Wed., Nov. 23, 2011 - Lymph node swelling and an update

I have been horrible lately about keeping the blog updated, so I'll try to catch everyone up on what has been happening with Handsome Hardee.  HH is good now, but we had a scare last month.

Hardee had been having a hard time with drainage from the tumor in his nose going down the back of his throat and swallowing and gagging a lot, or so I thought.  I was doing some research on the computer when I read, again, about the most common areas for his cancer to metastasize to (lymph nodes and lungs), when all of a sudden I wondered if the gagging and swallowing was associated with swollen lymph nodes.  I went and felt Hardee's lymph nodes, and sure enough, they were swollen.  I was terrified.

I made an appointment with a local Vet friend to aspirate HH's nodes the next day, and then the wait began for the results from cytology.  I had the Vet sedate Hardee for the aspiration, trying to bring HH's anxiety levels down about the procedure so that he wouldn't start a bad nose bleed, again, which is so hard for us to get under control.  Well, Hardee had a bad reaction to the sedative, and it was a long, horrible night with many complications, and a couple times I was very scared about losing him.  We made it through the night, and Hardee was on the mend later that next day.  Luckily, the cytology results came back that his swollen lymph nodes were just an infection, so we started Hardee on a high dose antibiotic for 2 weeks.  He is doing great currently.

The gagging Hardee does has been increasing lately, so I am suspicious that the tumor is starting to grow down the back of his throat.  We are trying to decide whether to CT scan again.  Hardee has already had 8 CT scans, which is a huge number of scans to have for one little body.  The CT scan would give us knowledge, but it wouldn't change his treatment plan, which is nothing currently.  We can't do radiation again, and I don't want to restart chemo with him.  Hardee's body just couldn't handle anymore chemo, which is why we stopped.  Also, with Jim out of work for over 2 months now, that is money that I can use towards more joy for Hardee, like agility runs, etc.  So, we're still undecided about another CT scan.

Every day is a day for gratitude, but especially this time of year.  On Nov. 11, I couldn't help but think back to last year on this date.  Hardee had started a bad nose bleed the night before, while we were giving him a bath to get ready for an agility trial, that continued for 5 days.  We were scared then that we were going to lose him because we couldn't get the bad bleed under control.  Just a week prior, we had received the news, through another CT scan, that radiation had not done all that we had hoped it would, and we were considering starting chemotherapy on Hardee.  Five days later the bleeding finally stopped, thank goodness, and we started chemo 2 days later.  Then, we were hoping that Hardee would stay with us through Christmas, but we had our serious doubts.

Now it is one year later, and our boy is still with us, and we are so grateful.  I have no doubt that if we hadn't started chemo, Hardee would not be here with us now.  There were a few hard times during chemo for Hardee but they were short lived, and the benefit of having our boy with us today far outweighs those few bad times.  For those of you who think chemo is cruel to dogs, I hope you reconsider your stance.  Not for Hardee or for us because we don't care what you think, but reconsider for your own dog should that day arise.  We won't judge you if you decide against chemo though and know that you will make the right choice for yourselves, whatever that choice may be.

Through all the trials and tribulations that this year has brought, we are very blessed.  Our boy is still here with us and still lives with joy.  HH runs his heart out on the agility field, though he is slower than before, and he still loves to swim.  As long as Hardee continues to have joy in his life, we are happy and won't have to make any horrible decisions.  We are blessed to have good friends and good Vets in our lives that have supported us through Hardee's cancer.  They have rejoiced with us when Hardee has rallied and fought back to live.  They have cheered with us when Hardee has excelled in his performance life, and they have comforted us when Hardee has gone through bad periods.  Life is good, and good friends are part of the reason.  Thank you, friends.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.  Take some time to remind yourselves what you are grateful for in your lives.  Here, it is all about joy and all about Hardee.  You know we wouldn't have it any other way.