Yesterday we talked to Gene about the results of our second opinion of Princess's Novenber 17th x-rays. Dr Chris was right. The x-ray shows that the osteosarcoma in her right leg is advancing. It remained within the same borders of her bone but has taken a more advanced position. So far, all of Dr Chris's diagnosis have been right on the money.
Last week we started Princess on 10mg daily Fosamax (alendronate sodium). It's been shown to slow cancer, build bone mass and reduce pain. So far, she shows no negative side effects. We will continue on the Navy Protocol mixed in ground Purina One and now hide a Fosamax in an Italian Sausage or similar treat each morning. She's a smart pill evader. Seems from her perspective, the eatin's never been better and she anxiously waits each morning for her breakfast. I think that's our last step in making her comfortable.
This morning she was panting heavily and moving slowly. Her leg is now very lame. Wife K and I talked about a very sad decision for us and a good decision for her. She's is as usual in fairly good spirits and full of surprises. This morning while waiting at the bus stop with daughter Syd, she shredded 2 plastic pumpkins, ran around like a puppy and cruised up the stairs to the front door as if to say not yet. So we'll wait and hope for the right time or a miracle. Who know? Tis the season.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Strange Wonderful Friends
Leaves are mostly down here in the northeast signaling the start of the holiday season. Yesterday we completed our annual leaf raking and clearing. Each year Princess enjoys wooshing through the enormous leaf piles. Most of the day she played in the leaf piles, chased her soccer ball and stayed outside with us enjoying the day. She's very lame in her right hind leg but manages to get around well. Her left "Hopper Leg" is quite strong and she has no trouble jumping onto the bed the minute we leave the house.
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| That's not leaves! |
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| Hey! Where did the air go? |
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| Syd and Princey |
Last week we decided to give Fosamax a try with Princess. It builds bone cells in human osteoporosis patients and studies have also shown that it can inhibit cancer bone cell growth. The dose for a dog of Princess's size is 10mg once a day. Side effects are possible intestinal troubles. Princess has no negative issues from Navy P, we figure that this is worth a try. We'll share her progress with you in upcoming blogs.
After our visit Thursday, with the long car ride and examination, Princess was exhausted. A few pages back, I mentioned that we have a large rabbit named Buck living in our house. Princess and Buck have been friends for years. Buck has his own house, but is mostly free to roam. With Princess zonked on Rug Island, Buck came out of his house and laid down next to her. She moved and he followed repeating his action. It was very unusual behavior for him. He quit after several attempts when Princess became annoyed. After all, she's a Rottweiler and he's a rabbit. He's not dumb! Later that night, with us all asleep, Buck came into our room ( he's never been there) got onto Princess's bed and laid down with her. Buck's a smart boy. He knows something's wrong with his friend. True friends do strange and wonderful things when least expected and most needed. Thanks for your support Buck, It's been a tough month.
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| Princess and Friend Buck |
Last Thursday, we were disappointed that the cancer in Princess's leg had not decided to give up under our fearsome attack. Cancer is unfortunately, quite a formidable opponent and usually gets its way. The good news continues to be Princess's activities and good spirits. She been spoiled a lifetime"s worth in this last month. As we move forward in this journey, there's no doubt that we are accomplishing our original mission that was to make Princess as happy and pain free as possible, spoil the heck out of her, and document along the way. Hopefully her story will give hope to other families facing this difficult prognosis.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Update: 30 Day Check-up
If you're just tuning in, we took Princess today to our Vet Dr. Chris for her 30 day check-up. Princess was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on October 17th. Since that time, we've been following an experimental cancer treatment called Navy Protocol. Navy Protocol is named after Navy, a young Labrador first treated for cancer with this drug mix. Read back, I've provided plenty of detail on the subject in earlier blogs.
Princess's follow-up x-ray showed the cancer in her upper right leg bone has remained about the same or advanced. On the positive side, it remains within its original boundaries. Her chest x-ray showed no signs of spreading or metastasis. Dr. Chris thinks that it's happening microscopically and will eventually show up. Our scientist friend Gene is asking a friend vet oncologist look at Princess's x-rays. There's a chance that the changes seen on the x-ray image are showing signs of bone regrowth rather than slight cancer advancement.
Gene's also researching other treatments for Princess and has found a study that shows fosamax, a drug for osteoporosis in humans, has a positive effect on canine cancer and bone regrowth. Gene's researching the correct dose for Princess.
