Lymphoma information

2bullymama

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Although my boy Lambeau is not a Frenchie, this information will be helpful for any breed as dogs can not be cured of lymphoma. I am posting hoping this information will help someone else in their journey through the chemo treatments and the ups/downs of the illness.
I am logging Lambeau's treatment journey on our sister site - English Bulldog News. The post to date is below, I will try to keep this up to date as well.
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Sorry for the long post, but I am doing this on the inspiration of @nubonics and her logging of Curley’s journey with lymphoma. I think it is important for us all to share this information to help others afterall that is a big part of EBN existence to share experiences and knowledge. Nu’s thread and posts helped me over the last few weeks, along with @rjisaterp posts of Jewel and Bentley‘s journey. I hadn’t posted or told anyone about this prior because it made it too real and I just wasn’t ready to go there until we had more understanding of what we were dealing with.

It all started on 7/19, a little blood in stool, I made note and the next day when it was in his poo again. I drove a sample to our vet for testing. A few days later results come back clean… no issues found. Blood is still there and Cheli then has some in his poo, so I think, well, maybe we got a bad batch of raw food. I throw away that week’s batch and put the boys on bland diet for a few days, pumpkin was already being given so that continued with bland diet.

I then find a lump on Lambeau’s neck which was around 7/29-7/30. We call make an appointment with our vet, but due to vacations and short staff, first available was 8/15. We weren’t overly concerned because Lambeau was 1000% normal otherwise; nothing was off other than the blood in his poo. Mind you, it was not a lot, just a little on the end at this point. Not only was he normal, but appetite was on, he was eating, no vomit or temperature. Seriously, all was spot on normal, even his play. Around 8/2, I find a second lump.. call vet to get an earlier appointment, soonest is now 8/9 and we are on cancellation list for a call if any time opens up. Beau is still 100% normal.

On 8/7 we go for their monthly laser session with our favorite vet tech. Since blood was still in Beau’s poo and Cheli was on/off we dropped off samples for testing again. We are chatting and we tell him about the lumps and we are coming back on Tuesday to see one of the doctors as our normal vet is on vacation. Tech immediately gets down and starts checking the lumps and inspecting Beau. He stands up and says, I’m getting you an appointment today... leaves the room for a bit, comes in and says there is only one vet on staff today and he will be in to see us after we finish laser. As Ian is doing the laser therapy, he is telling us that every one of Beau lymph nodes are swollen, front, sides, legs, all of them.

We finish laser and go to a different exam room, we end up being there for three hours. Blood work, full physical exam, then fluid was taken from two nodes to send off for testing which would take about a week to get back. They did in house blood work tests, Beau’s white count was a little elevated, but otherwise the vet stated there was absolutely nothing remarkable in the levels that would indicate why his nodes were all swollen, but they are obviously reacting to something in his system. We leave with three medicines and lots of questions. Your mind immediately starts going through every sneeze, twist, cough or sideways glance trying to figure out what we might have missed.

8/11 we get the call, he has lymphoma. We are crushed. He is only 7 years old and has been in fantastic health for his whole life. Biggest issue was in grown tail and a fatty tissue tumor when he was under two years old and of course the typical allergies. Both poo tests from 8/7 came back clean so food is also ruled out being a cause of any issues for both boys. Cheli is obviously, at this point we realize, stressed with what is going on causing him to have that little spot of blood.

8/15 we meet with our vet of 18+ years it was mostly just a conversation, no real info or additional diagnosis as he is not an oncologist nor is there one at his office. He did do a biopsy on 8/16 to confirm diagnosis as well as find out the type of lymphoma (type B or T), by the way that is an additional test outside of the biopsy. The type of lymphoma determines the protocol to be used by the oncologist. The test results would take 7-14 days to come back so the only thing we can do till we meet an oncologist and have those results is support care… basically, keep him comfortable.

