Vet Oncologist

December 18, 2010 I'm celebrating Christmas with Sammy. It's sad thinking this might possibly be my last Christmas with him.

I realized today that I have a much, much more difficult time talking about Sammy's possible diagnosis than my own. I've only shared with a few close friends and then on here, of course.

Looks like Sammy might get to visit with a veterinary oncologist. I always said that Sammy copied me with his multiple surgeries and now his possible cancer diagnosis. We have a vet oncologist in town and my vet will do a phone consult with her. I never would have entertained the idea of chemotherapy on Sammy but it seems as if chemo is different on dogs. The good news is that they do not lose their hair and I think that is saying a lot. We're nixing the idea of a CT scan too since he'll need to be put under for that.

HOPEFULLY he does NOT have cancer but to be continued...

Happy Holidays! May 2011 bring everyone nothing but good health and happiness. If you have good health and happiness you're the richest person in the world!

Sammy & Cancer

I do not have children so Sammy is in essence my child. I never knew him as a puppy but remember him as a vibrant teenager that loved to play fetch, go for swims and explore. He was my chemo dog when I went through treatment. He had the same lump on his right side where they felt the lumpectomy removed all the precancerous cells. I watched him slow down as he aged. I would be with him when he had his grand mal seizures. I was with him when he vomited and hand a difficult time breathing and had to be rushed to the ER to be later diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis. Decisions had to be made whether or not he would have the invasive surgery at 10 years old. Looking at quality of life he had the surgery and surprisingly recovered well AND that took care of his grand mal seizures!

He has slowed down and is showing signs of stiffness in his hind legs. He's now sporting some cool sneaks to help with traction and getting up off the floor. He looks pretty good for a 12 year old lab.

His last visit to the vet showed high elevation of liver enzymes and higher ph in his urine with crystals. Long story short he has nodules on his liver that looks normal in older dogs but would need to be biopsied or CT to make sure it isn't malignant. They also feel his adrenal gland may have cancer.

I promised myself that he would not have further surgeries after his last one. This surgery would be real invasive. My gut tells me to look at his quality of life and forgo the surgery, especially since we're uncertain if it's cancerous. Giving him an invasive surgery would be like giving my 85 year old grandfather an invasive surgery. He could die on the table. More testing and research needs to be done but I am uncomfortable with any further surgery for him.

Though I've been able to find balance with cancer and my life and with work it always seems to keep creeping back into my life. This is one scary stuff...especially now that it's attacking my baby.

Focusing on the Neck Up & November 2010

Now that I'm "put back together" I can focus on the neck up. I've always had bad oral health prior to chemo. Both my parents have bad oral health so again I am genetically at a disadvantage when it comes to oral health. They recommend getting your teeth clean prior to chemo because you will not be able to get them clean during treatment because of the low white blood count. Our mouths is a breeding ground for bacteria and germs, especially when they clean near the gums.

I am currently having oral work done. I don't think chemo helped my situation but it isn't the only culprit. However, I know two women that swear that their oral health declined immensely post chemo. I'm writing on this topic hoping anyone that stumbles across this takes extra special care of their oral health before, during and after chemo.

Unfortunately I am a type A personality. I've been grinding my teeth since college. All the grinding has caused my bite to become off. I'm currently having that corrected without jaw surgery which used to be the only option out there. They can now use TAD Temporary Anchorage Device to move the jaw. The TAD has its pros and cons too but I did not any more big surgeries.

My oncology visit the end of December will be my first since my 5 year cancerversary. I will need to bring my oncologist a small gift of appreciation. I spoke to her during my last visit and she would like me to go into my 5 years with a clean scan. I was leaning on not getting that many scans because CT emits a great deal of radiation. MRI because I'm allergic to the gadolinium. I will get a scan done BECAUSE I trust her AND I know someone that found out she had a recurrence through a yearly routine CT scan. She had over 17 nodes involved! Imagine if she waited! She is only 3 years out but diligence paid off, especially because her oncologist doesn't really believe in scans. She fought for a yearly one and thank goodness she did! I think finding about her recurrence through me into a funk a I didn't really celebrate my 5 year cancerversary too much.

Birthday cake from Mad Cakes courtesy of my sister and Steve. Delicious!

I did have a rocking great birthday month though! On my official birthday I went for a jog at Town Lake, Shell and Nicole came by with cupcakes, met Cara for a late lunch and then gathered Deborah for Harry Potter. Beyond that I did a great deal of eating! Thankfully I didn't gain a lot of weight. I guess the braces and working out helps. I've taken a few indoor rowing w/CTTS and I like the variation. I've gone jogging a few times at Town Lake with my new sneaks and found it refreshing and okay on my knee. I've also signed up for Mamma Jamma 2011. I'm seriously thinking of 100 miles... :)

Co-birthday celebration with my "sis" Kelly at Sherlock's.
We jammed to Space Rockers, a silly cover band. She's the one my big head is blocking. :)
She is officially 366 days younger than me.