Elvis had a good weekend! He felt better than he has in a LONG time. I wonder how long he has had this awful stuff? We are leaving in 20 minutes to go to the vet to have blood work done. If his white blood cell count is okay, he will have a second dose of chemo (a different drug than last week). I must admit, I am a bit nervous because of what it did to him last week. Dr. told us he believes it was not directly related to chemo, rather it was the cancer that was being attacked that made him sick. The tumors have gone done SO much! I believe in the power of prayer. It is working. Please continue to include him in your prayers.
Today seemed to go very well. He ran a few errands with me after I picked him from his treatment. I didn't want to leave him home alone. He is sleeping soundly at my feet right now. We stopped by Wendy's and gota plain grill chicken sammie on the way home and shared it for lunch...that was after he had a few animal crackers. He is such a strong, brave boy. His sister, Lisa-Marie goes nuts when he leaves without her. Thank God for our neighbor! He came and sat with her for a couple of hours after we left.
He enjoyed meeting you today! He was so tired when we got home....he curled up on a blanket and took a nap. He was ready for supper though!
Thanks for asking... He had another treatment on Monday and did great with it. Since it was one of the same meds given the first time, we felt we needed to take added precautions just in case. He was given injections of strong anti-nausea meds before treatment as well as right before we left the doctor. I stayed awake most of the night Monday night watching him and only freaked out once (I imagined things due to being sleepy!). He is playing and acting better than he has in a year. He is also having a side effect from the predinose...ummm...it very rarely can increase sex hormones in the body and it definitely has! Both of our babies are altered (have been since they were pups), but its like a doggy-porn in my house. He has lost a little weight, but had a few extra pounds any way (takes after his mommy) and looks GREAT! Everyone who sees his is amazed at how he looks. I asked the doctor how long we would continue treatments and how we would know he was in remission. We will continue chemo for 5 months (possibly going from weekly to every 2-3 weeks) and then go "cold turkey" and watch how his glands respond. All glands are normal size right now (praise God). Now, all I need to do is have an "Elvis Benefit" or something! lol But...what do ya do...we are making sacrifices and taking care of him which is what we pledged to do when we got him. He was a lifelong commitment and I can't and won't back out on him now. Keep praying...I'll keep you updated. By the way, his treatments are so hard on his 4-legged "sister", Lisa-Marie. She crys and yelps, etc every time we take him away from her on Mondays. She adores her "brother". Thankfully, a dear friend of ours and petsitter comes and stays with her for a couple of hours so she can calm down. He has been a blessing as well.
Elvis had chemo again on Monday and has had NO side effects! Yeah! It was a stonger medication, so he doesn't go back for 2 weeks. Maybe the hair on his little arms can start growing back where they have to shave for the IV. He seems to be full of energy now!
This morning was the pits... Evidentally we didn't hear him ask us to be let out last night and my little guy had accidents all over the living room. His tummy is upset...probably because I allow him pretty much whatever he wants right now (except the things that are toxic for dogs..chocolate, onions, etc). So, get to the doctor today for pre-treatment bloodwork and I let them know he had an upset tummy. I did give him prescription meds before we left the house that he had been given last time he had a tummy issue (sensitive tummy). Bloodwork looked good, but Dr. came to feel his glands. The only ones that are still a little enlarged are the ones at his neck. Doc said if they wouldn't have been enlarged, we would put off chemo tx until Thursday because of the tummy (its been a little over 2 weeks since his last tx). BUT since the nodes were enlarged slightly, he felt it would be better to do the tx instead of risking what he called a "relapse". The worst part...when Ms. Cindy (the chemo tech) came to get him, he cried and fought her because he wanted to stay with me. That absolutely broke my heart...talk about crying all the way to work. Its so frustrating because eventhough he is very smart and can understand a lot of what I say, the two of us abviously can't sit down and have a conversation and me explain whats going on with him. Ya' know?? I just hope we don't have side effects this time!
So far, so good! He has been extra snuggly since we got home yesterday. We have a chase lounger in the LR and I sat down, he jumped up and snggled in, next thing I knew it was almost midnight and were just waking up! He also slept molded to his daddy's back last night after moving down from my pillows! Talk about not wanting to go work today!!
Well, "daddy" took Elvis to have tx yesterday. They always do bloodwork first. His white blood cell count was on the low end of the normal range, so doc recommended waiting until Thursday to give another treatment. This is the first problem we have had with his blood count, so it concerns me. Doc did say technically it was safe to go ahead with tx since it was within normal, but he also stated that if it were his baby he would wait. I am taking him in the morning, so lets hope things are changed!
That will be my prayer for Elvis! Let us know how he does! "Puppy pats on his little head" for Elvis from me and my two "babies".
