Osteo Thread Part V I I

[greysmom]

Twiggy!

[4My2Greys]

:beatheart

You make us all proud Twiggy.

[jaym1]

tempo has completely recovered. i think he was simply suffering from digestive upset as a result of the doxorubicin. a day of cerenia fixed that, and he was immediately back to completely normal, high energy, etc. he is still very well, and hopefully will remain so for a while, at least. when we go for our late night trip to the dog park he is like a wild animal and when the air is cool he runs crazily around in circles, which is surprising, because he usually seems to only want to run in straight lines the rest of the time due to the lack of balance from a missing leg. he will loop around several times while i chase him, then dart over to his favorite digging spot, pin his ears back and dig furiously until i come over to him, at which point he will dart off in more circles. its joyous to watch.

 

here he is yesterday

 

 

and this is how he waits to go out the instant i get out of bed

Edited August 26, 2013 by jaym1

[Charlies_Dad]

That is great Tempo is doing well!!!

 

Need to change Twiggy's name to 'Super Twiggy'!!!

[Guest fastcasper]

It really sounds like great news across the board. Twiggy is amazing, Tempo and Katie look SO happy, and Python is really coming along!!!

Casper did get his third round of chemo on Friday, and between Wed and Fri, he gained another 1/2 lb! I think he is about 1 lb away from optimal weight I would like him to be at. He was 73 pre amp, and I think 68 post amp would be good. He looks great!!! It is a relief to see him getting back to his old self.

[Guest LazyBlaze]

tempo has completely recovered. i think he was simply suffering from digestive upset as a result of the doxorubicin. a day of cerenia fixed that, and he was immediately back to completely normal, high energy, etc. he is still very well, and hopefully will remain so for a while, at least. when we go for our late night trip to the dog park he is like a wild animal and when the air is cool he runs crazily around in circles, which is surprising, because he usually seems to only want to run in straight lines the rest of the time due to the lack of balance from a missing leg. he will loop around several times while i chase him, then dart over to his favorite digging spot, pin his ears back and dig furiously until i come over to him, at which point he will dart off in more circles. its joyous to watch.

 

here he is yesterday

 

 

and this is how he waits to go out the instant i get out of bed

 

Tempo is such a beautiful, happy boy jaym1, and your care for him is so evident in every post you make. I am so sorry that the cancer has returned in his lungs. I've only just registered on greytalk but have been reading it for more than a year (it has been a tremendous help as we adopted our first greyhound within the last year), and I had been following Tempo's story with growing optimism. I'm so heartbroken for you both that your time together will be curtailed, but Tempo looks like he is having a wonderful time right now. I hope you have been coping somehow yourself.

 

If it can give you any small comfort at all, it might help to know that we lost a dog to lung cancer last year and his quality of life was not compromised in any way until the cancer was very very advanced. Neither he nor we knew he was ill. (He was under anaesthetic to have a broken tooth removed, and we were taking a precautionary chest x-ray as he'd developed a *very slight*, occasional but persistent cough in the preceding few weeks, with no other symptoms apparent; the x-ray showed a massive tumour and given its position and size we followed the vet's advice and did not wake him up from his anaesthetic. Just that morning he had been at the park for his normal walk, and was squeaking his toy and harassing us for the breakfast he wasn't allowed to have that day due to his surgery. The vet couldn't believe what she saw in his x-ray, given the waggy-tailed boy that had greeted her a couple of hours earlier). I know you will be watching and waiting for Tempo to show symptoms, and that must be so hard, but Tempo will just be living his life to the full, blissfully unaware. I so hope you have many more happy days to share, and that you can cherish every minute. I'm just sorry again that he couldn't have defied the odds. Your boy is so special. Sending best wishes from Scotland.

[Guest bozicj]

Another Python update: She kept one bandage on for almost a week (yay!) but the one after that lasted about 24 hours... The wound is now only a couple inches across so the Dr said we could try to just keep it covered (t-shirt) and her away from it (cone) and just let it scab and heal over the rest of the way. We're hopeful that will be better since she was obviously determined to get the bandages off. SO, her sutures are out now and she is bandage free. I just have to keep it clean/covered, which is totally doable. She has started laying on the wound side of her body a lot more since (which she never did with the tie-on) and doesn't try to lick it for the most part. She's getting a LOT more supervised cone-free time It's nice to see her being HER again

 

Hopefully we'll be able to finally start her chemo soon (7 weeks post-amp today).

 

Also, she's up to 50 lbs! (pre-amp weight was 55, post-amp was 45).

 

I'm so happy to hear everyone else is doing so well too.

[MrAlexTheDog]

katie goes in tomorrow to get blood pulled. if her oncologist is pleased with the results, katie gets her next dose (her 3rd) next wednesday.

[MrAlexTheDog]

Katie weighed herself (yes, she does this on her own now as part of the routine for a vet visit) on the scale in the lobby of the animal hospital before going in back to get blood pulled prior to her next dose of chemo.

 

She's gained another pound since her last weigh-in: she's at 55 now.

 

Very pleased.

[greysmom]

Katie!!!!!

 

You GO girl!

[TwiggysMom]

I love Tempo's happy morning dance!! It's wonderful to see him doing so well.

 

It's also great to hear that Casper, Python and Katie are doing well and gaining weight back!

 

Keep it up. everyone!

[greysmom]

This came across my Facebook page today. Her info says it works for both front and rear leg amps.