When we got home we called the two locations our vet recommended near us for oncology. The first place we called, 10/14 was the first available appointment, which I booked and placed on cancellation list. Lewis called the other place and first available was 8/31, which he booked. At this point, it is a waiting game till we get to one of those appointments.

We have been sleeping in the basement of our home on the floor since this all started to make it easier for Lambeau getting out in the yard as quick as possible because by now, he has constant diarrhea and when it hits, it is urgent. He was getting increasingly uncomfortable to where we had to give him Trazadone to help him relax and be able to sleep.

On Sunday 8/21 Lewis noticed the nodes on Lambeau’s neck seemed even bigger. We had some family stop in to visit and Lambeau seemed good all that time even interacted and napped a bit, which we were thankful since he had not slept well on Saturday night. Shortly after my niece and nephew left Lambeau stating panting and could not relax. Around 7:30 Lewis started calling ERs within an hour ride of our home to see if we could get him in; again short staffing has ERs not readily able to take all or there is a massive wait time. First place we call is where we have the 10/14 oncology appointment they have an 8 HOUR wait! Second place, they do not have an oxygen tank big enough for Lambeau to fit in. Third place, where we have the 8/31 oncology appointment, they could take him, but if he went into a need for a breathing tube they would not be able to handle due to not having a surgeon on staff that night. Fourth place, not a great reputation/reviews, but could take him right in. It is a 55 minute ride to get there, they ask for our ETA so they can meet us at door to take him right to an oxygen tank and that they did.

The team there was awesome, incredibly caring, attentive, informative and compassionate. Lambeau nodes in his throat had swelled so big they were placing pressure on his wind pipe/trachea so he was struggling to breathe. They placed him in the oxygen tank while we discussed the current situation, the diagnosis we had and what they could do to help get him stable. As stressful as the whole night was, it turned out to be a Godsend, this ER was also an oncology center, but the oncologist was on leave so we could not get any appointments or meetings with them, however they could administer a chemo treatment with our approval. Lambeau spent the night; they gave him a shot of Lspar and started him on high dose prednisone which allowed the swelling in the nodes to begin to slowly go down. He came home on Monday night and it has been an up/down roller coaster of different issues on the daily. Needing to poo or pee at least two or three times an hour. Then not eating or being ravenous, drinking water like crazy due to the prednisone, sleepless nights due to panting and discomfort.

Our vet and our vet tech have been a tremendous support to us; once they saw the report that Lambeau was in the ER that Sunday night they actually called every oncologist in a three-hour radius of our home trying to get us an emergency appointment on that Monday (8/22). Unfortunately, there were absolutely none that would accept him so we wait till 8/31.

8/31, we meet with the oncologist at Blue Pearl in Malvern. We brought the doctor up to date on everything from 7/19 till 8/31. Unfortunately at the time of the appointment we still did not have the type of lymphoma testing results back so she did not want to go into protocols or prognosis until she has that information. She did state general information on short and long term diagnosis, but overall she wanted to wait to talk specifics. Regardless of type, the first four treatments are the same so Lambeau did get his second treatment which was Vincristine via IV that day and so far is responding well as the nodes seem to be back to normal size. She did have us start to wean him off the prednisone which I am thankful for as I’m not a fan, but understand they are a necessary evil right now.

The one thing our vet and the oncologist cannot find an answer for is the constant diarrhea that started before any medicine or chemo treatment and has been consistent. It is straight liquid or pudding like poo. Nothing and I mean nothing we have done over the past 6 weeks has stopped it. Pumpkin, green beans, bland diet, metronidazole, three other types of diarrhea medicines, now we are tying bland diet again with Imodium AD, three days in and still liquid.
 

2bullymama

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9/6 we went to our vet, emergency visit. We called as soon as they opened; Lambeau’s abdomen is hard as a rock and he is not wanting to eat. Joe checks him over does an ultrasound and shows/explains all his organs and abdomen look great all normal.. no tumors, lumps, or fluid.. all is good. Why the liquid diarrhea and rock hard belly is still a mystery right now. He gave us Xanax to try and keep him settled at night and lessen the panting.

