3rd Round of Chemo & X-rays (written two days late)

On the 27th Millie went to U of I for her 3rd round of chemo and chest x-rays.  They want to do chest x-rays in the middle of chemo treatment to make sure that there aren't any mets in the lungs (cancer has spread).  If the cancer had spread, they would discontinue carboplatin, and....well, I never really looked into it because I refused to let that be an option for us.  I was nervous - like that upset stomach, can only think about one thing kind of nerves.

Our chemo tech was a lady we had never seen before, or at least I had not, maybe Millie saw her all the time.  Anyway, I loved her.  She knew I was nervous & was very kind to Mil.  She wanted to prepare me in case of bad news, but was also hopeful right along side me.  She was wonderful, and exactly what an oncology department needs.  She explained that they would do Millie chest x-rays first, and if they were okay the next step would be exam, bloodwork, then finally chemo.  If the chest x-rays showed signs of cancer, they would call me to discuss options.  We also talked about Millie's mild nausea post chemo #2, and she stated she would happily talk to the oncologist to make sure I was sent home with anti-nausea meds.  The tech could see I was trying to remain calm, and asked if I had any other questions.  When I asked if she'd call either way after the x-rays, she said it wasn't the usual course, but she would make sure somebody called me.  That woman was just what I needed that day - thoughtful & kind.

About an hour later U of I called to let me know that the chest x-rays were clear.  Clear!!!  (*Insert dancing and screaming here*) Talk about a sigh of relief.  The chemo is working.  On another note, her neutrophils were low.  She was above the limit cutoff, but because this was the first time she was low (at all), he wanted to see her back in one week for repeat bloodwork.  If the neutrophils get too low, she may have to go on a course of antibiotics, and potentially push back her chemo to every four weeks instead of three.

At 1:30, my Stink was hauling ass down the hallway wagging her tail like a maniac.  She finished out the workday with me (though she napped most of it).  After work I had a few petsitting stops.  By the time we got home, she was exhausted.  I never know if it is because of the chemo, her nerves, or a combination of the two.  In any event, we got home and she immediately put herself to bed.  Since she had an upset stomach the night of chemo #2, I gave her about an hour to calm down before giving dinner.  During that hour, she slept -- slept through pizza, cats eating, Sugar eating, etc.  She felt warm, so I took her temp -- just a touch high.  I offered her food, and she only ate about 1/8 of a cup.  I decided to let her keep sleeping, but to take her temp every hour and a half.  At 10:30pm, when her temp was back to normal, I offered her dinner.  She ate the whole thing in 7 seconds (per usual).  Ever since then, she's been the same old Stink.  The anti-nausea medicine is either working well, or she doesn't have any this time.

She's been happy to greet strangers (I found a neighbor's wallet, and Mil got to meet her when she came over to claim it), bark at the dogs across the street, and - her favorite - shove Shugs out of the way & try to eat Sugar's dinner too!

Two more rounds of chemo to go.  Keep working your magic!

Good Problem to Have

Tomorrow morning Millie goes in for her 3rd round of chemo.  While she's there she will also have chest x-rays to make sure that the cancer has not metastasized in her lungs.  I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous about tomorrow.  I have heard that the chances of her having spots in her lungs aren't extremely high, but I can't help but worry she might be that unlucky dog.

As I prepare for tomorrow, Millie has been getting a lot of extra attention.  While out on a walk with Evan, I noticed something that made my heart smile.  Millie has a bald spot on her tail.....from wagging it.  When she's super excited in her kennel, the tail is out of control.  My dog, my dog who has cancer, is so happy that she is getting a bald spot.  What a way to make my day!

Bloodwork & Birthdays

On Monday the 19th, Millie went to U of I for another white blood cell check post chemo.  Last time, we were in and out within 15 minutes.  We walked back into the room and the technician told us that she'd see me at 1:30pm (the chemo pickup time).  Confused, I reminded her that we were only in for bloodwork, and that her chemo appointment wasn't until next week.  Her response, "Nope.  Pretty sure we're doing chest x-rays and the 3rd round of chemo today."  I suggested she check the schedule, because we have an appointment for next Tuesday for chemo.  After going back and forth a bit, she finally realized she was the one mixed up, not me.  Phew.  Talk about a good reminder for me to be on top of things.  Thankfully, they called this time with the results & everything looks great.

