Supplements

I never thought figuring out supplements would be a chore with Athena. She always has had a iron stomach. So I thought adding Mushrooms to her diet wouldn't be such a big deal. I did a fair amount of research on mushroom supplements for dogs with cancer and it looked like a excellent idea. Turns out she HATES the supplements from the vet and they really do not agree with her. To the point where she was not eating her meals because of them.

So after a long phone convo with her new vet, who i love btw, we decided to take her off the mushrooms and go back to the beginning. So back to her normal food with wet and her immune support powered supplement from the vet. She tolerates the immune support very good and the vet said this supplement is very important for Athena and her immune system.

 I also wanted to put her on a anti inflammatory for her joints and to hopefully help any inflammation to the nodes because of her cancer.  So my vet recommended Boswellia. So off to the health food store in my city. They had a Boswellia and turmeric blend capsule. My vet had told me that turmeric would be excellent for cancer. So the capsule was hitting two birds with one stone so to speak. And let me tell you this stuff is amazing! She is doing wonderful and even demanded we play Frisbee every day this week despite the heat! I started her on them sat night and I really think they are helping her a lot.

Then we have the Yunnan baiyao and arnica for her random bruising. The bruising is so odd and the vet has no idea why she is bruising other then maybe she is knocking the swollen glands around while playing and it pops something in there.

I think after this next pay day I will order a different type of mushroom supplement. There are powder kinds and a liquid kind. I'm debating on which one to get. The powder is 3/4tsp once a day and the liquid is a ton of drops 2x a day. I'm no so sure drops are a good idea in the wee hours of the morning when I make her breakfast. I would try the mushrooms the vet gave me again but i worry about her upset tummy and they are 4 big chewable pills a day and she won't eat them with out crushing them up very small and mixing with something very smelly.

She is slowing down a bit. When I come home at lunch she is unimpressed and wants to go back to bed and sometimes she just doesn't want her snacks. But so far she is still eating all her meals, still wants her chews and squeaks her chews and wants her walks and play time. So really I'm happy she is doing good! My previous vets scared me to the point that I truly thought she would be gone by now. 8 weeks and counting since I noticed her swollen glands and she is still doing amazing! Take that vet who thought holistic care was a waste of money and would kill my dog.

Each meal she gets:

EVO grain free
Grain free wet to mix the supplements up and add more moisture to her diet. sometimes i mix in some freeze dried raw or frozen raw.
Omega 3 oil/salmon oil with low omega 6 (omega 6 bad for cancer)
Standard Process: Immune Support 3/4tsp
Boswellia/turmeric capsule
Yunnan Bai Yao and Arnica as needed for bruising.

Then her snacks are homemade cookies with cottage cheese and her bullies or tooth chews.

Appointment

So i guess we had a good appt with this oncologist...He was nice, but very clinical. I'm sorta annoyed that his body language changed when i told him i didn't want to go the chemo route. He still explained the different types of chemo i could do "to keep my options open" . He said there was really no point in doing the b or t cell test because the treatments for both are the same and because of that he recommends putting the $ into treatment vs more tests.

Multi drug chemo would be 6months of treatment and ~7k for her and even with this it's maybe a year they would live past. NOT a year from remission but a year from when they dog was diagnosed. He said in his experience less than 25% of dogs last more then a year with favorable B cell lymphoma. However 90% of dogs achieve remission with the chemo

Single drug chemo would be every 3 weeks for a total of 5 sessions would be ~ 3k with a outcome of 6-9 months from date of diagnosis. On the estimate it shows 4 drugs that she would have to take at home to counter act or battle side affects of this chemo.

Prednisione would be 1-2mo from date of diagnosis.

Full diagnostic work up if i wanted too would be about 1600 bucks (ouch). I decided to go ahead and do the blood and urine panel to see if it has hit her organs yet and to give a baseline. She was NOT happy about being separated from me and barreled out of the back dragging the nurse in tow. She didnt even have time to put the pee vial down LOL.

Three things that put me off was that i felt like he was judging me on not wanting to do chemo. maybe it's because i was starting to get upset. Two he said that diet and supplements would not help her. I dont get why vets are so anti supplements. We humans use them for our bodies why not animals? And three i had asked him since she was acting not sick if i should start prednisione now or if i should wait for symptoms to appear. He didnt answer me directly on this all he said is if i wanted to start treatment, he then pointed to the chemo, i should start it right away. I almost felt pressured to do what he wanted vs what i wanted.

I will follow up with the vet i met with last sat after her blood results come back and see what she thinks. She seems to be the most compassionate and understanding of my decision. So even though she is in the city i think ill keep going to see her.

As for athena...She was a rockstar in the waiting room. I swear she never made me look so good. Being quiet and sitting a my feet. Not jumping all over the tables and barking and being wild beasts like the other dogs. She is still eating, playing and doing her business and acting normal! Love my beasty beast :)

I will be beyond heart broken when her time comes. But i think that i am doing what is best for her. So i will take it day by day and love her through everything.

Ramblings of a stressed out momma

On Friday Dr P called to tell me pricing on finding out if its b cell or t cell and if it had to be a new biopsy. i told her that dr atwater (oncologist she referred me too) was on vacation so i'm going to go see another vet and does holistic work and she said "that is a horrible idea. Holistic care wont do anything for her and you will spend all this money and it wont help her at all" WTF? seriously? so then i started crying and could tell her to fuck off. Who the hell is she to tell me what i'm choosing is good or bad. what i wanted to say is I know this wont cure her. 

