Hi everyone! Just giving a quick update. Riley had his first Chemotherapy last Friday. (April 24th) All went very well. Riley never lost his appetite, never vomited or had diarhea. Continues to promptly clean his food bowl at all meals. He did have some fatigue for the first 48 hours. Unfortunately, on Sunday, while Riley and Henry were both in a big hurry to get out of the rain, they tripped on each other coming in the back door, and Riley bumped his tumor. This is causing Riley great pain. =( The tumor has been lightly bleeding. Really hope this heals soon. For now we have been keeping him on Tramadol to help with the pain, and it does help.
As for Henry, he had another Grand-Mal, on the 26th. This time he had made it only 11 days which is not the norm.
I have a theory, that it's the chemotherapy being excreted by other dogs in the oncologist unit at MSU that is bothering Henry. Last time Henry had a Grand-Mal 4 days after the visit to MSU. This time, he had a Grand-Mal only a day and a half later. I think this one was sooner cause his own brother is excreting the chemo, so therefore Henry was exposed more.
The chemo is excreted through saliva, urine, feces,blood and vomit. Henry is such a sensitive hound, I really dont think it takes much for him to be affected. I have been washing all the bedding every day, and seperating the dogs at night. I scoop all feces immediately. The vet said sunshine kills chemo in urine.
Anyways, at the oncolgist unit, I think it is just too high a concentration of dogs who have had chemo. We will not be bringing Henry with us to MSU anymore. We have hired a licensed and insured pet sitter for those days.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Pray For Riley
Tomorrow Riley will have his first dose of Chemotherapy. Prayers would be much appreciated!
(Video was taken April 19th, 4 days ago)
(Video was taken April 19th, 4 days ago)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Stress is such a trigger
Henry had a Grand-mal about 40 minutes ago. Stress was the trigger, I know it. He knows Riley is sick and has been so worried about him.
Henry is a bit of a spook and really relies on Riley in order to help him be more brave. If we lose Riley to this cancer, it's going to be awfully rough on Henry. =(
Henry is a bit of a spook and really relies on Riley in order to help him be more brave. If we lose Riley to this cancer, it's going to be awfully rough on Henry. =(
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Mast Cell Tumor
Sorry I have been away so long. My computer started behaving very badly, and I had to take it in to be repaired, which took three weeks. I just got my computer back today and am very glad to be back!!!!
I had a hard time deciding wether or not to put this here or on my other blog (The BARF Blog). Due to the large number of greyhounds affected by cancer, and this blog being read by many greyhound people, I have decided to put news on Riley's cancer here on this blog. Riley however is not a greyhound, he is an American Eskimo. The kind of cancer Riley has (mast cell tumor) is considered one of the most treatable kinds there is. He was diagnosed March 30th (2 weeks ago) with a carpal mast cell tumor. Riley is not my first dog to have mast cell tumors. We had a chihuahua that had a few show up on her mammary glands, and we caught it in time, and they were removed and she did just fine after that, not even needing chemo.
Riley is a trickier situation though, because the only way to remove his mast cell tumor on his wrist, is to fully amputate that leg. At 14 years old, with some moderate arthritis and mild blindness, and a low pain threshold, we have opted not to do this, especially as front legs bear more weight than back legs.
Originally this tumor was diagnosed as a soft tissue injury. When it grew instead of gettng better, we went back to the vet and that was when we found out it was a mast cell tumor. We were very upset at first, as it is inoperable except by amputation, and Riley is already in pain. I feared euthanasia may not be too far off. I did not have my computer, so I couldn't research as in depth as I wanted to. I still have not done alot of research on this yet. Anyways, our vet called us a couple days after the diagnosis, and referred us to MSU. MSU has a whole section of their veterinary hospital devoted to treating pets with cancer. They have all the most advanced treatments there. So we went to MSU last Friday. (April 10th)
Riley at MSU, waiting to be seen by vet. (Note tumor on wrist, on your right)
A series of tests were done on Riley at MSU, including an ultrasound. Good news is the cancer has not spread to the organs. Even more good news, there is a new chemotherapy drug specifically for mast cell tumors. It is still in research stages though. Riley will be getting this chemotherapy drug that is under research. He will get 4 doses, three weeks apart, and then we will see how he is doing and figure out the rest of the plan after that. Riley's case will be closely watched by the makers of the new chemo drug. They are always researching and trying to come up with more ways to help pets with cancer, which is an exciting thing. The chemo will be free of charge due to Riley being part of the study/research.
I had a hard time deciding wether or not to put this here or on my other blog (The BARF Blog). Due to the large number of greyhounds affected by cancer, and this blog being read by many greyhound people, I have decided to put news on Riley's cancer here on this blog. Riley however is not a greyhound, he is an American Eskimo. The kind of cancer Riley has (mast cell tumor) is considered one of the most treatable kinds there is. He was diagnosed March 30th (2 weeks ago) with a carpal mast cell tumor. Riley is not my first dog to have mast cell tumors. We had a chihuahua that had a few show up on her mammary glands, and we caught it in time, and they were removed and she did just fine after that, not even needing chemo.
Riley is a trickier situation though, because the only way to remove his mast cell tumor on his wrist, is to fully amputate that leg. At 14 years old, with some moderate arthritis and mild blindness, and a low pain threshold, we have opted not to do this, especially as front legs bear more weight than back legs.
Originally this tumor was diagnosed as a soft tissue injury. When it grew instead of gettng better, we went back to the vet and that was when we found out it was a mast cell tumor. We were very upset at first, as it is inoperable except by amputation, and Riley is already in pain. I feared euthanasia may not be too far off. I did not have my computer, so I couldn't research as in depth as I wanted to. I still have not done alot of research on this yet. Anyways, our vet called us a couple days after the diagnosis, and referred us to MSU. MSU has a whole section of their veterinary hospital devoted to treating pets with cancer. They have all the most advanced treatments there. So we went to MSU last Friday. (April 10th)
Riley at MSU, waiting to be seen by vet. (Note tumor on wrist, on your right)A series of tests were done on Riley at MSU, including an ultrasound. Good news is the cancer has not spread to the organs. Even more good news, there is a new chemotherapy drug specifically for mast cell tumors. It is still in research stages though. Riley will be getting this chemotherapy drug that is under research. He will get 4 doses, three weeks apart, and then we will see how he is doing and figure out the rest of the plan after that. Riley's case will be closely watched by the makers of the new chemo drug. They are always researching and trying to come up with more ways to help pets with cancer, which is an exciting thing. The chemo will be free of charge due to Riley being part of the study/research.
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