Newton is recovering incredibly well. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't amaze me. While I am still in shock that he has bone cancer, I cherish every moment that we have together.

While I was getting ready for work, Newton decided once again that he would venture up the stairs. I come out of the bathroom to find him sleeping on the bed. Crazy boy!!! After several hours hanging out upstairs with me while I was working, Newton decided that he wanted to go back downstairs. Of course, since Newton is an over analyzer, he would only go down a cuople of stairs and then come back up. Since opening the door worked last time, I tried that trick. No luck :-( When I heard some leaves blowing in the wind outside the door, I was able to get Newton all excited to go and check it out. He went down the stairs like a champ. When he doesn't think about it, he has no problem making the journey down the stairs.

I am just amazed by how well Newton is doing. He has a little spring in his step and I even found him burying a bone in the backyard today. I think that he is feeling much better and is more confident on his feet. He even comes to greet me when I come in the door. He is the best dog ever!

I had every intention of buying a new car this weekend, but am feeling under the weather :-( I have also discovered that the flash on my new camera doesn't work anymore. I'm so not ready for the work week to start up.

Staples...wtf?!?! I thought on Thursday Dr. Perry told me that they had removed all of the staples. As I was examining Newton's incision today, I noticed some shiny things under the hair. Upon close examination, I realized that they only removed some of the staples. All of the staples in his lower incision are still there. I knew that they didn't remove the extra sutures that they had added, but I was quite shocked to see the staples. I sent an email off to Dr. Perry since I am not sure who or when the rest of the staples should be removed.

Newton is feeling much better (although I am under the weather). He has also gotten to be much calmer and more friendly to people when they come over. I'm not sure if it is a result of the bone cancer (since I started noticing this change when he first started limping) or if it is a result of his neuter, but I'll take it. One of my neighbors had a Halloween party. Well of course, everybody wants to come and see Newton. He didn't bark at anybody, wasn't scared of any of the costumes, and played the best host ever (visiting everybody and giving them ample time to give him a good pet). I love the fact that my neighbors are feeling much more comfortable around him. That makes him feel much more comfortable around them.

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!

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.