On the very positive side, Dr Chris said that Princess was the happiest and most pain free dog he's seen at this stage of her illness. For the next 30 days, we're going to continue the Navy Protocol and possibly fosamax to her drug routine each day. Thanks for following everyone. Have a good night.
Princess's follow-up x-ray showed the cancer in her upper right leg bone has remained about the same or advanced. On the positive side, it remains within its original boundaries. Her chest x-ray showed no signs of spreading or metastasis. Dr. Chris thinks that it's happening microscopically and will eventually show up. Our scientist friend Gene is asking a friend vet oncologist look at Princess's x-rays. There's a chance that the changes seen on the x-ray image are showing signs of bone regrowth rather than slight cancer advancement.
Gene's also researching other treatments for Princess and has found a study that shows fosamax, a drug for osteoporosis in humans, has a positive effect on canine cancer and bone regrowth. Gene's researching the correct dose for Princess.
On the very positive side, Dr Chris said that Princess was the happiest and most pain free dog he's seen at this stage of her illness. For the next 30 days, we're going to continue the Navy Protocol and possibly fosamax to her drug routine each day. Thanks for following everyone. Have a good night.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Count Down Week
Happy Monday! We're closing in on Best Dog's check-up date with Dr Chris. Her appointment is this Thursday the 17th. It will be 31 days since the start of her treatment.
Princess has been in good spirits lately. Yesterday, we took her along while visiting our daughter and son-in-law. Their dogs are Princess's cousins; Blitz and Pig Pen. Blitz is a sweet German Wired Hair Pointer (yeah he's wired for real) and Pig Pen in a Pug Mix with sweet disposition. Princess, Blitz and Pig Pen are long time friends. It was the first time in a month that Princess has seen them or had a play date. She was excited, well behaved and they all seemed to enjoyed her visit. Right now, she's zonked on Rug Island running in the fields - undoubtedly dreaming of her fun time last night.
Princess is doing well. She's continues on the Navy Protocol medication twice daily and has no apparent negative side effects. Her right rear leg is visibly atrophied from diminished use. We have three days to go until her check-up. At that time we'll compare her leg and chest x-rays from those taken on October 17th and look for evidence that the treatment is reducing the cancer. So the outcome of this check-up will determine our plans going forward. Unless something comes up between now and then, I'll hold my next post for Thursday afternoon. We're crossing our fingers and toes.
Princess has been in good spirits lately. Yesterday, we took her along while visiting our daughter and son-in-law. Their dogs are Princess's cousins; Blitz and Pig Pen. Blitz is a sweet German Wired Hair Pointer (yeah he's wired for real) and Pig Pen in a Pug Mix with sweet disposition. Princess, Blitz and Pig Pen are long time friends. It was the first time in a month that Princess has seen them or had a play date. She was excited, well behaved and they all seemed to enjoyed her visit. Right now, she's zonked on Rug Island running in the fields - undoubtedly dreaming of her fun time last night.
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| Blitz |
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| Pig Pen |
Princess is doing well. She's continues on the Navy Protocol medication twice daily and has no apparent negative side effects. Her right rear leg is visibly atrophied from diminished use. We have three days to go until her check-up. At that time we'll compare her leg and chest x-rays from those taken on October 17th and look for evidence that the treatment is reducing the cancer. So the outcome of this check-up will determine our plans going forward. Unless something comes up between now and then, I'll hold my next post for Thursday afternoon. We're crossing our fingers and toes.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Eureka Moment
I was wrong about Princess. For this last 3 weeks I figured that if Best Dog began to use her leg that would be a sign that the Navy Protocol Treatment was working. It made sense too. If that is, the cancer was causing the pain.
On her diagnosis day October 17th, Princess was visiting Dr. Chris for a scheduled ACL surgery. In the days leading to the 17th, Princess had stopped eating and subsequently lost 5 pounds. The cancer was affecting her. When Dr Chris found the cancer, I figured that the tumor was causing the pain, not the ACL.
I now believe that Dr. Chris was right in his initial diagnosis. She's got cancer and a torn ACL
Here's why; starting her treatment, Princess was tired and somewhat listless with no appetite. She was also panting heavily at times. I'll take a chance and guess that the tumor had something to do with that. As we've progressed with the treatment Princess's general mood has improved. For the first few days she felt so bad that she didn't move. With her leg rested she was able to use it. Feeling good, she over-extended, hurt her knee and was forced to rest again. So we are in that cycle. She's now beginning to enter the wooshing stage again. It's like clock work - resting/romping/resting. It's the exact same cycle that occurred with her other leg that actually had a torn ACL.
