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Friday, October 24, 2008, ( 1 view ) - Treatment - Posted by Emily

For just having a round of Chemo, Newton is doing very well. His stool is a bit soft, but that is the only side effect that we have seen so far. Dr. Perry prescribed Tylosin (1/2 teaspoon by mouth three times daily) for the diarrhea and Maropitant (1/2 tablet by mouth every 24 hours) for upset stomach.

So far (knock on wood), he is doing great. The area when there injected the Carboplatin looks good and he seems to be in fabulous spirits. He even played with one of his stuffed animals today. I just couldn't be happier!



Thursday, October 23, 2008, - Treatment - Posted by Emily

Today was quite an interesting day (both good and bad). Once again we headed up to CSU. Our appointment was for 11 am. Once we got there, our vet student (at least that is who I thought she was) helped me get Newton out of the car. She then took Newton to the back room. About a half hour later, Dr. Perry came out. He said that the Pathologist did finally find osteosarcoma in Newton's limp. Although the quantity was very minute. He indicated that the gene therapy has had the best effect (in terms of killing the cancer) on Newton then on any dog so far in the study. He said that they were removing the staples but would be leaving the sutures in. They would also be starting Round 1 of Chemotherapy.

Carboplatin is the chemotherapy we are moving forward with. It is a clear agent that is painlessly administered directly into the vein over 15-20 minutes. Since CSU was quite busy on Thursday, Dr. Perry indicated that it would take a couple of hours for the nurses to get to Newton. I said that was fine since I had a bunch of work to do and that I would grab lunch and come back and work.

I was back from lunch around 12:30 and got to work on a sizing I had to do for one of my customers. After several hours of waiting, Lisa Hunter of the Argus Institute said that she would go check on Newton to see how he was doing. Based on my past experiences, I have found that things take a lot longer at CSU. Part of this I think is because it is a teaching hospital where students are learning. Therefore, I just tack on another 2 hours to any time I am told...I call it CSU time :-). Lisa said that he was in Ward but that she was not sure if he had had his Chemotherapy yet or not so she would track down Dr. Perry or the Oncology nurses. After another half hour, Newton came hoping out. One of the gals (not sure if she was a student or a nurse) said that next time I needed to check back in with the front desk or business office when I return from lunch. I wish somebody would have told me that protocol earlier. That is one of the biggest frustrations I have had with my experience at CSU. While I think that what they do is amazing and the care that we have received is top notch, as a newbie, I am not aware of the procedures and protocols. Granted I will know better for next time, but it did kill a big portion of my day (at least I had a ton of work to do). The kicker was when I got home, I found a message on my home phone indicated that he was ready to be picked up at 2 pm. Funny...I was sitting in the waiting area when they were making the call. Another lesson learned!

I will say that I am very lucky to have met Lisa. She has helped me out a lot. For anybody who is taking their animal up to CSU, I would highly recommend reaching out to the Argus Institute.



Wednesday, October 22, 2008, ( 4 views ) - Treatment - Posted by Emily

Today was a really big day for me. Since I had such a fabulous 2nd quarter, I got invited to the Women's Success Forum in downtown Denver. When I woke up, Newton had some seepage coming from the "Y" portion of his incision. It didn't last long, so I wasn't too worried (it looks like some of the scab had pulled). However, I did want to check on him at lunch just to make sure that everything was okay.

When I got home from lunch, Newton was very excited to see me. There was no more seepage from the incision so all was looking good. To restrict Newton to the first floor, I have set up baby gates between the first floor and the basement and the first floor and the second floor. Typically I can just prop the baby gate against the railing and he doesn't try to go around it.

I'm guessing you can tell where this story is going. So I am up in my room getting ready to head back downtown for the final keynote speaker. All of a sudden I hear the jingle of Newton's tags and then hear him jump on my bed! I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Not only did he go around the baby gate (something he has never done...even when he had 4 legs), but now I was faced with the challenge of getting him back downstairs. My stairs are quite steep and we had 12 of them to conquer.

When I decided to amputate, I started looking into harnesses. Based on feedback from other Tripaw owners, I decided on the Ruffwear harness. I purchased mine from Tripawds.com . I made my purchase from the Tripawds.com site because purchases made from the site help support continuing efforts to raise awareness about canine cancer and amputation as a viable treatment option. Let me just say that I am so thankful that I made the purchase.

I put the harness on Newton and tried to get him to go down the stairs. Since I wasn't sure what to expect, I stood on the side with the banister. I needed some form of support. I could only get him to go down 2 stairs and then he would back up. As a last ditch effort before just leaving him in my room, I called my neighbor, Denise, to see if she could help. She said that she wasn't busy and was on her way over. I went downstairs to open the door so that she could let herself in. When I got back upstairs, Newton must have taken the open door as a "we are going for a walk" signal and started heading down the stairs. Halfway down, he got scared and wanted to turn around. The harness helped me get him moving again and we successfully made it down.

I was quite impressed with Newton's ability to get up the stairs by himself. Although I think the fear he faced going down the stairs has made him realize that going up the stairs may not be the best idea.



Tuesday, October 21, 2008, ( 1 view ) - Treatment - Posted by Emily

I am so proud of my boy. He did so well. His appetite has come back. I'm not sure if he trusts Stephanie more (in that she isn't hiding pills in his food) or if the pills were making him not feel so fabulous (since Monday was his last dosage). At any rate, not only is he eating his canned food, but he is eating kibble as well. Eating kibble?!?! Now that is something to party about! I am so happy that he did so well.

He is almost back to his old self. Once he starts playing with his stuffed animals, then I will know that he is getting really close.



Monday, October 20, 2008, ( 1 view ) - Treatment - Posted by Emily

I am quite nervous today, but I know that Newton is in good hands. I have to go to San Jose for a customer briefing. Although I will only be gone for less than 24 hours, it is still very tough on me.

I am lucky to have met Stephanie. She is awesome and Newton absolutely loves her. I also set up a wireless camera so that I could watch Newton while I was gone. His favorite thing to do is to lay on the sofa.



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