Mon., Nov. 15, 2010 - Hardee's nose bleed

Well, our Veteran's Day and weekend did not go as planned.  On Thursday, Veteran's Day, we had an agility trial that started in the afternoon.  Jim gave Hardee a bath Thurs. morning, and during the sneezing episode that followed the bath, Hardee really started bleeding and flinging blood everywhere.  We'd think we would have it under control, and it would start again.  His nose bleed continued for 4 days, and sometimes would be dripping continuously.  It is much better today, but it was truly scary to witness, especially after it went on for so long.

By yesterday afternoon, when Hardee's gums started getting pale, I was really worried.  I placed a call to Dr P, but I have not heard back from him yet.  I also called to Dr V (local oncologist that we saw Wed) this morning early, and I just heard back from him tonight.  He agrees that this can be a worrisome sign of what the tumor is doing.  The tumor can be growing, but he also said that it could be that the tumor is dying.  I also told him about his right eye watering again, so I know the tear duct is blocked again by the tumor.  The right eye watering with the nose bleeds tends to lean us towards the tumor growing.

Our options are to CT again since it has been 2 weeks since the last CT to compare the scans for growth, or go ahead and start chemo as our last ditch option and CT again in 6 weeks, after HH has had 2 doses of chemo.  Dr V said he would NOT hold off chemo just because Hardee was anemic from bleeding so much, and that he could give him a blood transfusion before he did chemo, depending on what his blood tests showed.  I think I'll take him in Wed. to start chemo, but I need to talk to Jim about it, and he's not home from work yet.  Keep in mind that chemo doesn't generally work for nasal tumors.

Never......ever......did I want to be writing these words just yet, but I think I'll call The Georgie Project and order a container to have on hand to send Hardee to them when the time comes.  The Georgie Project is a collaboration between owners of PWDs (Portuguese Water Dogs) and the scientists at the University of Utah where they study the genetics of PWDs.  They perform a complete, detailed autopsy and send you the results and the ashes of your beloved dog.  There has been talk on the PWD list lately about this, reminding me that I need to do this.  Though it seems like defeat to me, I know we are on last ditch options, and I need to do this.  I want Hardee's body to go somewhere he can help.  I hope the vets will help me package him for shipping as I don't have any PWD people out here to help me.

It's been a couple hours since I wrote that last paragraph, which was very hard for me to write.  During my break, Jim has come home and we've have time to talk.  I'm going to call Dr V and schedule for another CT.  While the CT is being done, hopefully they'll get the blood work results back, so we'll know whether or not a transfusion is needed.  After we've had time to compare the CT results, I'll decide about the chemo.  If they can do that all in one day, plus administer the chemo if needed, then that's the route we'll take.  Hardee gets so upset when I take him into Dr V's that I don't want to have to do it 2 days in a row, and if we're going to try chemo, it needs to be soon.  I hope our troops can rally to get through this.

Until then, it is still all about joy and all about Hardee.  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.