Patches Journey

Ok, so we have our first chemo treatment under our belts today Tuesday September 15, 2015.  I can’t lie and say I wasn’t nervous.  In fact I began feeling guilty when she saw me open the car door at home and she trotted over to go for a bye bye ride, tail wagging, smiling.

This visit started out better than the last one because of the simple fact that she peed OUTSIDE instead of INSIDE.  That being said she still tried to terrorize a miniature sheltie and a mastiff whose head was about as big as her…….well, as HER.  The mastiff looked at her and didn’t flinch or change expression.  I thought “yeah me too buddy….the nerve”.  His owner looked at Patches did a double take, looked at me and we had a laugh.  Thank God, I needed it.  Aside from trying to leave pretty much from the time we got there and the bark offs with the other two she was great.

The oncology nurse who attended surgery and cared for her afterward came out to get her for her treatment and gave Patches a hug and a nice greeting.  I looked at her, went to say hello….and started crying.  Hm.  Not the impression I was going for.  She was SO nice.  I guess I was scared.  More than I thought.  So they changed it up for me a little so that I could talk to the vet (again) first before chemo.  I talked to the vet and let her know I was scared in general, scared of side effects, scared of something called extravasation and did I mention scared.  This vet is the bomb diggity guys.  Jennifer Baez at Cares in Langhorne PA.  She’s just…..amazing.  We talked and while we discussed I asked if she’d heard about metronomic therapy.  She replied “well yes, that’s what we do after the carboplatin”.  I was sold.  She is also a big Patches fan.   Patches is a Dr. B fan too but I had to walk back to the treatment area with Patches because when Dr. Baez tried to take her without me, Patches sat her little three-legged ass down and wasn’t about to budge.  And I don’t know a soul in their right mind who would try to drag a three wheeler with such a cute little face so like the guilty trooper that I am……I walked her back to the room.  And snuck out when she turned around.  And then I waited while they did blood work (they do that frequently to make sure her counts are able to withstand platinum based therapy) and then the chemo IV.  All said it was maybe 45 minutes.  While I waited I read a magazine, stole a box of tissues (proudly I didn’t kick the entire box) and played on my phone.

Then a door opened and I heard the now familiar “click click…..thump” of my little tripawd and when I turned to see her she was RUNNING toward me smiling with her tail wagging.  I was mighty happy to see her too.  They gave her nausea meds before she even left, gave me some for home, talked me through the visit and then I checked out.  I was pleasantly surprised that the cost was nowhere near what I expected and was more than willing to pay.  It was in the zip code of $300 and change. I live in NJ.  You can hardly get Double bubble for $300 and change (slight exaggeration) so I was downright giddy.

And now we wait.  And pray.  Patches came home and did what she does best- barked at the six year old little boy across the street, barked at the neighbor in his driveway, ate a can of tuna and two pieces of chicken jerky, burped and went to sleep.

As this is a first time treatment for us, I will give daily updates.  Prayers, kind words, support and happy emojis are ALL welcome.  Thank you for reading.  Have a wonderful day/night.

xoxo

Debbie