Next oncology appointment is Friday 9/9 paperwork from previous appointment shows he is due to get cytoxan. We should get more specific info on protocol and prognosis as the type testing came back on Thursday 9/1 it is Type B which gives us hope that he can go into remission. One thing to know, regardless of remission, lymphoma in dogs is not curable like in humans. Dogs can go into remission multiple times, but never are cured. Prognosis can be anywhere from 2 to 18 months depending on response to treatments and ability to go into remission.

Lambeau is raw fed four different proteins rotation since we got him at 10 weeks old. Along with that he gets raw goats milk which I am in the process of changing over to colostrum. He gets limited treats of those it is Stella/Chewy's duck meal toppers, watermelon, cheese and raw eggs, and every Saturday night since 10 weeks old he gets a raw marrow bone. He is not on any flea/tick topical for about 3 years opted to stop those since the raw seems to fen off for them (not saying that is case for all) but we have never had flea or ticks on them and I wasn't a big fan of them so just opted to stop. Heartworm for his whole life has been Sentinal which I also recently stop in July due to poo issues showing up and then I just opted to not give in August then once diagnosed I choose to stop it.

Our boy went for a monthly cytopoint shot and cold laser therapy and only yearly wellness check ups to... chemotherapy and 11 pills a day. I can't wrap my head around it.

9/8 – laser session went well, opted to not give monthly cytopoint shot.
9/9 update - Unfortunately, I could not be at the appointment because Chelios was having issues and he needed to be seen by a vet which the appointment ended up overlapping.
Lewis said it was just an evaluation of how he looked and to check bloodwork.

The treatment for Lambeau will be for 16 weeks, with one off week in the process. He is responding well to the treatments thus far, his blood work looks great; his lymph nodes have gone down considerably, but not fully. The oncologist is expecting Lambeau to go into remission next week, but either way treatments will continue through the 16 weeks regardless. Her thoughts are that with how he is responding so far and him having type B, his prognosis would lean to the 12-18 month timeframe.
Third treatment is of Cyclophosphamide.
  1. We will give him 250mg of this medicine once a day for three days. This is the pill that requires you to wear gloves when giving it
  2. Continue Prednisone 10mg once a day until 14th, we will then go 10 mg every other day till the 20th and stop this drug
  3. Canalevia - only if needed for diarrhea - Beau still has runny, urgent poo that is unexplained.
As a follow-up to 9/6 vet visit... Lambeau had a very bad reaction to the Xanax (1/4 tablet), which we immediately determined we will never give him again. Banks actually did well on Xanax so we didn't think twice about giving Beau a very small dose, well, proof in the pudding, not everything is good for all. We also stopped the gabapentin (prescribed on as needed basis, not necessary for treatment) as we (Lewis/I) want to see if it might be causing his hard abdomen and maybe contributing to the loose poo we can’t explain. I say maybe, because the loose stools started way before gabby was in his system.

9/16 update ... no remission but all his nodes are down except two in the front that are still very swollen.
His treatment was Adriamycin via IV and Cerenia. He was in treatment for about an hour, this drug is the one with the most reported side effects which are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea hence the Cerenia.

The protocol is called CHOP which is the four drugs used during the treatments and last for 16 weeks. It is basically the Wisconsin-Madison if I remember right what the nurse told me.

Lambeau will be off a treatment next week, we will only do a blood panel to check his counts. The oncologist is very happy with his progress and how we are caring for him... "whatever you are doing keep at it cause he looks great and is doing very well". He is eating great, he wanted to go on a walk yesterday which hasn't happened since mid-July, he played for a few minutes on Wednesday with Lewis and Cheli - no ball stands a chance with Beau around especially if it is orange.

Unfortunately still no understanding of the constant need to poo and why it is so soft/liquid. The only guess still at this point is pressure on the colon from swollen nodes.

