For the past week, Trapper has been VERY sick. The poor pup has had diarrhea, and has been losing a lot of blood. So on Monday night I took him to the ER.
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| Trapper feeling so crummy :( |
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When he wouldn't eat his leftover birthday cake, we knew it was time to visit the vet!
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| Poor Trapper had dropped 6 pounds in 4 days.... |
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| Trappers was so exhausted and his back end was very weak--notice how close his back feet are together. |
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| Pitiful |
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| Chillin' while we wait for the vet. |
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| My boy.......... |
After almost 24 hours of fluids and sup
portive meds, Trapper was feeling better. Not great, but better. While he was at the vet, he had his first "official" chemo treatment--Vincristine. Last week's treatment of L-asparginase was sort of a pre-treatment/rescue treatment.
I had a long discussion with Trapper's vet about his ongoing stomach issues. He's been having "episodes" for about 6 months, and the vets always prescribed antibiotics, but they never really seemed to work. He would eventually get better, but with any stress, his system went into turmoil again. Michael and I have suspected something else was going on, but until this really bad episode we didn't have any idea what it might be.
The vet believes there are 2 possible reasons for these episodes: 1. The lymphoma came back in his intestines as well as his lymph nodes or 2. He has inflammatory bowel disease, which is an autoimmune disease. I believe it's the later. I just don't know why the lymphoma would have stayed in his intestines and not appeared in his lymph nodes until 5 months later. And, his GI issues really seem like "flare ups" like one would expect from an autoimmune disease. At least that's my opinion, though I am relying 100% on my "mommy intuition", not any actual medical knowledge. Hee, hee. Between the chemo and possibly increasing the dosage of his current autoimmune meds, we should be able to manage this long term. Just have to get him through this current episode!
I felt like a kid in a candy store when I got the call saying that Trapper could come home. Trapper was not as impressed by my enthusiasm :D
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| Finish taking the stupid picture, Mom! Let's go home! |
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| Ready to roll |
After his treatment and hospital stay, we were hoping for significant progress with his GI issues. Though it was better in some ways, it was worse in others. So we started Trapper on prednisone a day earlier (yesterday/Wednesday) than planned.
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| Chillaxin' in the kitchen |
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| Let's just say I've done A LOT of this this week.... |
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| Such a tired boy |
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| Trapper has been a picky eater--a very unusual state for him. I do love the attitude in this picture--what a boy! |
Today (Friday) I was feeling uncomfortable with Trapper's progress, especially going into the holiday weekend, so I took him back to the vet. He'd dropped 2 pounds since discharge 3 days ago. The nurses and doctor were so awesome! They recommended giving the prednisone a bit more time to work, and gave him some subcutaneous fluids to help him through.
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| Trapper thinks this is COMPLETELY unnecessary! |
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I tried not to tease Trapper too much about his "lumpy" water shoulder. Maybe he's really a camel....... hee hee!
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The nurse showed me how to give Trapper fluids while we're away. I made sure I hid the needles from Trapper when I packed!
Next Tuesday Trapper has his second chemo treatment.
Trapper never ceases to amaze me--his will to live is phenomenal. I will say, though, that this most recent leg of the journey has been harder than the previous ones. At 13 1/2 years old, I am concerned about what "long term prognosis" really means for him. I've had a lot of people ask me about how I balance spending money on this treatment with the fact that Trapper is, well, old. For me, it's all about quality of life. Every time Trapper has faced a major health challenge (and there have been A LOT of them), he's always pushed through and had a great quality of life going into the challenge and coming through it. There were a few times in the past week that Trapper hasn't looked like that dog. He's looked like a thin, tired, geriatric dog. To say it's been hard to deal with is an understatement. I feel incredibly fortunate to have him still with us, to have the opportunity to have an old dog who has beat odds that I'm CERTAIN many other dogs couldn't have. But still, looking down the road to the inevitable feels much harder these days than it has in the past. I have offered Trapper a steak for Christmas, so I hope that will carry the day with him.........
As always, hug your pups and your people. Every day really is a gift.