This is good news and would explain her general great mood and periodic lameness. Hopefully the tumor is in retreat. We're counting down for her first x-ray check-up early next week. If it shows less tumor and healthier bone mass, next up will be a date with Dr Chris to fix the ACL and get her off Rug Island.
On her diagnosis day October 17th, Princess was visiting Dr. Chris for a scheduled ACL surgery. In the days leading to the 17th, Princess had stopped eating and subsequently lost 5 pounds. The cancer was affecting her. When Dr Chris found the cancer, I figured that the tumor was causing the pain, not the ACL.
I now believe that Dr. Chris was right in his initial diagnosis. She's got cancer and a torn ACL
Here's why; starting her treatment, Princess was tired and somewhat listless with no appetite. She was also panting heavily at times. I'll take a chance and guess that the tumor had something to do with that. As we've progressed with the treatment Princess's general mood has improved. For the first few days she felt so bad that she didn't move. With her leg rested she was able to use it. Feeling good, she over-extended, hurt her knee and was forced to rest again. So we are in that cycle. She's now beginning to enter the wooshing stage again. It's like clock work - resting/romping/resting. It's the exact same cycle that occurred with her other leg that actually had a torn ACL.
This is good news and would explain her general great mood and periodic lameness. Hopefully the tumor is in retreat. We're counting down for her first x-ray check-up early next week. If it shows less tumor and healthier bone mass, next up will be a date with Dr Chris to fix the ACL and get her off Rug Island.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Rug Island
Week Three: Princess and I are marooned on Rug Island for 22 days now. On Rug Island there's not much in the way of recreation for a dog and her master. There's no rough housing with brothers Blitz and Jake. Absolutely forbidden is wooshing with sister Pig Pen. Also, ball catching, chasing birds or general mayhem is out - just an occasional calm walk. Mostly just laying in her jacket on an oriental rug - Fun! Aside from the occasional glimpse of the rescue ship SS Progress, it's been pretty much the same. Day after day, no sunscreen required. Occasional sightings of SS Progress have caused us to jump and shout for joy. "It's Working!!" Hopefully it is, but we've settled in for the long haul and its a life changing emotional roller coaster.
Princess is a dog that we love like family. Her cancer is a relative crisis for us but trivial in comparison to people caring for seriously ill family members. They are all around us; at work, in traffic, the store, everywhere. Like us, they're in a holding pattern and they don't let on how tough they have it. Let's keep this in mind and be more kind to to each other at least for the rest of this week - hopefully longer.
Princess heavily favored her right hind leg for the last several days. Today she began walking on it. We believe that she injured it slipping on the floor Sunday November 6th. She's now recovering from that injury. Her weight is slightly up at 82 lbs. Seven pounds heavier than her diagnosis day October 17th. She has a strong appetite and appears in all other ways a healthy dog. We've been in contact with Dr. Chris for her follow-up x-ray next week. Hopefully, the good news of progress will pluck us from Rug Island for a shower, some junk food and a couple of days of relief.
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| Rug Island Day 22 |
Princess is a dog that we love like family. Her cancer is a relative crisis for us but trivial in comparison to people caring for seriously ill family members. They are all around us; at work, in traffic, the store, everywhere. Like us, they're in a holding pattern and they don't let on how tough they have it. Let's keep this in mind and be more kind to to each other at least for the rest of this week - hopefully longer.
Princess heavily favored her right hind leg for the last several days. Today she began walking on it. We believe that she injured it slipping on the floor Sunday November 6th. She's now recovering from that injury. Her weight is slightly up at 82 lbs. Seven pounds heavier than her diagnosis day October 17th. She has a strong appetite and appears in all other ways a healthy dog. We've been in contact with Dr. Chris for her follow-up x-ray next week. Hopefully, the good news of progress will pluck us from Rug Island for a shower, some junk food and a couple of days of relief.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Fun Hangover 11/07/2011
An entire weekend has passed since I wrote about Best Dog Ever. Sorry! Princess had a very active weekend. Friday was a great day for her - a banner one in fact, close as normal as ever. She was walking on both hind legs and appearing stronger than ever. Later in the evening, we took her to the lake for a walk. She hit the trail hard, walking pretty much normally out and back for about half a mile. We met many friends along the trail and all was good.
