Good news and bad news

The good news is that I'm okay. I have a bladder infection and we are treating that. The cancer has not returned although it can at any time.

The bad news is that we lost Bailey yesterday. He was about 18 and not doing so well so my mom decided to let him go. He came to us long before I did. His owner surrendered him because he was digging holes in the yard--not because she wanted to but because her landlord made her. He dug a lot of holes in our yard, too, his first couple years but stopped and just became a couch potato. My mom says he was always a silvery gray beagle. We will miss him.

Me  & Bailey when I first came to my mom's house. I still had a cast on my leg.

Some of Bailey's critter craters.

                                                   

Angel Bailey -- 1993-2011

Today my mom went wild with her phone camera and made some weird pictures of me:

This is the AQUA setting:

SEPIA:

REVERSE:

 POSTERIZE:

 MORE AQUA:

And NORMAL... me resting at my mom's side.

Backyard fun in sun

Meet some of our gang and fosters on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Very pretty sky. My mom thought of Daisy. Daisy died last weekend when it was cold and rainy. Even though she was blind, Daisy loved being in the sun. We celebrated her life today.

Here is a fun video of Beau and Humphrey roaching in the sun.

Miss Daisy -- 1990-2011

She was just a baby running loose at a craft fair 2 decades ago. My mom caught her and drove her  home and sang "How much is that Daisy in the window?"  so Daisy would feel better and not be scared anymore.

She was always at my mom's left side and guarded the position with some mighty chomps on anyone who came near. She and Pongo were best buds for 15 years until Pongo died 2 years ago. Now they are both running and howling together again at the Bridge.

My mom and I will really miss her.

We're doing good!

Here I am looking at my mom as she is typing. Mousse is right behind me. He's always by my mom's side, too.

We think I look much better. The oncologist vet changed my medicine to 3x a week and added a stomach medicine called Cerenia. My appetite is good. My mom is still working on my diet. Stanislaw my beautiful shiny cocker friend suggested B-naturals site with some great recipes for home-cooked meals.

Uh, except my mom is no cook. Her mom is a terrific cook but my mom didn't inherit that gene. However, the diet is simple like hamburger, broccoli, squash and supplements;sometimes chicken and vegetables, sometimes salmon. My mom thinks she'll go on my diet except for her she means to lose weight. For me, it's to be grain free--for a while. This is a test to see if it will help defeat the cancer.

Look at this!! My mom is fostering a weimerainer (sp?) she is named Luna. That dog has RED eyes--not!

Nobody and we mean NOBODY suspected this dog was going to have puppies. She was skinny and we were plumping her up to have her spayed. But wow! PLOP!! PLOP!! Yesterday morning suddenly we had 2 beautiful grey brown babies, a boy and a girl.

We are so surprised we can't think of names yet. Luna is a crazy happy girl, very smart but we can't adopt her out now until the puppies are old enough. So we get to have her 2 more months. This is a happy thing.

My mom will soon have a book or two up on Amazon. I guess that makes THREE jobs but writing is what she loves after me.

Okay, Mom, I'm taking away the keyboard now. Time for some serious cuddling!!

First re-check

I look drugged don't I?

I'm okay. My first checkup was very good. And no new lumps. This kind of cancer can come up very fast so we look everyday.

My only problem is a lot less energy. I am lethargic according to my mom. So my oncologist vet said to give the kinavet just on Mon., Wed., & Fri. That helped a lot. I was dancing round when my mom came home tonight.

My nose is shiny.

My eyes are bright--uh, well, they look glassy but the vet said 'bright'.

I am comfortable right now. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. Right now is good and we are happy with that.

Who knows about tomorrow? We will think about that another day.

The start of the treatment

Here I am at RIVER--the clinic named RIVER.

Oh no they are coming to get me.

 Hide me.

They can't see me, right?

From River's mom:

River was taken to another room while I sat in the patient's room. They took blood, x-rays, ultrasound. The oncologist came into the room to speak to me without River so he does not know all this.

