Month: July 2018

Well, mostly Buster did it, but I helped and I am so so so glad this is done. The staff at the oncology center took a “celebration” photo early this morning after session #18. My poor drugged dog held slightly awkwardly in my arms after being handed to me by a staff member, wearing a crown they keep on hand for cancer survivor royalty.

So…over the past few days he has had a few more intestinal issues, including a dramatic puke in the oncology parking lot a couple of days ago before his session. But other than manageable and sporadic intestinal upsets we have had almost no side effects. My understanding is that this is a bit unusual, and that a lot of dogs would have skin sensitivity/burn by now. This may very well still emerge, and I’ve been told to expect that it will. He could also still develop a cough, and could still experience more lethargy. These could show up over the next couple of weeks. But so far, not really seeing those things. We will see.

whatever happens, I’m very excited to be done with the early morning drives to Virginia, and after a few weeks we can start with chemo and maybe put this behind us. Fingers crossed!

i may do fewer updates but will add more about any further side effects.

15 down, 3 more to go. Just 3 more radiation sessions. Buster is doing great. He had a little more diarrhea on Friday night but he’s been good since then. He did seem slightly tired today on evening walk around the block, but that may have been humidity. No real radiation redness or burns yet. Overall the side effects thus far haven’t been as bad as I was expecting. It’s very rainy in the DC region this week which will make the commute back and forth even less fun, but the end is in sight! Buster is a real champ, I just love this little guy.

No new developments. Buster is doing great. Radiation site looks good. Mood good. Energy good. No stomach issues today. All good, and resting peacefully on the sofa in DC.
14 down, 4 to go!

buster just went back for session #13. His intestinal issues were much better yesterday, but then this morning he did a little bit of empty stomach barfing. It was momentarily dramatic as he started making heaving noises in our final minutes at the Airbnb farm, and I had to grab him and get him outside in about 20 seconds so he didn’t puke all over a rug.  Made it outside with basically no seconds to spare.

Again, no way to know if this is side effects, or empty stomach nausea, or just a regular episodic stomach upset.

there still are no other real side effects. His energy in the afternoons and evenings is good, and I’m not really seeing any evidence of burns yet at the radiation site. I’m not sure if the pinkness I’ve seen really is anything, although this is still highly likely to emerge.

 

We are cranking through these 18 sessions and Buster is still going strong.  I am getting tired of this routine, it feels like a very bad Groundhog Day to be back in the vet every morning, but then I remind myself I’m lucky to be able to do this for my dog and I’m lucky he seems to be tolerating treatment quite well.

still no visible radiation burns although it is possible some of the skin is a little pink.  Mood and energy still good.  There is a yellow lab visiting the farm I’m staying at and Buster did a lot of running around with her last night. He seemed very happy!

Unfortunately, Buster ended up having pretty significant intestinal distress after bedtime last night (diarrhea), and I had to take him out about every 1.25 hours from 1 a.m. onward.  that wasn’t fun.  he’s doing much better today and they gave him extra hydration at his morning radiation session today — including the subcutaneous hydration that makes him look like he has a small camel hump.  he’d had that once before and it is pretty weird looking.

We don’t know if his stomach issues were side effects, or could be because I gave him a brand of jerky yesterday I hadn’t give him before.  I’ll be steering clear of new treats at this point until we get safely past radiation.

Tomorrow will be my last day and night at the farm before completing the last sessions by just driving back and and forth from my house in DC to the treatment center in Virginia.  Not quite the home stretch yet, but getting there!