Saturday morning, Princess was understandably stiff. I chalked it up to a "fun hangover." My father used to say that the severity of a hangover was in direct proportion to the amount of fun that you had the night before. True that. For most of Saturday Princess rested. Returning home from our day's activities, we found her ready to rumble. Without exception, we attempt to keep Best Girl calm. Our fear is that she will injure or break her weakened rear leg. Problem is, Princess acts like she feels. That evening, invigorated from her rest, she romped around, slipped on the floor and apparently slightly injured her leg. We don't think that it was serious, but she's heavily favoring it today.
Our family has had six Rotties in our lives over the years. Most have passed. There was Sebastian, a young male and good friend who died prematurely of heart failure at two and a half, Tiberius a beautiful large loving patient male with a dominant streak, Carley, a persnickety female who lived along with Ti, loved her people and grew into a grand old girl and Lily, a powerfully athletic and unpredictable dog who loved JUST her people, Still with us and our extended family are Princess and her half brother from another mother Jake.
Two things about Rotties; They love their people and they know their job - to protect her people. Princess has assigned herself the job of family security specialist early on. Days when she's alone, she lays by the front door silently guarding the house. With family present, she keeps track of everything and everybody. She knows who's coming and going. If any "horseplay" goes on she quickly brings it to an end. She's a peace keeper. She goes through the "Fearsome Rottweiler Act" well but clearly there's not a hurtful ounce in her body. Saturday night, with her leg in relative pain, she climbed the stairs to the second floor landing an guarded the girls all night as they slept. No rest for the weary, in her mind, the job goes on.
Today is treatment day twenty. She's staying off her leg for the most part. Right now she's peacefully zonked. After all, it was a huge weekend ! Princess took a major walk, played with the kids, got a visit from daughter KK visiting from college, went to a soccer game and got lots of attention and many treats. Way more than her normal routine. She was up for it. So today Princess is not one hundred percent of what she was Friday afternoon. Hopefully it's "Fun Hangover". We'll keep a close watch on her in the coming days.
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| At the Lake |
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| Meeting Friends |
Saturday morning, Princess was understandably stiff. I chalked it up to a "fun hangover." My father used to say that the severity of a hangover was in direct proportion to the amount of fun that you had the night before. True that. For most of Saturday Princess rested. Returning home from our day's activities, we found her ready to rumble. Without exception, we attempt to keep Best Girl calm. Our fear is that she will injure or break her weakened rear leg. Problem is, Princess acts like she feels. That evening, invigorated from her rest, she romped around, slipped on the floor and apparently slightly injured her leg. We don't think that it was serious, but she's heavily favoring it today.
Our family has had six Rotties in our lives over the years. Most have passed. There was Sebastian, a young male and good friend who died prematurely of heart failure at two and a half, Tiberius a beautiful large loving patient male with a dominant streak, Carley, a persnickety female who lived along with Ti, loved her people and grew into a grand old girl and Lily, a powerfully athletic and unpredictable dog who loved JUST her people, Still with us and our extended family are Princess and her half brother from another mother Jake.
Two things about Rotties; They love their people and they know their job - to protect her people. Princess has assigned herself the job of family security specialist early on. Days when she's alone, she lays by the front door silently guarding the house. With family present, she keeps track of everything and everybody. She knows who's coming and going. If any "horseplay" goes on she quickly brings it to an end. She's a peace keeper. She goes through the "Fearsome Rottweiler Act" well but clearly there's not a hurtful ounce in her body. Saturday night, with her leg in relative pain, she climbed the stairs to the second floor landing an guarded the girls all night as they slept. No rest for the weary, in her mind, the job goes on.
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| Guard Duty? |
Today is treatment day twenty. She's staying off her leg for the most part. Right now she's peacefully zonked. After all, it was a huge weekend ! Princess took a major walk, played with the kids, got a visit from daughter KK visiting from college, went to a soccer game and got lots of attention and many treats. Way more than her normal routine. She was up for it. So today Princess is not one hundred percent of what she was Friday afternoon. Hopefully it's "Fun Hangover". We'll keep a close watch on her in the coming days.
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| ZONKED! |
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A Day at the Lake November 2, 2011
Before all of this went down, we'd walk the trails and lakeside of the state park near our home. She's feeling good this week so today we took her up to the lake. When she saw the lake and began our short walk, she pulled on the leash like a freight train - both hind legs working. She knows better. She's normally a pretty good walker. Not the best, but under the circumstances, it was ok. Actually not just OK, it was fantastic.
We don't know whether we're on track of curing her underlying condition, pain medicating or both. Personality wise, Princess is her normal self. She does not act like we think a gravely ill dog on pain medications should act. We see this as a hopeful sign. We'll know soon enough on her follow-up with Dr. Chris in 2 weeks.