He had a grade 2 Mast Cell Tumor. The pathologist said the edges were fairly clean which is good but he couldn't guarantee perfectly clean. The oncologist gave me 3 options for treatment--prednisone/chemo, Palladia, or Kinavet. With River's cancer I could have elected to hope for the 50% non-return but I chose to treat it with a hard punch. Kinavet is the toughest since it is specifically designed for MCT.

It's not cheap and I am working 2 jobs to treat him as long as I can. I am researching holistic lifestyle/diet, supplements, etc.

His first Kinavet pill was yesterday. His energy took a hit and he was sort of unmoving all night. But by this morning he was back to normal. I have already started him on colostrum.

He is happy now and well. I can only pray it will stay that way.

 

A nice weekend

I feel good although the benedryl makes me sleepy. My appetite is good. The weather was fine--almost 60 degrees so my mom was washing quilts and blankets and hanging them outside while we played in the yard.

 This picture looks kind of weird because my mom put a blue towel over my boy bit but it is the picture of my scar--about 3 inches long just above it. My vet is a jolly girl. She said it looks like I was SPAYED!! Wow, that's kind of funny...not! She said I had plenty of skin to close the opening so I didn't become a SIDESHOOTER. Oh, haha. She's a nice lady, very smart.  She sent all my information to a specialist.

I will be going to RIVER next Tuesday for a consultation. Vets come from UTK (Univ. of Knoxville) vet. school to take care of us. RIVER stands for Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals.

Here is an interesting thing--I am named after this clinic! I was hit by a car and broke my leg 3 years ago. A nice lady took me to RIVER. SOS Beagles took me in and my mom was my foster mom. I am a failed foster. Everyone at the clinic is excited to see me again--not happy because of the big C but because they really liked me.

Out in the yard--all snow is gone. Then back in the house to sit on my mom's lap while she works on the computer. She is working 2 jobs to pay for my treatment. She says she will do all a human can do for me.

Please visit my friend Daisy the pink pitbull. She was also just diagnosed with the big C. She is a sweet and beautiful girl.We are going to fight this together!

Bad news--the Big C

My vet took as much of the lump and the skin and fat around it as she could. She said it's not the worst it could be but it is a mast cell tumor grade 2 -- 3 is the worst. The pathologist said he couldn't say we got all of it but it looked pretty clean around the edges. Any more and she would have had to take the stomach muscle which would cause a hernia, probably.

The treatment is a mild chemo and prednisone. I thought I would let everyone know the steps of the treatment and about mast cells. I will go see a specialist who my vet trusts completely and we will get all the info about the future.

Meanwhile, because mast cells send out histamines I am to take benedryl twice a day. Mast cells also cause ulcers so I am to take 10mg. of pepcid twice a day. My vet said if you squeeze a mast cell tumor it can actually kill a dog by flooding the body with histamines and they go into shock and can't breathe. Grade 1 mast cells can appear to be 'skin tags' and fool you. Where my lump appeared is rare--usually it's on the side and vets will take the muscle part then.

I am young and strong and my mom will treat me like she always has--like I'm precious.

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

 

 

My mom found a lump--UPDATE

Hi everydog, my mom found a lump on my belly last night and took me to the vet's this morning. We will know a little more this afternoon after my operation. Don't know if it is cancer, might not know right away. Thanks for all the prayers. My mom says I am her heartdog so this is really hard for her.

UPDATE 3pm EST
From River's mom:
River is out of surgery and doing well. The vet cut a good margin around and below the lump and will send it off to be looked at. His bloodwork was very good, all mid-normal except for globulen (?) which was a half a point over normal. That could mean infection only. I will pick him up this evening. River is only 5 and beagles are generally extremely healthy. Cancer is rare which is what I'm banking on. Thank you so much for the prayers!!

Humphrey update

Humphrey had his teeth cleaned, 5 pulled, and also 3 benign (but big) lumps off his back. You can see the stitches on his back in the pictures. He was throwing up at the vet's but has not done so at home. He has a good appetite and is resting comfortably in a cage with a fluffy blankie. The vet thinks he is actually 11 years or older.

Some pictures and video of Humphrey