Yesterday afternoon I took Millie into work with me.  The building that I work in is also a site for voting during local elections.  As we walked past the employees, one woman said, "What's his name.  Tripod?"  Then, she did this horribly idiotic laugh.  Granted, I get the tripod reference.  I understand that is funny to some people, but I was not pleased.  Nicely I told her that her name was Millie & that she had her leg amputated because of cancer.  Immediately the woman looked embarrassed.  I was very nice, and wasn't trying to be mean, but admittedly I did want her to feel a bit bad for her dumb comment.  Job done.

On a brighter note, we had some puppy dog birthdays to celebrate.  Paco, my nephew (a Yorkie-Poodle mix) had his over the weekend.  Though Sugar loves to play with Paco, Millie is not a fan.  Repeat.  NOT A FAN of him.  Vegas and Freya (two Labs), I like to call them my godpuppies, had their birthdays this week.  My two girlies love Vegas and Freya.  So, they made up this sign to let their friends know how much they love them.

The sign making process took a lot out of them, so they had to nap a little...

Freya & Vegas

Paco "Most Handsome"

In Memory of Chloe

Chloe, our Mastiff friend, lost her battle with osteosarcoma yesterday.  She was a lovely dog and will be greatly missed by her many admirers.  I am not a religious person by any means, but I firmly believe that Chloe is now pain free & chewing as many bones as she can sink her teeth into.

New Bed & Country House

The girlies and I had an excellent weekend.  The weather was gorgeous, I got a fair bit of housework done, they had two visits with Nana & Nampa (my parents), and Millie got a new bed.  My girls love spending time with Nana & Nampa.  I mean looooove.  We had a surprise "pop in" visit with them on Friday where Millie and my dad cuddled on the floor while Nana and Sugar hung out on the couch.  

On Saturday, during my cleaning, I noticed that Millie's bed in her crate was stinky.  Stinky beyond the point of cleaning.  I frequently call her "The Big Stink" as a nickname, but that doesn't mean she has to live up to it.  One impromptu visit to PetsMart later & she had herself a whole new bed.  Five seconds after putting it in the crate, Sugar claimed it.  She was not moving.  Millie came over, sniffed it & settled in near the crate to wait Sugar out.   

Today we (the girlies, Evan and I) took a trip to the country house (my parent's house in St. Joseph).  They have a decent sized fenced in yard, and my two nerds enjoyed the heck out of some off-leash running.

 This is the face of a happy Sugar.

 Three legs or not, this girl moves when she wants to!

 Millie "helped" Nampa with some cleaning.

 While Shugs is rolling in...who knows what.

 13 years young!

 All that running & somebody needs a rest.  

 Evan & Millie -- both are pretty darn cute, eh?

 Group cuddle (although Shugs is almost folded in half here, I adore Millie's face in this one)

 Facelift!

 Maybe if we look extra cute....we can have some snacks too?

 Worked!

 Two of my favorite men -- Evan and Dad

 Now that is a cute dog!

Sunny Afternoon & Friends

Following the amputation, there are moments where I honestly think Millie still thinks she has four legs.  She will roll onto her hip, throw her stump in the air and go to town trying to scratch her ear.  After a few minutes, she looks at me, tries again....and then the cycle continues.  This makes me a little sad, so I always try to help her out.  I scratch her face, neck, ears, shoulder & then see how she responds.  If she's still itchy, we give it another try.  One thing I LOVE to see her do is to "bury" her poop.  When she had four legs, immediately after pooping, she would use both back legs to dig up 14 tons of dirt (not so cute).  She still makes the motion with her nub & I love every second of it.  I was finally able to capture it on video.  Take a look at that smug face.  There isn't one ounce of her body that thinks things are any different now.  

This afternoon was so beautiful, it was hard to go back to work after walking the girlies on my lunch.  So, I took the opportunity to take a few pictures.  

Check out Millie's hot, slim bod.  That's what 127lbs looks like ladies & gents.

My beautiful Sugar.

Hallie cat basking in the sun.

An overstimulated Piper is tasting my hand.

This evening, I stopped by to visit Chloe (the Mastiff that I know who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in October 2011).  Chloe is just a touch older than Millie.  I hadn't seen Chloe in at least four years, but this adorable little girl was very welcoming.  As it turns out, her tumor is just a little below where Millie's was, but is on the same leg.  Chloe and Millie are very similar -- not only in looks, but in personality.  I couldn't believe how many similarities they had behavior wise.  It was so nice to visit with somebody who is going through something so similar, and also see how happy Chloe is.

