. He was one of my osteo heroes, for sure.

 

fastcasper, they will probably want to wait 3 weeks (like you do after each iv chemo) before starting any oral chemo/metronomic protocol, so you do have some time to figure out what path you want to take. Hopefully, you can have a conversation with the oncologist at Casper's appointment later this week.

 

I think decisions about metronomic protocol are even tougher now than they were when I was making decisions. Palladia was thought to be the next wonder drug at the time, now that seems to be in question. I'd probably be inclined to go with what your oncologist feels he/she has had better results with, and then keep an eye out for any possible side effects.

 

Artemisinin seems to fall into the category of "won't hurt, might help", so I'd consider using the OSU recommended 100 mg/day (this is the only cancer-related thing I still use for Twiggy).

 

Twiggy gets installment #2 of her NINTH birthday celebratory dinner tonight. And, she's been jumping up in my pull-out bed and stealing ALL my covers with increasing frequency lately!

[Guest LazyBlaze]

Go Twiggy! Lovely to have some happy and hopeful news in this thread, it's an inspiration for all the other dogs fighting the good fight.

Good thoughts for Casper and Lana.

[Guest fastcasper]

Thank you so much Twiggy's mom on the helpful info. And Twiggy is certainly something I hope Casper can aspire to. But I will take ANY time he has. I do have a good oncologist and he has a oesto dog 2 years post amp on his record. He will give me good advice (then I will run it past Dr. Couto for good measure), but it is good to hear kind of what is next.

 

My happiest thoughts for you and Twiggy!

[Victor]

Lana had chest x-rays taken again today. The mass that was present in her x-rays from a month ago has grown, and now she has three additional lung mets. (The radiologist hasn't issued the official report yet, so we don't know the sizes.) We're going to start Lana on Palladia tomorrow (70mg every other day). Hopefully she'll tolerate it okay and it'll work on her mets. In retrospect we should've started it last time instead of giving her the 4th dose of carboplatin.

[Guest fastcasper]

I'm sorry to hear Lana's report. I do hope she can get some positive results from the Palladia> I will be curious how she tolerates it. It is one of the options they are giving Casper when we decide what course of action to take in about 3 weeks. He just finished his 6th round today and he will have a battery of tests in three weeks including the chest x-rays.

I hope Lana is still a happy girl right now!!

[Victor]

I'm sorry to hear Lana's report. I do hope she can get some positive results from the Palladia> I will be curious how she tolerates it. It is one of the options they are giving Casper when we decide what course of action to take in about 3 weeks. He just finished his 6th round today and he will have a battery of tests in three weeks including the chest x-rays.

I hope Lana is still a happy girl right now!!

Thanks, fastcasper -- I hope so too! Lana's still a very happy girl. Her appetite is great and she's always ready to go for a walk, even if she does get a little winded at times.

 

That's great that Casper got his 6th round of chemo today! Did you see the thread on the osteosarcoma vaccine that's entering Phase II trials? I wonder if Casper could get in on it? I e-mailed the the researcher about Lana this morning, but I haven't heard back yet. Here's the thread:

 

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/302522-osteosarcoma-vaccine/

Edited October 30, 2013 by Victor

[45MPHK9]

Last Sunday was two years since we lost Dude. I still miss him so much.......................

 

[TwiggysMom]

Victor, please don't second-guess yourself about treatment. As you know, there's no guarantees that one course of treatment will work better than another in any particular case.

 

As you say, Lana is still a happy girl and enjoying life, so that is all that matters right now!

 

With Palladia, most dogs do fine. Twiggy didn't, so I just like to remind people to be vigilant in watching for side effects (aside from what may be seen in bloodwork, look for lethargy, "different" stool, diarrhea, blood in stool, vomiting, etc). Lana will most likely handle it just fine, but I like to put the cautions out there (and obviously, the Palladia didn't do any permanent damage to Twiggy, even though she reacted worse than most)!