Next treatment is on 9/30 -- I'm praying for remission! Even if he is in remission the treatment will continue.

9/24 update - Mush is off all medicines, finished his prednisone on 9/20. There was no treatment this week, just blood work, which we were told looks very good.

His poo is still very soft/liquid so yesterday I decided to give him panacur. Yes, I'm trying anything to get his stool somewhat normal and back to twice a day. Since July he has been going (very little amounts) upwards of 10 times a day, it is heartbreaking to see him struggle, wanting to "go" but it is just small dribbles of liquid. So many meds have been used and nothing has helped it. So, I'm reaching for anything i know is used for soft poo issues. I did consult with our vet on this back in August, he said go ahead and try it won't hurt or interfere with anything he is currently taking. We were hesitant due to so many pills that we opted to not give until he was off the pred. So, 9/23 I gave him the first dose of panacur, which you give for three days.... guess who had a formed poo this morning!!!!!!!! If I had my phone with me I would have taken a picture. I gave second dose today so we will see how he progress or regresses. If we have formed stool all three days, I will call out vet on Monday to talk about a continued treatment because I don't want to stop if it helps, but also don't want to overdo it either.

A few things to note, as Lewis and I talk and still wonder, "what did we miss?" some things came to mind, now they may not be symptoms, but to us, in hindsight they were signs. Each of these alone are no big deal, but when looking back and connecting dots, we had signs but didn't connect them. Not sure it makes a difference, but when you have the gift of hindsight things seem like they were missed
  • November 2021 - started peeing twice with each potty. Urinalysis was done and no infection was found, yes, I keep all vet paperwork and went though the file to see when that started.
  • Sleeping VERY hard and difficult to wake up - this we blamed on allergies.
  • Slow to go up/down stairs - this we blamed on heat and allergies. Both Mush and Lewis were getting butts kicked this year and we were blaming allergies for everything. We actually stated carrying hi up/down sometimes because he would just sit at top/bottom of stairs.
  • Not finishing his weekly marrow bone - normally he would not stop working on it till that bone was CLEAN. We noticed in May/June he started leaving half of it and heavily panting when he stopped. Again, we blamed the excessive heat and allergies.
Next treatment is on Friday 9/30.
 

Rusty’s Owner

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Poor Lambeau, so sorry to hear all this is happening.

My thoughts are with you, please continue to keep us updated.
 

Rusty’s Owner

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Also have you tried Adored Beast Gut Soothe for his digestion issues? It’s a pre and probiotic with slippery elm and marshmallow root to soothe their gut.
It soothes inflammation in the whole body from the mouth down to the digestive.

I keep it in the fridge at all times for my 3 dogs and it works wonders, even better than the antibiotics from the vet for digestion issues.

Just a suggestion as I know you mentioned he has digestion issues.
 

Mavis

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9/6 we went to our vet, emergency visit. We called as soon as they opened; Lambeau’s abdomen is hard as a rock and he is not wanting to eat. Joe checks him over does an ultrasound and shows/explains all his organs and abdomen look great all normal.. no tumors, lumps, or fluid.. all is good. Why the liquid diarrhea and rock hard belly is still a mystery right now. He gave us Xanax to try and keep him settled at night and lessen the panting.

Next oncology appointment is Friday 9/9 paperwork from previous appointment shows he is due to get cytoxan. We should get more specific info on protocol and prognosis as the type testing came back on Thursday 9/1 it is Type B which gives us hope that he can go into remission. One thing to know, regardless of remission, lymphoma in dogs is not curable like in humans. Dogs can go into remission multiple times, but never are cured. Prognosis can be anywhere from 2 to 18 months depending on response to treatments and ability to go into remission.