It's our burden as her human "parents" to worry about her condition and hope and pray for what we want to be the eventual outcome of this all. A minute doesn't pass that we don't think about it. But to Princess, life's good! She's got all the food, attention, and the freedom to lay around all day. Right now, she's peacefully napping in the sun - her legs twitching. We call that running in the fields. We're glad that she's so happy and doing well. Maybe she's dreaming of her beautiful day at the lake. We sure hope so.
We don't know whether we're on track of curing her underlying condition, pain medicating or both. Personality wise, Princess is her normal self. She does not act like we think a gravely ill dog on pain medications should act. We see this as a hopeful sign. We'll know soon enough on her follow-up with Dr. Chris in 2 weeks.
It's our burden as her human "parents" to worry about her condition and hope and pray for what we want to be the eventual outcome of this all. A minute doesn't pass that we don't think about it. But to Princess, life's good! She's got all the food, attention, and the freedom to lay around all day. Right now, she's peacefully napping in the sun - her legs twitching. We call that running in the fields. We're glad that she's so happy and doing well. Maybe she's dreaming of her beautiful day at the lake. We sure hope so.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
A Normal Day Nov 1, 2011
Princess is acting pretty much like a normal dog today. She woke up energetic and ready for something -what I'm not sure. She followed me around and giving me her "flat headed" look. That's when she brings her ears up level with her head and makes it look flat all the way across. Flat heading is a sign of concern and usually means that she needs to go out. I'll say to my wife; "she's flat heading me". I took her out a few times and she kept it up. First time was normal business all taken care of. After that she went for a stroll in the yard and then sat in the sun. Darn she's smart! Later in the afternoon, we went for a car ride and 5 minute walk on the leash. She walked normally but we didn't push it.
On the business side of things, Wife K spoke to Dr Chris about Princess's condition. K told him that Princess was doing great. Dr. Chris wants to do a follow-up x-ray of Princess in about 2 weeks. That would be around the 30 day mark. In the original study, Navy the young female Golden Retriever for which this treatment is named, had a rapidly growing mass on her right limb at the elbow. Her condition was diagnosed as recurrent fibrosarcoma and evidence for metastatic disease. After 30 days on the protocol her tumor had reduced 50%. After 60 days it was no longer visible. Read the whole study here. Navy's case study starts on page 22.
http://27ground.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/navyprotocolfinal.pdf
So far, we've been following Navy's Protocol exactly; same drugs, same dosage and same timing. So we are following up at 30 and 60 days with x-rays just like Navy. We'll hope for good results.
On the lighter side, a few weeks ago, K picked up Princess's original dose of medication at our local CVS. After a brief wait with many people around, the druggist finally called out "Princess Patterson?" When K stood up everyone looked at her sympathetically about her having such a name as Princess. She announced to the room that it was for her dog. Right, that's the same thing I do if I'm buying something embarrassing. I always say "It's for a friend". The clerk always give me the I don't give a @#$ look. Hey, I don't care either, but it is funny. Today it's my turn to pick up the med's for weeks 3-4. When they call Princess Patterson, I'm going to just walk up and pay. Thanks for reading!
On the business side of things, Wife K spoke to Dr Chris about Princess's condition. K told him that Princess was doing great. Dr. Chris wants to do a follow-up x-ray of Princess in about 2 weeks. That would be around the 30 day mark. In the original study, Navy the young female Golden Retriever for which this treatment is named, had a rapidly growing mass on her right limb at the elbow. Her condition was diagnosed as recurrent fibrosarcoma and evidence for metastatic disease. After 30 days on the protocol her tumor had reduced 50%. After 60 days it was no longer visible. Read the whole study here. Navy's case study starts on page 22.
http://27ground.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/navyprotocolfinal.pdf
So far, we've been following Navy's Protocol exactly; same drugs, same dosage and same timing. So we are following up at 30 and 60 days with x-rays just like Navy. We'll hope for good results.
On the lighter side, a few weeks ago, K picked up Princess's original dose of medication at our local CVS. After a brief wait with many people around, the druggist finally called out "Princess Patterson?" When K stood up everyone looked at her sympathetically about her having such a name as Princess. She announced to the room that it was for her dog. Right, that's the same thing I do if I'm buying something embarrassing. I always say "It's for a friend". The clerk always give me the I don't give a @#$ look. Hey, I don't care either, but it is funny. Today it's my turn to pick up the med's for weeks 3-4. When they call Princess Patterson, I'm going to just walk up and pay. Thanks for reading!
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