SillySierra

We have been absent for a while but have been having a blast enjoying precious time together.  Since our last post we have participated in the K-9 Cancer Walk in Elk Grove, gone camping at the ocean, swam in the river, lake, pool, and just been living large.  On June 25 I turned 7 and just this past weekend, on July 3, I celebrated my six month ampuversary.

We had been looking forward to this date for so long because it seems to mark such a turning point in this incredible journey.  Just as we were cleaning up from all the partying, I started not feeling too well though.  Mom and Dad had been talking about visiting the amazing oncologist for our six month check up when I just sort of lost my appetite.  I ended up getting sick and running a fever so they put wet rags on me to keep my temp down and took real good care of me.  We had blamed on all hte excitement over the previous few days and the heat wave that set in and were sort of chalking it up to over exertion.  Things did not get much better so Dad took me to doctor.  My temperature was sporadic and my hunger was not really there which is very unusual for us labradorks.  The initial tests at the docs office showed signs of an infection and the x-rays showed the two most feared words of any osteosarcoma survivor, LUNG METS!  That in and of itself does not present itself with fever and nausea so they good folks at the doctors office kept me over night to see if they could figure out what the infection was.  Per my usual self, I have them looking in the most unusual places for causes, leptospirosis, and several other illnesses that not any ordinary dog might have.  I have to do everything the hard way and keep them thinking.  I think Mom and Dad wish, just once, that I had one easy illness.

Today they did an ultrasound and found what looked to be mineralization in both kidneys which they said looks an awful lot like cancer.  The antibiotic treatments are continuing to see if we can get a handle on the infection so I can go home.  Mom came by to visit me tonight and Dad is gonna come tomorrow.  We are not sure what options we might have but want to spend every precious moment together we can.  I keep getting told to try Vitamin  C IV to see if that will help things out but there is such little evidence of success on it out there.  We will know more tomorrow so happy trails and waggin’ tails for now.

Sierra, Brad, and Anna

Well we have made it two months so far and Sierra is doing very well.  She has had two treatments of carboplatin and is scheduled for her third this Thursday as long as her platelettes recover.  It is so amazing to watch her get around.  She is swimming in the river and fetching and just having a grand time.  She may not have the stamina and strength she once had but seems is truly amazing.

I think the chemotherapy may be catching up to her a little bit because she has slowed down a little bit.  It could also be her worry wart pawrents making something out of nothing. 

We will try and keep better posts up in between having fun.

We went to see the surgeon on January 21 to get the staples out and talk about next steps.  The surgeon was very happy with the healing and progress Sierra has made.  He gave her clearance to do whatever she wanted like swim or hike.  He also said she is free to start the next phase of treatment is we chose to so we set up an appointment with the oncologist on January 27.  The lymph nodes were clear but the bone  biopsy did confirm osteosarcoma.

Dad had to go on a work trip to southern California so Mom took her to the appointment.  It turns out they were ready to give her a treatment of carboplatin there on the spot.  We had assumed we were going to talk about options and not necessarily do a treatment.  So Mom called Dad and they spoke for a little while and then he spoke with the oncologist too.  After talking we decided to go ahead and get the first treatment of carboplatin.  The plan is to do four treatments three weeks apart depending on how the blood work turns out each time.

We have kept an eye on Sierra for the past couple of days to see if she would have any reactions to the chemo.  She has been doing great and has not showed any negative signs.  Yesterday (Saturday), we even went to the park and I ran around in the dog area while Kenner and Mom walked around the park.  Sierra found her way to the river and went for a little swim and then I even played some fetch on the ground with Dad. 

Now we we will check back in with the hollistic vet to see what options we might want to mix in.  It sounds like there is not much that can be done for osteosarcoma because of its agressiveness but we will see.  Today she will start back on the herbs and we will just take it one day at a time.  She seems to be doing extremely well so we continue to hope for the best.

We went for a visit to check in with the surgeon yesterday (January 12, 2011) because of some concerns over the level of panting, lip licking, and restlessness.  The surgeon thought it would be a good idea to do a quick check up to make sure there was not any infection coming in.  He was very happy with the way she is healing up and said there were no signs of infection.  We talked about the pain medicine she was on (tramadol) and he said lets just take her off of it since she is healing up so well and wait 24 to 48 hours to see what happens with the panting.  She is still on the Previcox once a day.  We are still monitoring this because it still bothers us but are trying to stay positive.  Paying extra attention to her breathng and trying to listen into her breath sounds.

