Canine Cancer - Going Down the Chemo Path

Continued from 10/23/11

After leaving Tucker at the University of Penn Veterinary Hospital that Saturday
night, I went home to take care of my other two dogs and the foster pup and
collapsed into bed. At midnight, the phone rang and it was the doctor. Phone
calls in the middle of the night are never good and neither was this one. They
were concerned that Tucker's blood was not clotting and wanted to give him
plasma at $1,000 a bag, every few hours because. I asked if he was bleeding at that time and they said no, it would just be a precaution, so I asked them to hold off. I would rather have that money available for necessary treatments. As much as I would like money not to be an issue, I do not have unlimited funds.

Sunday morning I was told he was getting worse, so I made arrangements for the other dogs to stay with people from the rescue where I volunteer. My plan was to
bring Tucker home for one last night and then have a vet come into the house to
put him to sleep. I did not want him passing in a strange hospital. I
waited all day for the doctor at Penn to call. I was finally given a bit of
hope.

The doctors suspected Lymphoma, and while cancer is not good by any means, this type tends to respond well to treatment. I drove down to see him that evening
and decided to give it one last night before making a decision.

Monday morning, I received the news that it was definitely Lymphoma and they wanted my permission to start treatment immediately. At that point, I didn't want all that we went through over the weekend to be for nothing. I asked that they
treat him and to keep me updated.

The next call was finally a good one. He was responding very well to the Prednisone and Chemo and they planned to give him another treatment that night. Again, I drove down to Philly to sit with him and was happy to see he was doing so much better than 24 hours prior.

Tuesday brought more treatments and another visit. This time, he got up and walked over to me, nuzzling my neck with his head. They said he had hung out with the staff all day and was under the impression that he was King of the Ward. That's my boy!

That Wednesday, he was released from Penn and we made the trip home. While I was happy to have him home, I was also scared that I would do something wrong. We still had to be careful not to cause any bleeding, as his blood still was not
clotting.

Bella and Harper, my two recent rescues, instinctively knew they needed to be calm around Tucker. They sniffed him and welcomed him home, and then gave him his space. That night we all watched TV together and Harper, my Great Pyrenees, laid his head on Tucker's paw as if to say, "I'm glad you're home."

Tucker and I took one more trip down to Penn a few days later for chemo, but I was researching other options, including holistic medicine, closer to home. I decided on an oncologist in West Chester that came highly recommended by several vets and other Newfoundland owners.

On Saturday, October 29th, Tucker started the first chemo of the second, and hopefully last, round. He should be in remission at the end of this treatment cycle and I can only hope that he will be able to maintain his health for many months to come. I want him to live out the remainder of his time happy and spoiled and wanting for nothing. He has been a wonderful companion and I love him with all of my heart.

I always said I would NEVER put a dog through chemotherapy. With my 13-year old Newf, surgery and treatment were not an option. She had lived well past her expected life span and was happy and not in any pain. I was able to give her a few happy months of doing all the things she loved, like swimming and going for rides in the car. As hard as it was, I made the decision to put her to sleep once I saw her quality of life start to decline. That day happened to be 13 years to the day I had brought her home as a puppy. She had come into my life only a few months after my own diagnosis of cancer and was the most loving, sweet and gentle dog I had ever known.

With Tucker, the illness came on so suddenly. It was hard to know what the right
decisions were. After much discussion with the doctors, I decided I wanted to
give him a chance to fight this. Most often, Chemo does not produce the same
symptoms in a dog as in humans. I refuse to let him suffer, and agreed only to
do chemo if there was an immediate improvement (which there was) and that his
quality of life continued to be good throughout treatment. I am happy to say
that he has done well overall. One of the drugs did hit him hard, but he only felt back for a day. He is eating very well and although he had dropped 35 pounds in the first 5 weeks, he has gained back 5. I have switched him to a
grain free, whole food diet and he is LOVING it. He continues to enjoy eating his marrow bones and raw hides and laying out on the deck in the sun.

I know not everyone will agree with my decision to treat him and I know there are
people who consider him "only a dog," but I am not really concerned
with what others think. I had to follow my heart and do what I thought was best
for him. Hopefully, he will be around to play and swim and eat lots of bones
for many months, or even years, to come.