Lambeau is raw fed four different proteins rotation since we got him at 10 weeks old. Along with that he gets raw goats milk which I am in the process of changing over to colostrum. He gets limited treats of those it is Stella/Chewy's duck meal toppers, watermelon, cheese and raw eggs, and every Saturday night since 10 weeks old he gets a raw marrow bone. He is not on any flea/tick topical for about 3 years opted to stop those since the raw seems to fen off for them (not saying that is case for all) but we have never had flea or ticks on them and I wasn't a big fan of them so just opted to stop. Heartworm for his whole life has been Sentinal which I also recently stop in July due to poo issues showing up and then I just opted to not give in August then once diagnosed I choose to stop it.

Our boy went for a monthly cytopoint shot and cold laser therapy and only yearly wellness check ups to... chemotherapy and 11 pills a day. I can't wrap my head around it.

9/8 – laser session went well, opted to not give monthly cytopoint shot.
9/9 update - Unfortunately, I could not be at the appointment because Chelios was having issues and he needed to be seen by a vet which the appointment ended up overlapping.
Lewis said it was just an evaluation of how he looked and to check bloodwork.

The treatment for Lambeau will be for 16 weeks, with one off week in the process. He is responding well to the treatments thus far, his blood work looks great; his lymph nodes have gone down considerably, but not fully. The oncologist is expecting Lambeau to go into remission next week, but either way treatments will continue through the 16 weeks regardless. Her thoughts are that with how he is responding so far and him having type B, his prognosis would lean to the 12-18 month timeframe.
Third treatment is of Cyclophosphamide.
  1. We will give him 250mg of this medicine once a day for three days. This is the pill that requires you to wear gloves when giving it
  2. Continue Prednisone 10mg once a day until 14th, we will then go 10 mg every other day till the 20th and stop this drug
  3. Canalevia - only if needed for diarrhea - Beau still has runny, urgent poo that is unexplained.
As a follow-up to 9/6 vet visit... Lambeau had a very bad reaction to the Xanax (1/4 tablet), which we immediately determined we will never give him again. Banks actually did well on Xanax so we didn't think twice about giving Beau a very small dose, well, proof in the pudding, not everything is good for all. We also stopped the gabapentin (prescribed on as needed basis, not necessary for treatment) as we (Lewis/I) want to see if it might be causing his hard abdomen and maybe contributing to the loose poo we can’t explain. I say maybe, because the loose stools started way before gabby was in his system.

9/16 update ... no remission but all his nodes are down except two in the front that are still very swollen.
His treatment was Adriamycin via IV and Cerenia. He was in treatment for about an hour, this drug is the one with the most reported side effects which are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea hence the Cerenia.

The protocol is called CHOP which is the four drugs used during the treatments and last for 16 weeks. It is basically the Wisconsin-Madison if I remember right what the nurse told me.

Lambeau will be off a treatment next week, we will only do a blood panel to check his counts. The oncologist is very happy with his progress and how we are caring for him... "whatever you are doing keep at it cause he looks great and is doing very well". He is eating great, he wanted to go on a walk yesterday which hasn't happened since mid-July, he played for a few minutes on Wednesday with Lewis and Cheli - no ball stands a chance with Beau around especially if it is orange.

Unfortunately still no understanding of the constant need to poo and why it is so soft/liquid. The only guess still at this point is pressure on the colon from swollen nodes.

Next treatment is on 9/30 -- I'm praying for remission! Even if he is in remission the treatment will continue.

9/24 update - Mush is off all medicines, finished his prednisone on 9/20. There was no treatment this week, just blood work, which we were told looks very good.

His poo is still very soft/liquid so yesterday I decided to give him panacur. Yes, I'm trying anything to get his stool somewhat normal and back to twice a day. Since July he has been going (very little amounts) upwards of 10 times a day, it is heartbreaking to see him struggle, wanting to "go" but it is just small dribbles of liquid. So many meds have been used and nothing has helped it. So, I'm reaching for anything i know is used for soft poo issues. I did consult with our vet on this back in August, he said go ahead and try it won't hurt or interfere with anything he is currently taking. We were hesitant due to so many pills that we opted to not give until he was off the pred. So, 9/23 I gave him the first dose of panacur, which you give for three days.... guess who had a formed poo this morning!!!!!!!! If I had my phone with me I would have taken a picture. I gave second dose today so we will see how he progress or regresses. If we have formed stool all three days, I will call out vet on Monday to talk about a continued treatment because I don't want to stop if it helps, but also don't want to overdo it either.