Anywho...i had already decided to go see Healthy Pets in sfo   because i had worked with the owner many moons ago when athena was a puppy and he was really the one who inspired me to do so much research into dog food and animal nutrition. Unfortunately Dr Adam was not available, but  Dr Strubel was. So off we went. My brother went with me for support  and to help wrangle her lol. 

i had an amazing vet visit. Dr Strubel was so nice and caring and explained so much about lymphoma. She said its a cancer of the immune system and she has seen many animals with it over the years and it doesn't necessarily mean a death sentence right away. Depending on how fast it is growing really determines the life span. She said the report did say that the there aren't very many abnormal cells and she said this could very well mean she has the slow growing kind. However they'd need to do another needle aspirate to find out. She went over different methods of treating this disease from pretinazone (sp? i know is wrong) to full on chemo and radiation. She said since athena was NOT acting sick and still playing and eating etc that was a very good sign for her prognosis.

She gave me some immune system supplement and suggested a full body supplement too, but they were out. ill prob get this when they get more. She also said it was good she was on grain free and that i wanted to keep her on that and give her as little carbs as possible. Also feed her dark leafy greens such as kale and broccoli and green beans and to steam them and don't give them raw. Also to suggested turmeric and cinnamon and said mixing them in with her cookies i make would be a great way to give her them. I also brought up the fireworks and how she freaks. She gave me some xanax and a scrip for tranqs to use as needed.

the appt was only a half hour but I left feeling confident and informed and felt how everyone should feel about the vet. that they listened and supported you and your pet.Plus she gave me more info my original vet ever did even from the report! 

I already made an appt with an oncologist for Tuesday on this side of the bay, but she recommended someone else whom she works closely with. Part of me wants to cancel and go with who she recommends but the other part of me wants to find someone completely separate. I made an appt with sage centers in Campbell. So i think i'm just going to stick with what i have scheduled. i really want to find out if it's b cell or t cell and really i think the best person to read those results would be an oncologist. 


All the reading in the world wouldn't have given me the peace of mind this Dr strubel did. So glad i went to go see her!

How can such a awesome dog be sick! 

Unfair

It took me a while to find a vet office that I liked and trusted enough with my animals. And honestly I thought that I had found the right place for me and Athena. But after events over the last week I am not so sure anymore.

Last week I was told the sample they took last Monday was not clear enough to read. So I had to bring Athena back in for another needle biopsy. Okay no problem. So we went in on Saturday and she got poked again for slides to go to the lab for her swollen glands. Doc said they'd be back Monday or the latest Tuesday. Tuesday rolls around and I hear nothing. So I call at 2pm  and was told they are in, but the doc has to look at them and will call me back. 5pm rolls around and hear nothing. I wasn't really mad at that point just wanted the results and figured someone would call me first thing today.

So I'm driving home Tuesday from getting dinner and I get a call and it's from the vet office at 5:50 the night before a holiday...It's one of the office techs...calling to tell me Athena has round cell lymphoma and the vet won't be back in until Thursday....I took the news in stride until I hung up the phone then cried all the way home. Then i got pissed. Why the hell was anyone other than the vet calling me to give me this news? esp on the night before they were closed for a day. Seriously? WTF?

The vet basically told me to go see an oncologist for her...I'm not really sure I want to go down the chemo route or just let her live her life as she is now. Is it really worth putting her through 25weeks of chemo only to get 6mo-to a year more? Or maybe just leave her as she is now and get longer. I don't know. The vet didn't give me a stage or how long she could have she only recommended me to a Oncologist. And if I wanted to find out if she has B or T cell then I would have to have additional testing.

This is so unfair. She is a young dog and so healthy and full of life. Blah F you cancer.

Waiting sucks!

I have a hard time waiting or doing things that take a long time to finish. It's one of the reasons I crochet and not knit. It's instant gratification. I can finish a scarf in 2 hours crocheting and knitting...lets just say it probably would never get done.

So waiting to see if the fluid the vet took out of Athena's swollen glands is Lymphoma is becoming one of the worst few days EVER.

I'm hoping with all the fibers in my body that it's just an infection from her bump removal. She's too young to get the big C. She is acting too normal to have the big C.

The vet said Wednesday...It's Wednesday damnit! I want her results!!! If I don't hear back today I swear it will be tequila Wednesday instead of a whole bottle of moscoto Monday.

Ball Hog

Athena seems to think anytime there is a ball around giving it up is one big game. It's about a 10% chance she will give up the ball with out some....well some force..mostly grabbing the ball and trying to shove her head into the pool. Once you get close enough to the water she drops the ball :) Although she will drop the ball consistently when my hands are full with the poop scooper lol. Most of the time when you reach for it she turns her head away or wants you to chase her. But her favorite activity? she will shove her face in front of yours for kisses...all the while taunting you will the ball. The little wench!Love my beast even if she doesn't share very well :)

Best words Eva!

Follicular Cyst!!!!!

Vet called and she said it was a Follicular Cyst! she was confused because it acted like a mast cell at the time...But she said she got all of it and she should heal up and be A ok :) YAY!

Love my beastie :)