Osteo Thread Part 8

[Guest Greytblackdog]

Hi, guys. I thought I'd check in and give everyone an update on both of my girls and hopefully someone will have suggestions for me for Seka and maybe some xanax for me when it comes to Roxy.

 

Seka: She is still hanging tough - going on five months post diagnosis with palliative measures only. She still remains neutropenic after only one dose of carbo 10 weeks ago. Pain is under control 95% of the days. My problem right now is diarrhea. Stools have always been a little soft after chemo. But got better (actually great). The last three days it has been liquid and she's had horrible gas. I'm giving immodium which has been good for her previously, even better than the meds they gave me after chemo. But last night we've been out every 2 hours. I gave her pumpkin this morning - or tried to get some in her, she doesn't want to eat. I'll cook rice later today - not that I want to give her carbs (she's on a low to no carb diet). Any other ideas? Something I can ask the vet for? I hate that she's so uncomfortable.

 

Roxy: She had her left rear amp on Tuesday at Auburn. Spiked a fever yesterday, has some blood in her urine and of course is on a hunger strike. But the vets at Auburn are all telling me this is normal and not to stress. She will be in the surgical ward until tomorrow and then moved to oncology where she will be a part of their vaccine study over the next six days. I am living for the twice daily updates from the vet school for the next 7 to 8 days and I hope we have done the right thing for her. They will facetime/skype with me once she is feeling a bit better. She's very painful and they are having to do a lot of adjusting to get the dose right that allows her to eat.

 

How is Jaynie recovering? When do you start chemo?

[KF_in_Georgia]

Heather, I don't have much to suggest. But Seka might do better with oatmeal than with rice. Oatmeal has higher fiber, and often is more digestible than rice is. My guys have been perfectly happy to eat the cold, gelatinous, yucky clumped up oatmeal after it's cooled down, but you also can thin it down with a little chicken broth.

 

Fingers crossed for Roxy and you: that she'll do well with the test at Auburn, and that you won't have to spend any more nights hunkered down in the motel bathtub as tornadoes zip through town.

[Rickiesmom]

Heather, well wishes for all of you from Jaynie and me too.

 

Jaynie is doing well overall, has had one dose of Doxorubicin and is in for her first dose of Carboplatin right now. Oncologist is alternating the drugs.

 

Kathy thank you for the reference in support of muscle mass loss from amputation and a resulting lower Creatinine value. It will be interesting to see what the next tests show as a drop from 215 to 131 is still pretty dramatic, especially given how stable she's been, at a little over 200, for over 4 years.

 

The only concerning thing going on right now is that she has a lot of sensitivity (as it, brush the area lightly and she screams) on the left (amp) side of her neck, especially lower down toward the incision. Possibly phantom pain, hard to know. Surgeon has put her back on Gabapentin, currently 300mg 3x per day, then in a week I'll step it down to 2x, and then 1x. She just started back yesterday so it's still early days in terms of knowing if it will help. Interestingly, if you start further up and work down using ttouch type massage, especially working both sides of the neck together, she seems fine with it, even enjoys it.

[tbhounds]

Jaynie is doing well overall, has had one dose of Doxorubicin and is in for her first dose of Carboplatin right now. Oncologist is alternating the drugs.

 

Just wanted to mention that Dr Couto feels very strongly that you should use only one chemo agent-not to switch back and forth. Maybe you should contact him and run your girls case past him.

[Rickiesmom]

Just wanted to mention that Dr Couto feels very strongly that you should use only one chemo agent-not to switch back and forth. Maybe you should contact him and run your girls case past him.

 

Thank you. Done.

[tbhounds]

Thank you. Done.

Keep us posted!

[Guest cas0673]

To Roxys Mom... My Sadie had her front left leg amputated in February. She acted the same exact way as your Roxy is! She was such a crier. I swear it is the meds. But they said it could also be her being extra sensitive to everything because of being nervous. When I went to go pick her up at the Vet after her surgery, they needed to take her pic line out yet. When they tried to do that , she screamed bloody murder! They had to muzzle her, she looked like a dog with Rabies....crazy!! It got better after giving her her space....after the first dreaded 2 weeks. Right now, she is more loving than she ever was before. Here's to hoping Roxy does well for you!! I am sure she will come around.

[Rickiesmom]

Very brief e-mail exchange with Dr. Couto as he is currently traveling to Spain. He recommended using Carboplatin only.

 

Regarding the study of 407 dogs in which no significant difference in outcome was found, irrespective of approach, he said that study did not include any greyhounds.

 

So I am going to request that we move forward with Carboplatin only. I don't understand enough about any of this to know whether the initial Doxorubicin will have an impact on outcome vs. not having used it at all.

 

My understanding is that the administration of the Carboplatin in conjunction with fluids does not reduce the effectiveness of the chemo agent.

 

ETA: he suggested doing a total of 4 Carbo treatments, which was less than I was expecting, but that gives her 5 treatments altogether, including the Doxorubicin.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Rickiesmom

[Guest Greytblackdog]

I saw Roxy yesterday for the first time. I was prepared for the bruising - despite four days of Amicar prior to surgery and they still have her on it. But I wasn't prepared for the swelling - EVERYWHERE. Yikes! I guess I didn't read close enough that all of her limbs and chest would have edema. She was pretty pitiful when she hopped into the room. And she showed that it did hurt to sit with a few screams for mom. She also showed her displeasure with just about everything when the surgeon came in. They all said that she is pissed off and that she does not like them. From talking with other greyhound amp moms - this is pretty normal greyhound behavior. They aren't labs.