This was my favorite Chloe picture from this evening.  Seriously, look at that adorable nerd!  Too cute!

Bath Day!

Today was a good day.  I woke up early, made myself a yummy breakfast & spent time lounging on the couch catching up on TV while cuddling with the girlies.  It was such a nice day out I decided that I should finally get to a task I had been putting off for about a week - trimming dog toenails.  I can do it inside, but with all the nail bits flying off in every direction (not to mention Dremel dust), the job is much easier outside.  

Millie has always been excellent for her nails.  One not so secret benefit to three legs -- one less foot to trim!    Sugar hates it with a passion, but knows I won't let her win that war.  

Back inside, I gave them each a marrow bone to keep them busy while I Furminated the cats.  (God bless the Furminator!!)

My girls are opposite in a lot of ways.  Millie is brute force through and through.  She never hides her emotions (read:  will bark like a lunatic or growl at something she's uncertain of), plows through any obstacle in her way, and never apologizes for any of it.  Sugar is careful to show what she's feeling (read:  rather than bark or growl, she just goes for a bite), thinks through challenges, and carefully side steps around any people or animals in her way.  Watching just a simple clip of them chewing on their bones, and you can see a glimpse of their personalities.  Mil is going at it like she'll never eat again & Sugar is carefully licking it, savoring every moment.  

Here is Mil getting herself in the tub.  I want to let her try to learn how to navigate on three legs, but I don't want her to lose confidence.  So, after a little bit of trying, I decided to help a sister out.

She may not look like it here, but Shugs loves baths just as much as Millie.

The cats...are not big fans.

Nana + Medicine = Happy Millie

*Knocking on wood* Millie seems to be feeling much, much better!  We are still only a day into her UTI antibiotics, so we still have a few more days until those symptoms go away.  However, her stomach seems to much, much happier.  I've broken down her morning and evening meals into two, smaller meals about 45 minutes apart.  She's getting Famotidine, Forti Flora, and Metoclopramide to help out as well.

Tonight she had an extra special visitor, my mom (Nana!).  My girls adore Nana.  Millie even executed a perfect rocking horse impression that I wasn't sure was possible on three legs.  She was spinning and jumping & full of kisses. Sugar wasn't about to let Millie have solo Nana time, so she found a spot next to Nana too.

It's amazing what the love of a Nana can do.  Love you Mom!!

Not Feeling So Hot

Poor Stink isn't feeling too hot.  She doesn't seem to feel terrible, just not like herself.  As suspected, she does have a urinary tract infection (I swear she gets them every 3 months or so) on top of yucky tummy.  She seemed to feel okay this morning besides one bout of "pudding poo."  Lifesaver Nana came by mid-morning to give Millie an extra chance to pee while I was at work.  I know her bladder appreciated it.

Dinner tonight was Purina EN (bland food) with a sprinkle of Baytril tablets.  Not two minutes after she ate, she vomited it all back up again.  Hallie, the ever helpful cat, decided that in that moment it was a great idea to attack Piper - not once, but three times.  Thank you Hallie for keeping me on my toes, you naughty girl!  Anyway, the U of I called in a prescription for Metaclopramide (anti-nausea med) and suggested I feed her dinner over the course of a few smaller meals.  So far, so good.

Tomorrow I plan to try the small meal approach for breakfast & dinner.  At least we have anti-nausea meds to get us through the next few days (and if we need them after the next round of chemo).  

Cross your fingers (& your dog's paws) that Mil starts to feel more like herself.  We don't like sick puppies.

2nd Round of Chemo (written a day late)

Millie has two all time favorite toys -- a ratty stuffed bunny & these incredibly inexpensive, flimsy, rubber balls from Wal-Mart.  She loves to itch them. 

Yesterday Millie received her second round of chemo.  She was a champ & had a great attitude.  Unlike the last chemo appointment, she happily bounded out of the car & into the clinic.  Her drop off appointment was at 8:30.  U of I was running a touch behind, so we waited for 5-10 minutes in the waiting room.  Across the room was a feisty and vocal little Jack Russell.  Millie is generally not a fan of other dogs, but she is especially not a fan of little dogs.  Thankfully, she was perfectly behaved.  She calmly laid down next to me and intently watched the pup.  He would whine & jump around, and Millie would just look at him confused what all the fuss was about.  Moments later a very put together older woman arrived.  She was carrying a Pomeranian that was easily 15 years old, no more than 4 pounds, and perfectly groomed.  She caught a glimpse of Millie & it was as if she'd seen a T-Rex.  I think she actually thought that every living creature in that room was moments away from dying.  She gripped her dog (there for a dental, I overheard) & sat as far away from us misfits as possible.  It was in that moment I wished that Millie could grace us with one of her award winning gas bombs.  Can you imagine?  