 

Huge congratulations to Casper on finishing iv chemo! Onward and upward!!

[Victor]

Thanks, Wendy. We'll keep an eye out for side effects from Palladia. (By the way, I can empathize with your earlier comment about your knees hurting from running with Twiggy. My knees are killing me from trying to keep up with Lana! Hope Twiggy had a wonderful birthday!)

 

I just received a reply from Dr. Mason regarding the possibility of treating Lana with the vaccine Dr. Mason is developing. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be an option for Lana. Dr. Mason writes, "We have only treated 3 dogs with visible mets at the time of potential vaccination (ie - after amputation and carboplatin) and these dogs have continued to progress rapidly. For visible large metastatic disease I would be more likely to try palladia rather than immune therapy"

 

It might still be an option for Casper, though!

[Guest fastcasper]

Thank you Victor for the info link. I am going to email Dr. Mason and see if Casper is a possibility for the study. That is very exciting to read about. Thanks again.

And GO LANA GO!!!

[Guest bozicj]

We went to get Python's next set of x-rays yesterday (her first since having to skip iv chemo and go on Palladia).

 

Her existing mets have grown 10-15%. Normally this would put her in the "stable" category I guess. BUT there are more mets now. So they're categorizing her as "progressive".

 

We're off Palladia since it didn't stabilize the progression and moving on to metronomic protocol. Just waiting for the cytotoxin (sp?) to arrive.

 

Also, she's back down to 45 lb.

 

I'm so frusterated! The good news is she's acting totally normal, has good energy, runs/plays with our other hound, still has a good appetite, etc.

[cristar]

Sweet little Python is fighting this horrid disease, just like so many of you

trying to help them are.

Keep up your good spirits for her. She's enjoying life to the fullest and has

no idea what is happening. All she knows is that every day brings happiness

from her little buddy Rose and her loving mom and dad.

I'm so sorry for the latest news Jeni, just keep going day by day and give her

as much love as you can.

I'll keep praying for your little one, and for you to find the strength to get through

this.

[Guest fastcasper]

I'm sorry to hear about Python's latest news!! It is extremely frustrating when they are acting so normal and happy, yet things are going on inside them. As I do with Casper....simply one day at a time. I am trying to be more like him and live in the moment. All Python wants is love and happiness!! And I'm sure she has both in abundance!! Keep up your awesome work, as she is one lucky pup to have you.

[joejoesmom]

Sorry that I have been absent from this thread for a long time. I needed a break.

I just participated in Dr. Couto's IDEXX webinar. He said something that explained why OSU had a longer greyhound survival time than other facilities (14 months versus 12 months) after amputation and chemo. I don't know why the answer didn't occur to me before:

Greyhounds naturally have low neutrophils. This is a key measure in determining whether it is safe to give chemo to a dog. Dr. Couto will give chemo to a greyhound (not other dogs) with a lower neutrophil count than would normally be suggested. If the oncologist is using the same level for a greyhound that he would for a non-greyhound, he would likely delay chemo one or more times during the course of the chemo. Delay of chemo is known to effect survival time.

So the short version: Have your oncologist contact Dr. Couto or an oncologist at OSU for the greyhound neutrophil level that is acceptable. No one is saying that all greyhounds should receive chemo on time. Many will need a delay. But use the appropriate metrics for a greyhound in the determination.

Edited October 31, 2013 by joejoesmom

[Victor]

bozicj, I'm sorry to hear Palladia hasn't been effective enough against Python's mets. Cytoxan is what Lana's oncologist said she'd try next too if the Palladia doesn't work for Lana.

 

So far we're off to a rough start with Lana's Palladia. After only her second dose (yesterday morning) she had liquid diarrhea. The oncologist said to start her on metronidazole and wait a few days (until her bowel movements are back to normal) then try again with a slightly lower dose (60mg instead of 70mg). This morning Lana's bowel movements were much improved, but she didn't have much of an appetite. And Lana's eye infection is back. This time they gave her antibiotic eye drops that'll hopefully take care of it.