A few things to note, as Lewis and I talk and still wonder, "what did we miss?" some things came to mind, now they may not be symptoms, but to us, in hindsight they were signs. Each of these alone are no big deal, but when looking back and connecting dots, we had signs but didn't connect them. Not sure it makes a difference, but when you have the gift of hindsight things seem like they were missed
  • November 2021 - started peeing twice with each potty. Urinalysis was done and no infection was found, yes, I keep all vet paperwork and went though the file to see when that started.
  • Sleeping VERY hard and difficult to wake up - this we blamed on allergies.
  • Slow to go up/down stairs - this we blamed on heat and allergies. Both Mush and Lewis were getting butts kicked this year and we were blaming allergies for everything. We actually stated carrying hi up/down sometimes because he would just sit at top/bottom of stairs.
  • Not finishing his weekly marrow bone - normally he would not stop working on it till that bone was CLEAN. We noticed in May/June he started leaving half of it and heavily panting when he stopped. Again, we blamed the excessive heat and allergies.
Next treatment is on Friday 9/30.
Big hugs to you for what you have been going through and for the excellent care you have given Lambeau and Cheli. It's horrible when they are sick and worse when they have something chronic. It just hangs over you like a pall. I hope you find he is in remission when you take him again on the 30th. Thinking of you and extending my best.

PS, the emojis available are pretty poor for expressing care or concern. None of the five available seem to fit.
 

2bullymama

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Also have you tried Adored Beast Gut Soothe for his digestion issues? It’s a pre and probiotic with slippery elm and marshmallow root to soothe their gut.
It soothes inflammation in the whole body from the mouth down to the digestive.

I keep it in the fridge at all times for my 3 dogs and it works wonders, even better than the antibiotics from the vet for digestion issues.

Just a suggestion as I know you mentioned he has digestion issues.
Thanks... never heard of it. I'll check it out. At this point I'm looking into everything and anything to keep him comfortable and eating
 

Jakeyjake

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Thanks... never heard of it. I'll check it out. At this point I'm looking into everything and anything to keep him comfortable and eating
So sorry you are going through all of this. It's so hard. Hoping things will improve soon.
 

2bullymama

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9/30 update – Still no remission L Oncologist stated this is unusual for him to not be in full remission at this point since he is Type B. X-rays showed nodes are still swollen in a few areas which she was not expecting to see. Since not in remission she intensified the protocol by giving IV and oral for weeks one and two of this treatment cycle. She will reassess him on week three to determine if we should continue with intensified protocol or change the medicines.

Intensified treatment today was:

  • Vincristine via IV
  • Cycolphosphamide two pills a day for three days
Lewis spoke to her about us giving the Pancur which seems to help with his poo issues; she had no problem with it and said it would not impact anything with the chemo medicines. We will give that daily to see how he continues to respond to it, any issues and we will back off of it. Outside of chemo and Panacur, Mush is off all other medicines, we have stuff on hand if needed, but not giving anything at this time.

Lambeau is seemingly doing well all considered, his appetite is crazy, he eats whatever is in his bowl like he never ate before and is always wanting more. He doesn’t have a lot of energy but still likes going for walks in the stroller, he will walk very short distance on his own, but we won’t let him do too much, Lewis lifts him into stroller and we continue on. Mush prefers to do stairs on his own, but we only let him do it when we see he has the energy, our concern is overexertion that could lead to distress so we watch very closely how he is responding to any type of “exercise” for lack of better word. He is still loving his bones and carrying them around the yard or just chewing on them randomly.

