Today Aussie went in for her second Neoplasene treatment. Unfortunately, they were unable to insert the catheter, so she couldn't get the infusion done. We are disappointed, but we imagine there will be ups and downs on this road, so we're not letting it get us down too much. It may have been because she peed before she went in and she didn't drink much water this morning. Our vet is going to try a different catheter on Monday. So we will hope for a better outcome on Monday.
Aussie had one accident in the middle of the night, but again she has been peppy today. She willingly walked into the vet's office, and was eager to eat her breakfast and dinner. She was really excited to go for her walk and kept a nice pace.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with broccoli and cauliflower.
EXERCISE
We went for a 15 minute walk tonight. It was chilly out, but she was good.
WEIGHT
38lbs --- this was her weight on the vet's scale. It's a little lower than we would like.
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism. At dinner, she gets 1.5ccs of Neoplasene oral.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Day 3 -- Still Barking Strong
Today has been another good day. Aussie's behavior is quite normal. She had no accidents during the day and she demanded a walk when we got home and "sharked" at us until we got her suited up with her collar and leash. She was pacing while waiting for her food for dinner and is as alert as ever.
She did have an accident during the night, but so far so good this evening. Her urination frequency has remained the same when she goes out, but she is squatting a little differently. When we first started noticing she was peeing a lot in late August, we noticed her stance was different. Normally, she would lower her hips and have a nice slant happening as she "shook the dew off her lily," as a friend of mine used to say. Aussie started to not lower her hips as much and her back was more parallel to the ground, instead of on an angle. We thought her hips were acting up, but that didn't seem to be the case. She has not been doing that for awhile, but now that stance is back. We don't know what that means. We will check with the doctor tomorrow.
We weighed her a little earlier than usual and her weight was 37lbs. We are concerned that she's getting too thin. She hasn't been eating carbs or getting treats between meals, so it makes sense that she's losing weight. We will keep a close eye on this, and apparently our scale is less than consistent. We seem to have a plus or minus factor of 1-2 lbs, depending on where you stand. We are giving her just a little bit more food to see if that helps.
Tomorrow she goes for her second treatment. Paws crossed that it goes well!
BREAKFAST
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
DINNER
Chef Paul prepared turkey with broccoli and cauliflower, with a tablespoon of pumpkin for dessert
EXERCISE
We went for a 20 minute walk. She tried to lure us to go around again, but our vet said not to push it. She suggested shorter walks than normal.
WEIGHT
37lbs. See note above on this.
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
She did have an accident during the night, but so far so good this evening. Her urination frequency has remained the same when she goes out, but she is squatting a little differently. When we first started noticing she was peeing a lot in late August, we noticed her stance was different. Normally, she would lower her hips and have a nice slant happening as she "shook the dew off her lily," as a friend of mine used to say. Aussie started to not lower her hips as much and her back was more parallel to the ground, instead of on an angle. We thought her hips were acting up, but that didn't seem to be the case. She has not been doing that for awhile, but now that stance is back. We don't know what that means. We will check with the doctor tomorrow.
We weighed her a little earlier than usual and her weight was 37lbs. We are concerned that she's getting too thin. She hasn't been eating carbs or getting treats between meals, so it makes sense that she's losing weight. We will keep a close eye on this, and apparently our scale is less than consistent. We seem to have a plus or minus factor of 1-2 lbs, depending on where you stand. We are giving her just a little bit more food to see if that helps.
Tomorrow she goes for her second treatment. Paws crossed that it goes well!
BREAKFAST
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
DINNER
Chef Paul prepared turkey with broccoli and cauliflower, with a tablespoon of pumpkin for dessert
EXERCISE
We went for a 20 minute walk. She tried to lure us to go around again, but our vet said not to push it. She suggested shorter walks than normal.
WEIGHT
37lbs. See note above on this.
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Day 2
We have become people who spend time describing and documenting our dog's urine, but that's okay. If you are new to this blog, we are not creepy people with a fetish! We are simply people who will do whatever it takes to tackle Transitional Cell Carcinoma.
Aussie had no accidents during the night, and went out this morning and peed 5 times. Since it was outside, we couldn't see anything to get an idea of the color or any other details. She was excited to eat breakfast and trotted happily to her food bowl. She then went outside and peed 7 more times.
We came home from work and there were no accidents. She went outside and peed 8 times. She came in and was dribbling the tennis ball...yes, dribbling. She picks it up in her mouth, drops it and catches it when it bounces back up. Its quite adorable. She then "sharked" at us, which is a combination of a shriek and a bark which is when she really wants to go for a walk. She expresses the injustices in her world very clearly. Her spirit and attitude are good.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
We went for a 15 minute walk. She had a nice pep to her step and didn't seem tired at all.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
Aussie had no accidents during the night, and went out this morning and peed 5 times. Since it was outside, we couldn't see anything to get an idea of the color or any other details. She was excited to eat breakfast and trotted happily to her food bowl. She then went outside and peed 7 more times.