 

By the way, has anyone heard of or tried I'm-Yunity for dogs for osteo? Apparently they're testing it at the University of Pennsylvania for dogs with hemangiosarcoma:

 

"The Coriolus versicolor mushroom, known commonly as the Yunzhi mushroom, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years. A compound in the mushroom called polysaccharopeptide, or PSP, is believed to have immune-boosting properties. In the last two decades, some studies have suggested that PSP also has a tumor-fighting effect.

At Penn Vet, Dr. Dottie Brown’s work with I’m-Yunity, a formulation of PSP that has been tested for consistency and good manufacturing processes, resulted in some of the longest survival rates ever reported for dogs with hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive, invasive cancer that arises from the blood cells and typically affects the spleen. Before this study was conducted, the longest reported median survival time of dogs with hemangiosarcoma of the spleen that did not undergo further treatment was 86 days. Dogs enrolled in Penn Vet’s trial lived beyond a year with nothing other than the mushroom compound as treatment.

Penn Vet researchers are currently pursuing further trials to confirm and refine these results. One trial will compare I’m-Yunity to a placebo for owners who opt not to pursue chemotherapy in their pet, and another will compare the compound to standard-of-care chemotherapy. Depending on those results, veterinarians could eventually prescribe the compound for treating hemangiosarcoma, and perhaps other cancers, in dogs. The company that manufacturers I’m-Yunity may also pursue large-scale clinical trials in humans."

The recommended dose for dogs is 100mg per 1kg of body weight. It comes in 400mg capsules that they say can be opened for mixing directly with food. It's definitely not cheap; depending on the quantity purchased the price per capsule is around $1.20-$1.58. (A 60 pound greyhound would need 15 capsules per day at $18/day or ~$540/month.)

[Victor]

When I searched GreyTalk, I found mention of a less expensive source of the compound in I'm-Yunity:

 

http://oriveda.com/chaga.php

 

With Oriveda's you can buy just the powder for $99.95 per 100 grams. For a 60 pound greyhound that works out to ~$6/day or ~$180/month.

[krissn333]

I am having a REALLY tough time right now. October and November are full of dates I almost wish weren't tattooed on my brain.

 

October 5th would have been Fritz's 9th Gotcha Day

 

October 12th marked three years since I said goodbye to Sutra

 

October 13th marked one year since we learned Pinky had lung mets.

 

October 22nd marked two years since Pinky was diagnosed with osteo.

 

November 7th marks two years since she had her amp.

 

November 19th marks one year since we had to say goodbye

 

I am flooded with all of the emotions from all of the losses I've had over the last year. It's just SO damn hard.

[Guest Sarah2013]

Hello fellow greyhound owners. I empathise with all of you who are suffering, or whose hounds are suffering, and wish you all the best.

I'm not sure if this is the right page to begin talking about my greyhound, Ralph. He is 11 now, and two days ago had his left front leg amputated due to osteosarcoma in his proximal humerus. i've been to visit him at the hospital, and the vets have struggled a little to get his pain under control - apparently that greyhounds metabolise certain drugs differently and this has made some pain meds not as effective in greyhounds as they are in other dogs. He was vocalising a fair bit yesterday, and not really aware of his surroundings. This morning he was more comfortable, but still on a very potent mixture of hardcore pain meds, so not interested in getting up or eating. I am questioning my decision to treat - I didn't want to prolong his suffering, I wanted to take it away, and give him some more time to be happy and chase his squeaky toy. Although he's 11, his CT scan revealed that axillary lymph nodes, lungs and abdo were clear of any mets, his bloods including alkaline phosphatase, were all within normal (greyhound) limits and he's had no hint of arthritis or lameness at all until this happened. All signs point to him being able to come through this just fine - but what if i was wrong? Feeling sad and guilty