Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Flashback to March 1
We had a snow day on March 1. This never happens where I live. Ever. It was Millie's first time seeing snow and she absolutely loved it. Bailey was less interested and found it a little inconvenient. But, we had a really fun day. I think you can tell by these pictures that Millie had the most fun of all!
Bailey on the Mend
Bailey made it through her surgery with no issues and 10 total tumors removed: 4 in her "bad" ear, 4 on her back and 2 on her bum. Yesterday she had all the staples and sutures removed and everything is healing just fine. We've added antibiotics and tagamet to her medicine regimen, so we are back up to lots of pills every day.
Speaking of lots of pills...Bailey also just started holistic meds. My good friend Tracy from high school is a DVM and recommended Teapills for Bailey's cancer. I told her to send them on, talked to my vet about them and now Bailey is taking TWELVE per day (they're based on weight, hence the quantity). This is going to be her dosage for good, unless we encounter any issues. I've only had her on them for two doses so far, but we haven't seen any side effects (which is a good thing since she is soooo side-effect-prone).
My goal, as with the prednisone she takes as maintenance med, is to reduce the growth rate of the tumors, keep them from ulcerating and getting itchy, and giving Bailey a general better quality of life. I know there are no guarantees and that I'm not going to cure her cancer, but if I can make her happier and a little healthier, I've got nothing to lose.
And, since Bailey gets her medicine wrapped in tiny pieces of bread twice daily, Millie is also loving this surge in pills, enjoying her bread "blanks" at medicine time.
Speaking of lots of pills...Bailey also just started holistic meds. My good friend Tracy from high school is a DVM and recommended Teapills for Bailey's cancer. I told her to send them on, talked to my vet about them and now Bailey is taking TWELVE per day (they're based on weight, hence the quantity). This is going to be her dosage for good, unless we encounter any issues. I've only had her on them for two doses so far, but we haven't seen any side effects (which is a good thing since she is soooo side-effect-prone).
My goal, as with the prednisone she takes as maintenance med, is to reduce the growth rate of the tumors, keep them from ulcerating and getting itchy, and giving Bailey a general better quality of life. I know there are no guarantees and that I'm not going to cure her cancer, but if I can make her happier and a little healthier, I've got nothing to lose.
And, since Bailey gets her medicine wrapped in tiny pieces of bread twice daily, Millie is also loving this surge in pills, enjoying her bread "blanks" at medicine time.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Back to the Doggie OR
We took Bailey to the vet yesterday to have a few of her tumors checked that were becoming N-A-S-T-Y. Her "bad" ear, once again, is wrought with multiple tumors that have recently ulcerated creating a horrible mess. She also has one on her...um...hiney that just recently ulcerated. We don't have to go into detail on why that is a problem.
So, we were secretly hoping she would get a good enough check-up that Dr. Brantley would be willing to do a surgery to remove those few tumors. Since she has about 40 on her body right now, there is no way to remove them all, so we prioritized them based on how long she can stay under. Her surgery will be today around noon, so please send her happy thoughts during that time. We hate to put her through another surgery, but we know it will help her feel better and prevent some nasty infections.
The good news...she gained weight again. This typically would not be good news since she is technically overweight, but since losing weight is a sign of the cancer spreading, we were happy about it. So was Dr. B. In fact, he saw no symptoms of it spreading systemically. So, at this point, bring on the fattening doggie treats...that's really the main thing that makes her happy!
So, we were secretly hoping she would get a good enough check-up that Dr. Brantley would be willing to do a surgery to remove those few tumors. Since she has about 40 on her body right now, there is no way to remove them all, so we prioritized them based on how long she can stay under. Her surgery will be today around noon, so please send her happy thoughts during that time. We hate to put her through another surgery, but we know it will help her feel better and prevent some nasty infections.
The good news...she gained weight again. This typically would not be good news since she is technically overweight, but since losing weight is a sign of the cancer spreading, we were happy about it. So was Dr. B. In fact, he saw no symptoms of it spreading systemically. So, at this point, bring on the fattening doggie treats...that's really the main thing that makes her happy!
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