 

I was able to get her to eat a little bit. I had her surgeon, oncologist, and two vet students in the room with me and we were all petting her. We all stopped at once and were talking and she started crying. I had to make sure they knew this was my little girl's diva behavior coming out. The horror of someone not petting her when she thinks she should be and NOT pain. It was good to see that spark and I know event though she is angry right now, she is still my girl. When it was time to go back to her kennel she jumped right up and hopped back with the vet student (NO screaming) and they all said - that's an improvement!

 

We talked about not entering her into the vaccine study because she was so unhappy there, but after talking with others who have been through this they encouraged me to leave her. She would behave that way at home or there. It probably wouldn't change over the next six days. So, even though I want to go get her, I made the decision to leave her and they are starting the vaccine study today and she will come home either Wednesday night or Thursday morning. The report from the oncologist this morning was much better. She was a bit brighter and met them at the front of her kennel this morning. They got her to eat a little bit of food - not much but more than nothing.

 

I'm going to see her tomorrow and Sunday. If it helped, maybe a couple of more visits will help push through the next six days.

 

Rickiesmom - my oncologist gave Seka LOTS of fluids to help protect her kidneys and liver and such when she had chemo. So many that we had to stop three times on a 2 hour drive home from the vet school.

[vjgrey]

Did not want to join this club again, but here we are. Diamond will have her back right amp this afternoon. I need to catch up (and try to get ahead) on work before she comes home, do some cleaning/house rearranging and read up on what else we need to do to get ready for her to come home. I'm also DESPERATELY in need of a nap, so maybe that first.

Edited May 2, 2014 by vjgrey

[Rickiesmom]

I am so sorry about Diamond. FWIW I found the downloadable Tripawd books very helpful, but this is my first time down this road, they may not have much you don't already know.

 

ETA I just looked her up on GHD, what a beauty.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Rickiesmom

[seeh2o]

I wanted to come back her and thank you all for your support when I was going through Carl's health issue and his sudden passing.

 

I also wanted to share a couple of things. It was not clear that he had osteosarcoma, even the last day of his life, the vet who had administered the Pamidronate was second guessing the diagnosis. We were going to stabilize him and I was going to bring him in a few days later for an FNA, she felt it might be osteomyelitis.

 

Regardless of what was in his wrist, please, anyone with a dog who is going to get Pamidronate, please, please, please...if your dog is distressed at the vet ask them to do some sort of light sedation so your dog will lay down during the treatment. Carl stood for hours and even pulled his IV drip line out while he was there. I strongly suspect that Carl's extreme distress that Friday contributed to his sudden passing the following Tuesday morning.

[seeh2o]

I want to clarify, I don't think giving him the Pamidronate was a mistake, just the opposite, when we did xrays on the Monday before he passed, we could see that it was doing its job and strengthening the bone - it was very clear that it was working and working well in the xrays. It's just a cautionary tale to make sure your dog does not stand, stressed, throughout the procedure. He was so stressed that he pulled the line out. I wish they'd called me, I would have authorized light sedation without hesitation.

[4My2Greys]

Connie I'm so sorry about Carl . I know how bad it hurts to lose them as a result of doing something you had hoped would help.

[Rickiesmom]

Connie I'm so sorry about Carl . I know how bad it hurts to lose them as a result of doing something you had hoped would help.

Agree 100% - you were doing what was best, and the clinic should have been more proactive.

[greytpups]

Very brief e-mail exchange with Dr. Couto as he is currently traveling to Spain. He recommended using Carboplatin only.

 

Regarding the study of 407 dogs in which no significant difference in outcome was found, irrespective of approach, he said that study did not include any greyhounds.

 

So I am going to request that we move forward with Carboplatin only. I don't understand enough about any of this to know whether the initial Doxorubicin will have an impact on outcome vs. not having used it at all.

 

My understanding is that the administration of the Carboplatin in conjunction with fluids does not reduce the effectiveness of the chemo agent.

 

ETA: he suggested doing a total of 4 Carbo treatments, which was less than I was expecting, but that gives her 5 treatments altogether, including the Doxorubicin.

Mary, I am so so sorry to hear about Jaynie, but glad she seems to be doing well. I rarely read this thread (too disheartening) but saw your name as the last post and have read some of the posts. Jaynie is such a sweet girl, I'm truly saddened but hopeful she will continue to heal and beat this.

 

I'm so sorry for all who are dealing with OS. Our first greyhound died from cancerous tumours in her stomach, so even though I've not had to deal with OS, I hate cancer with a passion.

[Guest Greytblackdog]

Hi everyone. We lost Roxy this morning. No one knows what happened. They checked her and walked her at 1:30a and everything was fine. Then at 2:45a she was gone. Everyone is shocked. They will do necropsy today. Not sure if we will get answers or not. Heartbroken. Thank you for your support. Hug your hounds.

[Batmom]

I'm so sorry for your unexpected loss.

 

Godspeed, Roxy.

[Rickiesmom]

Oh no! I am so, sorry about Roxy. What an awful shock.

[Guest LazyBlaze]

Oh no. I'm so sorry. That's heartbreaking.

[45MPHK9]

I'm so sorry, Heather. What a devastating loss.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Heather, I'm so, so sorry to hear about Roxy.

[Victor]

I'm so sorry about Roxy. My thoughts are with you.

[4My2Greys]

I'm so, so very sorry, Heather .

[greysmom]

So sorry for your loss.

 

Dang, that's got to be hard.