Thurs., April 28, 2011 - Fabulous agility weekend, chemo, the passing of a friend, and a new view

This past weekend was the Southern California Portuguese Water Dog Club's agility trial, one of 3 that we sponsor each year.  It was a wonderful weekend with perfect weather (except for a little rain) for running dogs.  PWDs (Portuguese Water Dogs) were well represented with 4 dogs running in the trial.  There were 2 triple Qs (each dog qualifying in all 3 of their runs that day), 2 double Qs (each dog qualifying in both of their runs that day, when a third run wasn't offered), and new titles.  Hardee had a QQQ Saturday taking 1st place in one of his runs, a QQ Sunday, and won the ribbon for high scoring PWD at the trial.  A good time was had by all, especially Hardee.

Monday, April 25, was I.V. chemo again.  This time it was mitoxantrone, the doxorubicin replacement.   So far, no side effects, but I am keeping H3 (Happy Handsome Hardee) on all his anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea meds anyway.  Hardee's blood work showed that his white blood cells were low, I guess from the reaction to chemo that he had 3 weeks earlier.  He is now on 10 days of antibiotics, again.

While H3 was getting chemo, Hardee's PWD friend slipped away to the rainbow bridge.  He was a wonderful boy, was so loved by all, and was a valiant warrior and fought his cancer beast the best he could.  He takes our love and admiration with him.  We will miss you, sweet boy.  Our thoughts, love, and hugs continue for his parents as they endure life without their precious boy.

In conjunction with our PWD friend's passing, I've decided to start looking at Hardee's cancer state in a different light.  Currently, I live in a state of constant panic, always searching for signs that the tumor is growing again or that the cancer has spread.  It is a horrible way to spend each day, and I have done this for 9 months now.  Cancer has ruled my life since H3's diagnosis, and I will now rule cancer.  Instead of cancer kicking my ass, my new view is that we have kicked cancer's ass for 9 months because Hardee is still with us and his quality of life is great.  Hardee is living life to the fullest, and so will I.  H3 has set me a wonderful example and has been kicking cancer's ass for quite some time now.  It just took me awhile to see Hardee's example and to follow it.  So until the end, from this day forward, we will be kicking cancer's ass, together!!!!!

Until then, it is all about joy and all about Hardee.  We will be at the lake letting Hardee swim, doing agility or something else fun, but we will be ruling cancer and living life to the fullest....all of us!  Our current motto is "savor the big chunks"!!

Mon., April 11, 2011 - Side effects from chemo

Last Tuesday was chemo for H3 again.  This time it was carboplatin, so I wasn't worried.  Dr. O wasn't there, so we saw Dr. P, Hardee's radiation oncologist.  We haven't seen Dr. P since last November.  I talked to him about restarting peroxicam and cyclophosphamide, the meds we quit when Hardee got the ulcer.  I still treat HH daily for his ulcer, and Dr. O said he didn't know if we would be able to restart these meds, but Dr. P said he didn't see any reason we couldn't, especially since I still treat daily for the ulcer.  The order was put in at the compound pharmacy, and I have received the meds through the mail.  Dr P said to restart the cyclophosphamide, the daily chemo, one week after chemo, so tomorrow, and the peroxicam, the anti-inflammatory, a week after that.

I talked to Dr. P about doing another CT scan because of the increased drainage, etc.  He said he would, but would it change our game plan?  If the tumor did shrink, we would continue chemo.  If the tumor stayed the same size, we would continue chemo.  If the tumor was growing, we would continue chemo trying to slow the growth.  So, since it wouldn't change our game plan and would only be done out of curiosity, I decided to hold off on the CT scan right now.   

Dr. P gave Hardee an exam and held his muzzle together and plugged one side of his nose at a time and listened with his ear to H3's breathing through his nose.  He said he didn't hear much turbulence which is very good news.  I talked to Dr. P about the strings of snot that were more mucoid instead of serous coming from H's nose.  Dr. P gave me a prescription for antibiotics with refills since nasal infections will become a way of life for us.

So Tues. was chemo, and Wed. afternoon Hardee started drooling, lip smacking and lip licking, despite being compliant with all his anti-nausea meds every 8 hours.  I called to Dr. O Thurs., and he called me in a prescription for Zofran for HH.  I ventured off the mountain at my Mom's in the snow and went down to get the script filled.  The expensive Zofran did not help Hardee's nausea, and he started vomiting Thursday afternoon.  My poor mother's carpet took big hits, and HH continued the vomiting overnight in his crate.  I didn't want to take H back to ICU down in Carlsbad because he was still interested in eating and drinking, unlike the last bad reaction to doxorubicin.  By Friday afternoon, HH started feeling better, but we didn't head back home until Sunday afternoon to make sure that Hardee was going to be fine for the drive home and all the windy roads down the back side of the mountain.  Hardee continues to feel better, except for some soft stools.

We remain hopeful for our little boy and try our best to keep him in good health.  Until next time, it is all about joy and all about Hardee!