Month: June 2013

Today was Ollie’s first chemo treatment. So far there have been no reactions other than sleeping a bit more, but no nausea – hard to tell, since he can’t tell me if his tummy is upset – but not obvious nausea. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it remains uneventful. We are so lucky to have an amazing vet, 2 actually, who are taking care of Ollie.

Just wanted to give a short update and share a photo of Otis and Ollie (post chemo). They look hungry!

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my posts. Your interest and support are invaluable.

Martha

I haven’t posted in a while as we have been weighing our options and searching for the right answers for Ollie. I think I posted that we received confirmation of osteosarcoma. Ollie is doing amazingly well in his recovery and hopping around and going farther each day. He is able to go in the backyard on his own now and made it over to his beloved “pit” under the lilacs for a snooze. His personality is different, more subdued and when he looks at me, I see a somewhat different dog, a little confused as to what has happened to him. Maybe this will pass as his recovery progresses. It’s only been 3 weeks post-op. He has no desire to chase the bunnies or squirrels, which before seemed to be his reason for existence.

As I said, we have been considering how to proceed. When we took Ollie to have his stitches out, we’d pretty much decided not to do chemo. We wanted his remaining time to be without the trauma of regular visits to the vet and the pain and side effects of chemo. After talking to the surgeon and oncology vet, we’ve decided to do 2 rounds of chemo and then possibly metronomic chemotherapy. Our thinking is that hopefully, we’ve caught the cancer early and 2 rounds may do the trick. Then proceed with metronomic chemotherapy treatments which can be administered orally at home. Our only (not only, but one) concern is the gastro upset with this kind of treatment. Unfortunately, the cost of chemo is also a factor in our decision. Trying to come to terms with this as a factor has been difficult. Ollie is part of our family, but we also have to be realistic. We are not rolling in dough and have a child entering college this fall and another in 2 years.

We will do everything in our power to keep Ollie healthy and happy for his remaining time with us and we are praying it will be as long as possible. Diet, limited chemo and just being “our boy”. We are hoping that when his time comes, he will let us know.

Thanks everyone for your comments regarding diet. That is my next challenge.  The crockpot suggestion sounds like a winner!

Ollie makes progress daily. It’s hard to describe how, but little things occur to me each day. He is up and moving on his own. We only use the sling to help support him when peeing. Then it’s a race back to his bed or a cushion outside. It’s great to see his pre-surgery personality slowly emerge. The crying when he gets up doesn’t seem as bad. At some point he will probably continue just to get a massage. He’s not just another pretty face!

I’m finally posting some pics. They aren’t the best, but want everyone to see our boy. I’ve also included Otis and Silly as they are on this journey with us too. As you can see, his incision is healing really well. It never looked inflamed. There was just some bruising apparent.

The vet said that the chemo would be administered intravenously. Has anyone had experience this way? I’d love to hear. It seems that I read at some point that Jerry didn’t have chemo this way?? Could you let me know why?

Again, thank you for your help. You guys are amazing!

Martha

For some reason Ollie has chosen to stay inside on this perfect late spring day. Mine is not to question. He had a good night and slept through. Yes, I am still sleeping with him and will most likely continue to until he is feeling better. I can’t believe how our slobby Otis is coping with all this. He is being the perfect gentlemen. Otis is our 95 lb. black lab and usually likes to use his brawn when dealing with Ollie. I wish I knew how he feels about all this. I know he is aware that Ollie has changed, although I doubt he notices his leg is missing. I think he just knows Ollie is going through something really difficult. They are like the “Odd Couple” – Ollie being Felix and Otis being Oscar. But I’m glad Otis is doing ok. I haven’t been able to take him on walks like normal and I know he is missing that.

I still haven’t heard from the vet regarding his bone biopsy. The lymph node was clear. They were pretty confident that the break was caused by cancer, so we are prepared for whatever road that takes us down. From reading others blogs, I seems it can go many different ways. I only hope it is easy on Ollie.

As I said he is progressing, but when getting up from laying down will start crying in a way we know is causing him a great deal of pain. We are able to console him and it subsides after a few seconds.  I’m not sure if this is from laying on one side and having the circulation slow down or just the motion of getting up. I’ve tried massaging the side he was laying on and that seems to offer some relief. That seems to be the only obvious pain we notice. Has anyone experienced this?  He is still on Tramadol – 100 mg every 6 hours. The vet suggested we start weaning him – going to every 8 hours in a day or two and see how he does.

Just got a call from the vet – the bone biopsy confirmed osteosarcoma. We were told initially that they were 90% sure that is what caused the bone to break, but you still hold out hope that there was something not so devastating.  So, it looks like chemo for Ollie. I can only hope he tolerates it well. I just can’t put him through anymore pain.

I’ve started to research the best diet to be feeding while fighting cancer. Will have to get going on that. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d really appreciate it.

This is my first attempt at blogging. I read others – mostly home decorating, etc. – but, when our 10 year old dog Ollie broke his front left leg,  I had to find others who have also gone through this ordeal. His leg was amputated the evening of May 27.

When the vet first showed us the x-ray of his broken leg, it took my breath away. I knew this was a break that could not be repaired and my mind immediately went to places I didn’t want to go. Then when amputation was brought up, my mind could not conceive that kind of procedure.  I  just wanted Ollie to be out of pain. After much discussion, our family decided we wanted Ollie around longer and if he could have a good quality of life, then we would go ahead with the amputation.

It is now Thursday evening. We brought him home yesterday. So far, he has mostly been sleeping, although has perked up a bit later this afternoon.  I have taken him out several times which he is not happy about, but seems to be getting a little stronger each time. He still has not figured out how to pee and I’ve done about 4 loads of laundry today. My inconvenience seems inconsequential compared to what he is going through. I’m hoping tomorrow will be better for him. I know once he is off the medication he will be more like our wonderful Ollie, with 1 less leg, and that is more than I could ask for.

I know we have a road ahead of us – we await pathology results showing whether the cancer they are 90% sure is the reason for the break, has spread to his lymph node. We know his lungs and chest are clear, which is a positive sign. There will most likely be chemo and a lot of unknown. We are just happy Ollie is here with us.