We came home from work and there were no accidents. She went outside and peed 8 times. She came in and was dribbling the tennis ball...yes, dribbling. She picks it up in her mouth, drops it and catches it when it bounces back up. Its quite adorable. She then "sharked" at us, which is a combination of a shriek and a bark which is when she really wants to go for a walk. She expresses the injustices in her world very clearly. Her spirit and attitude are good.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
We went for a 15 minute walk. She had a nice pep to her step and didn't seem tired at all.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism.
At dinner, she receives 1.55ccs of Neoplasene orally
Monday, October 27, 2008
Day 1 --- Treatment 1
Today we started the battle royale of Neoplasene vs. TCC. Aussie went to the vet at 8am this morning for her first treatment. I called at noon and our vet said she did really well with the treatment. They kept her at the office all day long and kept her in a cage to prevent her from peeing. She stayed there until 6:30pm. The goal is to keep the medicine in the bladder for as long as possible. The first treatment is a diluted solution to get the bladder used to it. Throughout the course of the treatment, we will be building up her tolerance so that more and more powerful doses can be given to kill the tumor. She said that the tumor will be rotting over the next 5 weeks, so we need to prepare for some nasty, bloody, stinky urine to be coming from our sweet little angel. We are also preparing for the new flooring we will probably need as our carpet is being destroyed! It's all worth it, though.
She has peed 3 times since 6:30pm and I'm writing this at 10pm. She went once at the vet, and two times at home. The last time the pee was dark. It's not smelling any worse than normal urine right now. Aussie seems to be doing well. When I got home late this evening, she was asleep on the couch, belly up, resting comfortably. Right now, she is chewing on a bone. We think overall, this has been a successful day.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
None today, unless you count the bone chewing she is doing right now. Weather is horrible and cold. We are letting her rest. Tomorrow we will do a short walk.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs --- this tends to be lower on our scale at home vs. what we see at our vet’s office. It makes sense because I bought that scale because I weighed the least on it when I was testing…
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism, and Neoplasene orally. Normally she is on 9 different medications, so this is a nice change to not pull out a medicine cabinet when it’s time to feed her. For the past few months, it has felt like we’re running a retirement home for pups.
She has peed 3 times since 6:30pm and I'm writing this at 10pm. She went once at the vet, and two times at home. The last time the pee was dark. It's not smelling any worse than normal urine right now. Aussie seems to be doing well. When I got home late this evening, she was asleep on the couch, belly up, resting comfortably. Right now, she is chewing on a bone. We think overall, this has been a successful day.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Today’s special was turkey with brussel sprouts and yellow squash.
EXERCISE
None today, unless you count the bone chewing she is doing right now. Weather is horrible and cold. We are letting her rest. Tomorrow we will do a short walk.
WEIGHT
38.5lbs --- this tends to be lower on our scale at home vs. what we see at our vet’s office. It makes sense because I bought that scale because I weighed the least on it when I was testing…
MEDICINE
Wei Qi booster and Dok’s formula teapills & Thyroxine for her low thyroidism, and Neoplasene orally. Normally she is on 9 different medications, so this is a nice change to not pull out a medicine cabinet when it’s time to feed her. For the past few months, it has felt like we’re running a retirement home for pups.
Addendum: She also was given oral neoplasene with dinner.
That's it for the first day.
That's it for the first day.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Aussie's Story
Aussie is the sweetest and coolest dog I know. She's an Australian Shephard mix that my husband and I were lucky enough to find at the SPCA 12 years ago. She stole my heart the moment I saw her. Even though I wasn't supposed to put my hand in the cage, I reached in and she rested her head in my hand. She looked at me with big brown eyes that begged me to take her home. How could I resist? The last 12 years have been filled with a lot of rubs, tennis balls, chew bones, walks, and a lot of happiness. The last two years have been filled with a lot of vet visits.
For two years we've been fighting arthritis and thanks to acupuncture, chinese herbs, diet and exercise she's doing great. She still loves to go for walks everyday, to play catch with the tennis ball and is the most energetic 13 year old dog I know. At the end of August; however, her behavior started to change a bit. She started peeing in the house which she hadn't done since we first brought her home 12 years ago. When she would go outside, she would squat about ten times at each outing. We knew something was wrong. So we made an appointment with our vet.
After an ultrasound, we discovered that Aussie had Transitional Cell Carcinoma. The big C-word had invaded our pup's bladder. Cancer. Two syllables we never wanted to hear, but now that it's part of our life, we have no choice but to fight back. We have fortunately caught it early and it has not metasticized. Our vet put her on piroxicam and two chinese herbs: stasis breaker and wei qi booster. She said to cut out the carbs and any sugar because cancer thrives on those two things. She suggested we start cooking her food, instead of the Merrick canned food we were giving her. We now cook all of our dog's food, which just puts us one step closer to being crazy dog people, but we're okay with that. Our vet referred us to an internist to get another ultrasound to determine the exact placement of the tumor and get a definitive diagnosis.