 

[post=http://www.etsy.com/listing/78900259/greyhound-assistance-harness?ref=af_new_item]Greyhound Assistance Harness[/post]

[jaym1]

i dont really know what to do at this point. tempo has another chemo treatment on friday. his last doxorubicin treatment didnt sit too well with him, and he definitely wasnt feeling great for a couple days, with apparently painful GI symptoms. once i gave him his medication, though, he got right back into the swing of things. anyhow, he is still in perfect health outwardly. stopping chemo completely right now feels like im just pulling the plug and waiting for him to die. on the other hand, there is no clinical data that indicates IV chemo provides any benefit with lung metastases. its just administered because it seems to make sense.

 

are two lousy days worth it if it gives him 10 more good days? what about five? or what if its more than that? i have no way of knowing. life is precious. i dont believe in any of this bridge business or afterlife or anything like that. there's only one trip around the track as far as im concerned, so a single day of good health is immeasurably valuable. in fact it is the most precious commodity there is. for a dog, a single day of lounging around, sniffing the sidewalk, and eating kibble, all while in good health, is something that you cant measure the value of. so when is the cost of pursuing that too high? how do you put a price on something that is literally priceless?

Edited September 3, 2013 by jaym1

[Charlies_Dad]

jaym1, I personally agree that another round of Chemo may not make much difference other than kick Temp on his butt for a couple days. You are the one that needs to make that decision and as his guardian and friend, he knows you will make the right choice. What makes dogs so incredibly special is they way they live life, living life every single day without a thought of what tomorrow brings. You know Tempo and you know how he is feeling so I would go with your gut at this point and just keep spoiling him, making memories and enjoying every moment you get with him.

[Batmom]

If there's no indication of benefit, I wouldn't do it.

 

Wishing you many more comfortable days with your pupper.

[jaym1]

i suppose thats the thing. determining benefit is difficult. clinical tests have shown that the average osteo greyhound with lung metastases will not benefit. but that's an average of results. perhaps in tempos case he will benefit? it could be that the new chemo is significantly slowing tumor growth. or it could be that its not doing anything at all. but at least if he does the chemo it gives him a chance at more time, whereas if not, the course of the cancer is the only determinant. of course, that could be the way it is anyhow. this is the decision i'm trying to make.

[MP_the4pack]

will another set of xrays determine if the mets have decreased?

[Guest bozicj]

This came across my Facebook page today. Her info says it works for both front and rear leg amps.

 

[post=http://www.etsy.com/listing/78900259/greyhound-assistance-harness?ref=af_new_item]Greyhound Assistance Harness[/post]

I got this for Python and I can say it does NOT work for front amps.

[Victor]

This came across my Facebook page today. Her info says it works for both front and rear leg amps.

 

[post=http://www.etsy.com/listing/78900259/greyhound-assistance-harness?ref=af_new_item]Greyhound Assistance Harness[/post]

 

We got this for Lana back in July and it worked well for her when she needed support. Much better than the sling the vet provided. (Lana had a back leg amputated.)

Edited September 3, 2013 by Victor

[jaym1]

another x-ray is scheduled for his third doxorubicin treatment, which will be his EIGHTH chemo treatment overall. the oncologist wants to see the tumor stay the same, or to expand minimally and/or not to spread. right now there is only one smallish nodule in his lungs. I have also been giving him 200mg of artemisinin per day before he goes to bed.

 

 

will another set of xrays determine if the mets have decreased?

[MaryJane]

another x-ray is scheduled for his third doxorubicin treatment, which will be his EIGHTH chemo treatment overall. the oncologist wants to see the tumor stay the same, or to expand minimally and/or not to spread. right now there is only one smallish nodule in his lungs. I have also been giving him 200mg of artemisinin per day before he goes to bed.

 

 

 

Having another treatment is going to cause side effects for few days and having said that, I would probably go ahead have it done. It could keep the cancer from getting bigger and he could be stable for quite a while.

 

When my Onyx went through this and developed nodules in the lungs, he was still going strong lung-wise but, he had a tumor near his spine and that was the one that started to grow out and it was in a position that as it started to grow inward, he was going to wake up one day and not be able to walk. The tumor on his spine got to a critical point 2 months after the x-ray of the lungs - the lungs were still OK at that point.

[Guest fastcasper]

With regard to Tempo...all these thoughts and questions are one we all will to have had to face and answer. There is not clear cut answer, it is a personal decision. For you and Tempo, you have to see how the pros and cons look. I know with Casper the question at that point was amputate or not. I knew he would have some bad days which he did (about 5 weeks worth, a long time in dog days), but I kept thinking to myself...I have to give him the chance, he may be that one dog that goes beyond the average time frame. You are in a tough spot, one I know I will face too in the future. Tempo sounds like he is a tough dog and resilient.

[Charlies_Dad]

Good thoughts for Tempo! I hope the rads show no growth and as for the Chemo, after thinking about it some more, I would go ahead with it as that was what I started with my Charlie when a mass appeared close to his heart. I knew in my heart that it would likely not help a lot but I had to try something and he never really had any issues with Chemo so I think you are making the right decision.

[tbhounds]

jaym1---are you giving cerenia and metronidazole post chemo??? When we admit a dog into our clinic for a doxorubicin infusion we pre treat with Benadryl and an injection of Cerenia (or ondasatron) and they go home with cerenia tablets to be given for the next 4 days and metronidazole to given if they break with diarrhea. It's been a pretty positive protocol-seems to keep the negative GI effects of the chemo at bay.

[jaym1]

i gave him cerenia after his symptoms, and it stopped them promptly. he was whining and seemed to generally be in real discomfort, but i didnt realize it might be a GI problem until i emailed his oncologist. strangely, though, he didnt get diarrhea, nor did he have any other outward signs of digestive turmoil. in any event, i will be better prepared this time.