Our chemo technician called us back to discuss the plan for the day & to ask if I had any questions.  I was curious to find out what her bloodwork looked like when we had come in 13 days post chemo #1.  She said that her neutrophils were fantastic.  She was at 3,200 (they won't treat dogs if they are below 2,000).  Millie had weighed in at 125.2lbs that day.  I told her about how Millie had vomited twice since her 1st round of chemo - once maybe 15-17ish days in, and another time on 3/3/12.  Each time it was just a bit of bile & very early in the morning.  She was happy to eat breakfast, and didn't seem sickly at all.  It concerned me a bit because this dog has a stomach of steel.  Seriously.  She didn't think the timing matched up to draw any sort of connection to the chemo.  She suggested keeping an eye on her & alerting them of any further episodes.  

I picked Mil up just before 1:30.  The poor technician was being drug down the hallway once Millie saw me.  She had done very well while she was there - no reactions to chemo at all.  She weighed 127lbs, and I was happy she was just a touch heavier.  Her pre-chemo bloodwork looked excellent, so they released her, but recommended another CBC recheck in 10-14 days.  Her next round of chemo (21 days from now) would also be the visit where they re-check her chest x-rays to make sure they still can't see any mets in her lungs.  That will be a panic inducing appointment, no doubt.  

We headed to work, which made Millie quite happy.  She is loving coming to work with me so often, and really soaks in the extra attention.  She was thirsty, but I suspected that was from no water/nerves from the morning stay at U of I.  After work, we headed to pick up Evan.  Millie loves going on "special trips", and was surprised to see a familiar face when she saw Evan come down the sidewalk.  Our evening was fairly low-key, though she was still fairly thirsty and had to poop a lot.  A lot.  (*Not really sure if that is from the nerves at U of I, or the extra you-had-chemo-so-you-can-have-as-many-treats-as-you-want Mommy treatment)

This morning Millie still seemed to be feeling quite well.  She ate like a champ (no surprise there), but I noticed that she stopped to pee several times this morning.  Great.  Another UTI?  She went to work with me and asked to go out for a mid-morning pee.  At lunch time it was all we could do to get outside before the flood gates opened.  She was so desperate for grass, she peed in the raised concrete "planter" in the parking lot.  She also almost fell trying to get into the car.  We went home to walk Sugar, and she had to pee again.  She paced while we walked, and I couldn't figure out if she had to pee again, or if she was about to poop.  Finally, she pooped.  By this time, she had worn herself out.  She hopped back inside & was out for the count.  The afternoon was basically the same, maybe slightly improved.  She was pumped to go pick up Evan again & was practically grinning when we saw him.  We dropped Evan off & made our way home.  When we arrived, she got a huge drink while I went to the bathroom.  Then, from inside the bathroom I heard her vomit up all the water she had just downed.  When I came out, she was on the couch, embarrassed.  Poor girl.  I called U of I & they basically said not to worry unless it continues.  Though GI side effects are most common 3-5 days post chemo, some dogs get sick the day of or the day after.  

All night, she has seemed to alternate between feeling a little crappy & wanting to snuggle, to her normal self -- barking like a lunatic at the Husky across the street, grabbing a bone, etc.  I'm trying not to worry, but honestly I hate seeing signs that she really is sick.  I hate the reminders.  Sure, she only has three legs & that is a daily reminder, but I don't want to see her feeling yucky.  However, at this point, I am still 100% happy with the treatment plan I've decided on.  I would suspect that she is too.  I know I can't explain things to her, but if you told me that I might feel a little crappy every now and again, but I would *hopefully* be able to live longer as well as have a chance to fight this illness, I'd take that option any day.  That being said, I constantly remind myself to remember to do this for Millie, not myself.  The last thing I want to do is selfishly push her when she doesn't want to be pushed.  Tonight, I still feel good about that, and I think she agrees  **snoring with her head over my foot**.

Keeping an eye on that Husky (blob across the street) to make sure he doesn't get any crazy ideas.

Would you look at that!  Even the cats are feeling the family togetherness.  It only took them 11 months to be this close while not trying to kill each other.  Ahhh, family.