1st Round of Chemo (written a day late)

Let me backtrack a bit...

The evening of 2/12, a college classmate of mine wrote me to say that her dog was also fighting osteosarcoma. His tumor was found in a rib last summer. After surgery he was put on the same chemo regimen that Millie will be on -- carboplatin every 3-4 weeks for a total of 5 treatments. She also mentioned that following his last dose of IV chemo, she started him on **metronomic chemo.

**I found this definition to help explain metronomic chemo: "The definition on metronomic chemotherapy varies, but generally it refers to repetitive, low doses of chemotherapy drugs designed to minimize toxicity and target the endothelium or tumor stroma as opposed to targeting the tumor. There is a considerable body of evidence that even low, nontoxic doses of chemotherapy drugs, when delivered frequently for a prolonged period of time (metronomic chemotherapy) can retard tumor blood vessel growth (or angiogenis) by destroying endothelial cells. Endothelial cells are the cells that line the blood vessels. Angiogenesis, or the orderly formation of the endothelial cells into blood vessels, is necessary for tumors to grow and spread."

My classmate had asked her dog's oncologist (who coincidentally is Millie's oncologist) for anything she could do proactively, rather than just sit and wait for the cancer to spread to the lungs. I like her thinking. The oncologist cautioned that metronomic chemo is not typically used in osteosarcoma. It works well in soft tissue cancer (to slow the progression), but there is no clear evidence that is does anything with OSA. I want to know that we did EVERYTHING possible to give Millie every single chance she has. It is administered as a oral capsule - usually given once per day. What a fantastic surprise to find out that there is one more thing we can try. Also, what a wonderful thing for my classmate to share. So, if you are reading this - thank you again!

The next day, 2/13, we woke up bright and early. Millie's appointment for suture removal and chemo was at 8am. I had no idea if I would be able to load/unload Millie from the car by myself, so I asked Evan to help. I was nervous on the way over & Evan tried to calm me down by saying that the hard part (amputation) was over. Chemo would be a breeze & Millie likely wouldn't even remember her last visit to U of I. Ohhh, I knew he was wrong. We parked and normally this is Millie's moment to rush the door & burst out like a bull. My adorable girl sat in the car with her butt parked on the floor. She was not moving. I thought for a minute that she just didn't want to get out of the back, so I opened a different door - on the side. Nope. This girl managed to climb her way into the driver's seat. Not Moving. After a little coaxing, she came out & we hopped inside. As expected, U of I was empty at that time in the morning. Our technician came in & by that time she had fully relaxed. The oncology resident came in to discuss how he had planned the day. They would have surgery check her incision, remove her sutures, do some baseline bloodwork, and then start chemo. We discussed metronomic chemo. He said that while there are some possible side effects from the medications, he thought it was worthwhile to give it a try. YAY! I was told to come back at 1:30 to pick her up.

At 1:29pm I was in the lobby. Thankfully, they were on time. The chemo technician brought Millie up & we went went to a room to discuss her first treatment, etc. The small, firm swelling under part of her incision was normal, and should continue to shrink with time. All 26 sutures were removed & they were very pleased with not only how it looked, but how well she was doing on three legs. They weighed her...and...wait for it...this hot little mama is 125.1lbs. Holy cow. One thing that made me laugh was the tech asked me if Millie typically ate things she wasn't supposed to. When I asked why, she said that she had placed a pressure bandage on her leg for a few minutes, and when she returned it was gone. She suspected Millie ate it. I'd be shocked if that wasn't the case. That's my girl! If Millie develops side effects, they expect them to be GI related -- nausea, vomiting, soft stools/diarrhea, inappetence, etc & to occur 3-5 days after the chemo. In 10-14 days, Millie will need to have a CBC done so that they can see how low her white blood cell count goes. They expect it to decrease some, but they want to make sure it doesn't get too low. In 3-4 weeks she'll have her next round of chemo...and the cycle continues.

We had our first "poor dog on three legs" moment while checking out at U of I. I was paying and a German Shepherd was waiting near the desk with his owner. Millie and the Shepherd were giving each other the evil eye & I could tell by her body posture that she wanted to start some naughty behavior. I told Millie to sit. She didn't - not because she can't, but because she clearly was ignoring me. I sternly told her to sit again & she did. A woman next to me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Maybe she doesn't want to sit because of her missing leg." I politely told her that Millie can sit just fine on three legs & that she does it all the time at home.

Now, on 2/14 -- so far, so good. She had her first potty walk sling free (see below -- yes, the video contains a few pee stops)

She has had a great appetite, and is a happy, cuddly girl - all normal for her. In fact, if anything, I'd say she feels better. I've started feeding her back in the normal location (she had been eating almost all her meals in my bed with a towel wrapped around her). The girlies even got a special Valentine's day KONG treat today.

Frozen peanut butter, canned food & water mixture with a chewy stick!