Second Cycle of Chemo, Doing Good
It’s been a little while since I’ve been here. Â Two weeks of business travel will do that to you. Â I got back from Atlanta on Friday night after a brief overnight and the week before I was in Philadelphia.
Patches had her second round of chemotherapy on Tuesday October 6th. Â It wasn’t quite as scary this time and we were well prepared. Â Day one is fine since the give her anti-nausea meds before she leaves. Â Day two and three she’s tired and not as ravenous when she eats. Â And by day 4 she’s back to eating so well she licks the plate to make sure she gets the aroma off it too. Â I’m wondering though if the chemo doesn’t cause a little neuropathy in her paws because she doesn’t seem as steady on her back legs and she wobbles a little. Â Platinum based therapies can cause neuropathy in humans and despite the fact that she’s on a lower dose I think it could still be affecting her. Â Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? Â Also, it’s sweater time! Â I want to get her some cold weather gear and first up is sweater and I’m considering warm booties. Â If she’ll let me. Â Heck, if she let me I’d paint her toenails pink and put diamond rings on her “fingers”. Â Looking for suggestions for where to get the appropriate gear (bling) and I know this is the place to get the latest an greatest info.
Oh and we’re giving her the K9 Immunity.  Yeah, just the immunity because I’m a dope and ordered it before I realized there was a K9 Immunity plus.  Well, next time.  BUT…….we are opening the  capsules and sprinkling them on her food.  She knows it’s there and looks like she wants to spit the food out but she eats away anyway.  Thank goodness.  Otherwise it would have been pill wrangling time and with her……well, let’s just say that one of us actually swallows the pills……and it isn’t her…  She’s THAT determined.
It’s getting to be fall like weather. Â Her fur has grown around her incision and on the other bald spots. Â Time marches on. Â I hate that it does right now. Â But every minute I get is another minute I cherish. Â Thanks for reading, thanks for your love, prayers and thoughts. Â It all makes a difference as we make our way down this path.
Have a wonderful day,
xoxo
Debbie and Patches
October 12, 2015 @ 3:44 pm
Glad Patches is doing well with chemo. Our Max is getting his second dose tomorrow. Thanks for mentioning the neuropathy. I wonder if it’s that or just a general weakness from the chemo itself? Maybe I’ll have Bob ask the vet when he’s there tomorrow. Anyway continued good luck to you and Patches!
October 13, 2015 @ 2:36 pm
Hey Linda, let me know how Max does! Anything I can do to help make your journey a little less stressful makes me happy. I keep a list of questions for the vet too so if you notice anything you have questions let me know and together we can get a complete set of answers. I thought maybe she was just tired and she’s actually walking better now so maybe it was fatigue but I do worry about neuropathy because humans can get it really bad with platinum based chemo.
Thanks for wishing us luck. Best of luck to you guys too. until we touch base again.
xoxo Debbie and Patches
October 13, 2015 @ 1:18 pm
Hey Debbie,
Welcome back! Glad to hear things are pretty good and Patches is kicking butt!
Haven’t heard of neurpoathy in dog undergoing chemo but others have indeed reported weakness, so it could be the same thing. That’s a good question to investigate.
Don’t worry about the K9 Immunity Plus. If she will tolerate K9 Immunity by itself it’s even better because there are no binders or flavorings in it, so she’s getting the purest form of beta glucans available.
As for sweaters, have you seen these?
http://gear.tripawds.com/2009/11/14/get-ready-for-winter-with-the-climate-changer/
October 13, 2015 @ 2:50 pm
You guys are really so awesome! I love the gear and I was looking for something for her feet too and there they are.
Thanks for the other info as well. I think I always relate my expertise with human oncology to canine oncology and given that Patches can’t talk I go through all the things it could be based on the human experience. She seems better now so maybe it was weakness but I’m not taking any chances and will be getting her some gear to stay warmer. I highly doubt she’ll put up with the shoes so I’m going to ask my sister to knit a test bootie to see if she’ll even keep them on her feet for any length of time. She’s all dog and anything non-canine (like shoes…….nail polish, earrings..) is usually a no go with the little miss. the sweater/jacket is a non-negotiable however. She is going to just love me, I can see it now “help me daddy mommy is playing dress up with me”. haha. So we’ll just stick with the K9 Immunity and meat and rice at every meal. I’m telling you, this little girl can EAT. She lost a little bit of weight between visits and I’m trying to minimize that so as much as she wants to eat, I feed her. I think the grocery bill has gone up quite a bit and I’m thrilled to be feeding her good stuff. Her brother isn’t complaining either.
Thank you for all the great info and link. I hope you and your pack are doing great.
xoxo
Debbie and Patches