Nights are still rough, not sure why but during day he is closer to normal than at night. Right around 2 – 3 AM, he becomes restless, panting and will sit and stare at us. We’ll take him into yard, he’ll potty but will not lay down or go back to sleep for a few hours. He has also become extremely clingy which he never was, wants to be touching you or somehow cuddle against you.

Next treatment is Friday 10/7
 

2bullymama

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10/9 update – Still no remission all but one node has returned to normal size so we continue with the intensified treatments. She state he looks great and is surprised he is not in remission.

Intensified treatment today was:

  • Vincristine via IV
  • Cycolphosphamide two pills a day for three days
Lambeau actually slept through the night several nights this week and we have been seeing more formed poo so both oncologist and vet have said it is OK to continue with the pancur since it is helping.

Next treatment is 10/14
 

2bullymama

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Mush has been doing well, we even had a few nights without interrupted sleep. His appetite remains strong, and he will eat whatever is offered.

Poo remains an issue although we had some movements that looked totally normal happening here and there, but he still goes 6-10 times a day usually ending in pudding/liquid as the day goes on.. vet/oncologist are still stumped, no meds help in anyway. I added panacur (yes, puppy dewormer – vet/oncologist approved) and that seemed to help for about a week. So I might ask if we can up the dosage at all to see if it continues to help with the poo.

He had chemo schedule this morning, but due to his white blood count being low they did not administer the treatment. He is still not in remission, one node in the front shoulder remains inflamed/swollen. ☹

Next appointment is on Thursday 10/20, hopefully his counts are up.

Thanks again for all the love/support… it is greatly appreciated
 

Rusty’s Owner

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Mush has been doing well, we even had a few nights without interrupted sleep. His appetite remains strong, and he will eat whatever is offered.

Poo remains an issue although we had some movements that looked totally normal happening here and there, but he still goes 6-10 times a day usually ending in pudding/liquid as the day goes on.. vet/oncologist are still stumped, no meds help in anyway. I added panacur (yes, puppy dewormer – vet/oncologist approved) and that seemed to help for about a week. So I might ask if we can up the dosage at all to see if it continues to help with the poo.

He had chemo schedule this morning, but due to his white blood count being low they did not administer the treatment. He is still not in remission, one node in the front shoulder remains inflamed/swollen. ☹

Next appointment is on Thursday 10/20, hopefully his counts are up.

Thanks again for all the love/support… it is greatly appreciated

Glad to hear he is sleeping better they the night, keep us updated
 

2bullymama

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10/20 update – still no remission, one node is being very stubborn, but he is not declining!
Poo issues remain, but getting better with the daily panacur treatment. Oncologist and vet said daily is fine if it is helping him.
Treatment today:
(1) Adriamycin @ 28 mg/m2 (26 mg) IV
(2) Cerenia @ 1 mg/kg (28 mg) IV

Next appointment is on 11/3 unless we have concerns then we would do a CBC at our vet office and then contact them. Otherwise, 11/3 will be CBC, chest x-rays and discussion based on his condition which therapy to continue with (vinc/cytoxan vs CCNU vs Laverdia).

His fall allergies are kicking in so we inquired about giving him a cytopoint shot, oncologist said it is perfectly fine, in fact they recommend it over Apaqul (spelling) in chemo patients. We will give him one, but are going to wait till 11/4 after next treatment to see how he is doing.
 

Rusty’s Owner

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10/20 update – still no remission, one node is being very stubborn, but he is not declining!
Poo issues remain, but getting better with the daily panacur treatment. Oncologist and vet said daily is fine if it is helping him.
Treatment today:
(1) Adriamycin @ 28 mg/m2 (26 mg) IV
(2) Cerenia @ 1 mg/kg (28 mg) IV

Next appointment is on 11/3 unless we have concerns then we would do a CBC at our vet office and then contact them. Otherwise, 11/3 will be CBC, chest x-rays and discussion based on his condition which therapy to continue with (vinc/cytoxan vs CCNU vs Laverdia).

