On September 9, Trapper had his 3rd treatment, Vincristine, and we also lowered his prednisone dose. What happened in the next few days was VERY scary. Trapper started dropping weight (2+ pounds in only 3 days), and he lost his appetite. I was so worried about my little buddy--he just looked like skin and bones. I honestly thought the end was near for my Trapper-wrapper :(
I took him to the vet on Friday and as usual they were awesome! We didn't get an answer about what was wrong, except possibly that the lymphoma had come back and was hiding in his intestines and/or the chemo protocol just wasn't working. Both of these possibilities felt like a punch in the gut. An ultrasound revealed nothing, so I suggested we increase the prednisone and see what would happen. The vet agreed, and suggested a follow up with the cancer doc on Monday. Thankfully, the prednisone did the trick--my little buddy came back!! He's now happy, full of energy and HUNGRY. Never have I been so happy to see him up on his back legs with his paws on the dining room table stealing a quesadilla as I was tonight!!
Today I spoke to the cancer vet. She suspects that the prednisone was actually treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease (which we all think Trapper has, though we don't have proof right now). She thinks that dropping the prednisone dose was the reason he got so sick, not necessarily because of lymphoma in the intestines or the treatment not working. Of course, none of us really know, which is hard...
So, we'll stay the course with the prednisone for a month or two. Assuming this week's chemo treatment goes well, we'll monitor the diarrhea. If it doesn't improve, we will likely increase his Azathioprine (an immunosuppressant drug he's on to treat his ITP) to try to get the Inflammatory Bowel Disease under control. We have opted to delay chemo this week from tomorrow to Thursday to give Trapper a chance to continue to improve. This week's treatment is a hard-core one--Mitoxantrone. It can really hammer the white blood cells, which is an extra concern for Trapper with his ITP. This drug is a substitute for Adriamycin that is normally given on these weeks in the protocol. Adriamycin can lead to extreme cardiac toxicity, so a dog can only have 5 doses in his life. Trapper had 4 the last time through the protocol, so we're switching this week since he has 3 more doses (of Mitoxantrone) over the next 22 weeks. The entire treatment protocol is 26 weeks, which would put him completing chemo around Valentine's Day 2015 :)
So, now the good stuff!! My friend, Heather, offered to take photos of my Trap dog and I think the results were stunning! I will be forever grateful for these pictures :) Check them out:
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| What a prince! |
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| What a beautiful boy |
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| Here's Trapper showing me his "Buddha belly", one of our favorite tricks |
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| What can I say? I'm in awe of him. |
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| There's a dog who has the world by the tail! |
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| Me and my boy |
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| Another amazing shot |
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| This one is my favorite--it really captures the bond I have with my sweet Trapper dog. |
The last week has been tough. I've faced the reality (and then quickly run away and hid from it) that my days with Trapper are numbered. But just when I'm about to lose faith, he gives me a good ol' Trapper growl for hugging him a little too long, or looks at me like "What's WRONG with you??" He has taught me so much about an unbreakable spirit, and having a will to live that rivals anyone I've ever known, human or canine. So, thanks, Trapper. Keep teaching me, OK?
Hug your pups or your humans, or whomever--we are all blessed to wake up every day.
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