The internist confirmed the mass was about 3mm in size, located in the mid-upper right section of the bladder. It's not in the worst position, but not quite in the "best" position. He suggested keeping her on piroxicam and doing chemo. He said if we just stayed on the piroxicam we were looking at a 6-9 month response time. And yes, by "response time" he meant how long she would live. We loved those semantics. He said if we did chemo, we could double that time. Chemo sounded so harsh and our vet was studying in China for two weeks, so we didn't know what to do. She uses an integrative healing method and we couldn't believe she would want us to go through with chemo, considering the results of the biopsy came back as "abnormal cells, but stopping just short of calling it cancer." However, TCC apparently has a very characteristic appearance and the internist said we should still go through with the chemo. We had chemo scheduled, but couldn't go through with it without talking to our vet.
We checked with the internist and ensured that waiting 10 more days would not be critical to the outcome, so we waited until our vet returned. For big decisions like this, we wanted to work with our vet who knows our dog and knows us. Our vet returned and after much consideration, we are starting a 5 week treatment with a medicine called Neoplasene tomorrow. Aussie will be sedated and catheterized and the medicine will be delivered directly to the bladder. She will go in two times a week for 5 weeks. We've read some case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of this treatment and we are extremely hopeful this will work.
The purpose of this blog is to document the whole experience. We will note Aussie's diet, exercise, and behavior each day on the treatment. We will note the dates of all treatments and ultrasounds and the results. Our hope is that this blog will help others dealing with the same situation.
I will admit we've cried quite a bit and lost a lot of sleep over this, but we know that's not going to change anything. We're being positive and doing everything we can to ensure Aussie stays as healthy and happy as she can through this. We joined the National Canine Cancer Foundation and we have a pink paw magnet we keep on our refrigerator. We hit it everyday to remind us that we are putting the smack down on this tumor. Stay tuned. We're keeping our fingers and our paws crossed that tomorrow and the next 5 weeks go as well as they can.
For two years we've been fighting arthritis and thanks to acupuncture, chinese herbs, diet and exercise she's doing great. She still loves to go for walks everyday, to play catch with the tennis ball and is the most energetic 13 year old dog I know. At the end of August; however, her behavior started to change a bit. She started peeing in the house which she hadn't done since we first brought her home 12 years ago. When she would go outside, she would squat about ten times at each outing. We knew something was wrong. So we made an appointment with our vet.
After an ultrasound, we discovered that Aussie had Transitional Cell Carcinoma. The big C-word had invaded our pup's bladder. Cancer. Two syllables we never wanted to hear, but now that it's part of our life, we have no choice but to fight back. We have fortunately caught it early and it has not metasticized. Our vet put her on piroxicam and two chinese herbs: stasis breaker and wei qi booster. She said to cut out the carbs and any sugar because cancer thrives on those two things. She suggested we start cooking her food, instead of the Merrick canned food we were giving her. We now cook all of our dog's food, which just puts us one step closer to being crazy dog people, but we're okay with that. Our vet referred us to an internist to get another ultrasound to determine the exact placement of the tumor and get a definitive diagnosis.
The internist confirmed the mass was about 3mm in size, located in the mid-upper right section of the bladder. It's not in the worst position, but not quite in the "best" position. He suggested keeping her on piroxicam and doing chemo. He said if we just stayed on the piroxicam we were looking at a 6-9 month response time. And yes, by "response time" he meant how long she would live. We loved those semantics. He said if we did chemo, we could double that time. Chemo sounded so harsh and our vet was studying in China for two weeks, so we didn't know what to do. She uses an integrative healing method and we couldn't believe she would want us to go through with chemo, considering the results of the biopsy came back as "abnormal cells, but stopping just short of calling it cancer." However, TCC apparently has a very characteristic appearance and the internist said we should still go through with the chemo. We had chemo scheduled, but couldn't go through with it without talking to our vet.
We checked with the internist and ensured that waiting 10 more days would not be critical to the outcome, so we waited until our vet returned. For big decisions like this, we wanted to work with our vet who knows our dog and knows us. Our vet returned and after much consideration, we are starting a 5 week treatment with a medicine called Neoplasene tomorrow. Aussie will be sedated and catheterized and the medicine will be delivered directly to the bladder. She will go in two times a week for 5 weeks. We've read some case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of this treatment and we are extremely hopeful this will work.
The purpose of this blog is to document the whole experience. We will note Aussie's diet, exercise, and behavior each day on the treatment. We will note the dates of all treatments and ultrasounds and the results. Our hope is that this blog will help others dealing with the same situation.
I will admit we've cried quite a bit and lost a lot of sleep over this, but we know that's not going to change anything. We're being positive and doing everything we can to ensure Aussie stays as healthy and happy as she can through this. We joined the National Canine Cancer Foundation and we have a pink paw magnet we keep on our refrigerator. We hit it everyday to remind us that we are putting the smack down on this tumor. Stay tuned. We're keeping our fingers and our paws crossed that tomorrow and the next 5 weeks go as well as they can.
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