His fall allergies are kicking in so we inquired about giving him a cytopoint shot, oncologist said it is perfectly fine, in fact they recommend it over Apaqul (spelling) in chemo patients. We will give him one, but are going to wait till 11/4 after next treatment to see how he is doing.

That’s great news he is not declining!

Keep up the good care for him!
 

2bullymama

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11/4 update – no real change from last update except his face/paws are red/swollen which is part of lymphoma. No remission and node not going down in size so he is on CCNU this week, two pills for one day, then an antibiotic due to this med causing a drop in white blood cells. Mush is totally fine, eating, playing, walking, but when he sleeps he is OUT hard.

Next appointment on 11/10 will be CBC, chest x-rays and evaluation of the effect of the CCNU
 

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11/4 update – no real change from last update except his face/paws are red/swollen which is part of lymphoma. No remission and node not going down in size so he is on CCNU this week, two pills for one day, then an antibiotic due to this med causing a drop in white blood cells. Mush is totally fine, eating, playing, walking, but when he sleeps he is OUT hard.

Next appointment on 11/10 will be CBC, chest x-rays and evaluation of the effect of the CCNU

keep up the good work and care, hopefully the swelling goes down soon 🙂
 

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11/10 update – The one stubborn node in his front shoulder has stated to reduce in size! This week’s appointment was CBC, chest x-rays and evaluation to see how he responded to the new pills (CCNU). Oncologist was very pleased with his response and how good he looks, so there was no treatment this week. We had a full week of great poo.. all firm and formed! I will not be changing any of what we are doing since he seems to be doing well, he even wanted to play this week and go on walks.

Next appointment is on 11/17
 

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11/10 update – The one stubborn node in his front shoulder has stated to reduce in size! This week’s appointment was CBC, chest x-rays and evaluation to see how he responded to the new pills (CCNU). Oncologist was very pleased with his response and how good he looks, so there was no treatment this week. We had a full week of great poo.. all firm and formed! I will not be changing any of what we are doing since he seems to be doing well, he even wanted to play this week and go on walks.

Next appointment is on 11/17

Glad he has improved!
 

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11/17 update – The one stubborn node in his front shoulder is even smaller this week! This week’s appointment was CBC and evaluation to see how the node was and check his white blood count. His counts were good so he got another treatment of the CCNU. With this rug, his net appointment will be 12/8 unless we see any issues, nodes swelling or change in his behavior. He is still doing great with eating and poo have been totally normal again this week
 

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12/20 update – Still not in remission. He is now on a drug named Tanovea which he will get every three weeks via IV. He received the first treatment of this drug on 12/9, throw up while receiving it but the oncologist was not overly concerned. They gave some cerenea to settle his belly for the ride home; otherwise everything else is status quo. We did take him to our regular vet for a checkup cause he is now peeing several times and hour so we are getting his kidneys and urinary tract checked making sure nothing is going wrong there. Next appointment is 12/30.
 

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12/30 update – Still no remission, one node in shoulder will not respond L Beau had another treatment of the Tanovea. We are still experiencing multiple pee when he has to go… all tests were clear so no real answers as to why he is doing that. On 12/29 we took him to our regular vet, he has a deep double ear infection, then 12/30 was chemo….it is now Jan 2nd and he has been sick since, not eating and pooing every hour which is like a water fountain, arch and all L We went to our vet on 12/3I to get sub-Q fluids since he was not drinking which seemed to perk him up a bit, but he still did not eat. Gave him entyce (appetite enhancer) last night and he ate half his normal meal. I gave again this morning hoping that gets him to eat today. We do bloodwork before each chemo and based on what they look for, his blood looked great. We feel like he has regressed back to how he was in August. If he doesn’t eat today, vet will be getting a call. Next chemo is scheduled for 1/20.
 
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