After the visit with surgeon, Sierra’s mom brought her home and let her out to go potty.  Before she knew it, Sierra caught wind of a rabbit that had come into the yard and went tearing after it on her three legs and there was no stopping her!  

The best part of the day, though, was the call we got last night from the vet.  He said that the preliminary results of the biopsy had come in and the results of the lymph nodes showed signs of inflamation but there was no evidence the cancer had spread to them!  We have not seen the report yet but are somewhat relieved.  We do not expect the same results from the humerus but are still waiting those results because they had to decalcify the bone and then run the biopsies so those results are not due for another several days.

Well, Sierra came home Saturday morning after spending two nights with the vet.  There were not any complications, just apparent pain issues so it took a little longer to ween her off the iv pain medicine.  She was sure happy to be home and we were ecstatic to have her home.  She has been getting lots of belly rubs and doing lots of sleeping which is a good thing.

Today she seems a little more uncomfortable.  Her back legs shake a little when she stands so the strain of rebalancing and learning how to move is taking its tolls.  She has always been an active dog in good shape so we are a little surprised but under the circumstances, totally get it.  We have been good at keeping her locked up except for eating/drinking and potty trips to the yard trying not to over do it.  She seems to be panting a bit more today and we don’t know if it is because of pain or side effects of the pain medications (tremadol).  All the laying down on her ‘good’ side also seems to be taking its toll on her and she seems sore on it now even though she many different beds to sleep on.  She does not seem to want to lie on her back as she did on Saturday in the photos above.

This whole process has been amazing and shocking all at the same time.  We just have to take it one day at a time!

I Believe in Santa Paws

Chapter 1 was a wonderful 6 1/2 year ride that I will have to fill you in on some time.  Here are few pics from that part of my journey –

Chapter 2 – It seemed like just yesterday we were running through the snow telling all our friends how we believed in Santa.  Well I was running while dad was huffing and puffing trying to keep up.  That familiar pain started to creep in again but I convinced dad everything was fine and chalked up to over exhertion like so many times before.  The same sound reasoning we used the few times in the past when the aches would hit me after back packing, sandy trails, or steep mountain climbs because I would feel much better after a days rest from all the fun we had.  I did not understand what was happening and we were having so much fun camping, hiking, taking in the natural beauty, and hunting that it must have just been over exertion. 

As the pain seemed to get more frequent, mom and dad could tell there must be something more to it and began to worry.  They talked to friends and we visited our wonderful vet.  We tried a couple of different treatments but still no change so my vet recommended an x-ray because she was concerned about my shoulder.  The x-rays were shot on December 1, 2010.  After they were processed we went back to the vet and she could not believe it.  There was a lesion of some sort on my right humerous that concerned her.  She was almost as heart broke as dad and mom were since we had become such good friends over the years.  The potential good news, she said, was that the lesion was smooth so may not be cancer.  Most of the cancer she had seen looked mean and agressive with rough edges so we had some hope but needed to do a biopsy to be sure.

She did the biopsy on December 6, 2010.  On December 10, 2010 she called dad to say that the biopsy was not definitive but that there were suspicious cells that were most likely osteosarcoma but that we should do another biopsy to make certain.  Mom and dad started doing a bunch of research and fretting about looking for answers.  I could tell something was up because we stopped taking as many walks and the energy became different.  We still had lots of love time but I could tell something was up.  I kept my head and made sure to let them know I was fine so lets go play.  After dad talked with the vet some more, she recommended we go to a specialist to talk about another biopsy and figure out what the next step should be.

On December 17, 2010 I got to meet a really nice surgeon and surgical nurse who rolled around on the floor with me and reviewed all my x-rays and charts.  Then they started to talk with mom and dad about me and the mood changed.  I could not tell what they were saying but knew something was up because dad started crying and nobody was playing with me any more.  I nudged dad and tried to crawl up in his lap to assure him all was would be OK and we would all be fine.  He loved on me while mom talked with the surgeon.  They talked about options, next steps, statistics, and who knows what else.  The recommendation was amputation of my right front leg because of the degradation of the bone.  They decided to shoot another x-ray of my lungs to see how they looked and the surgeon said they looked great.  He thought I was a great candidate and that we probably caught it very early.

Mom and dad were a little overwhelmed so decided to think about it a while and collect themselves.  After a lot of nudging them, reading, talking with other vets, and finding this wonderful website, they were convinced that we would all be OK. 

Thus, on this 6th day of January 2011 I join the ranks of this wonderful TriPawd community!  I will do my best to do you all proud.  I am still learning names of all our new friends and cannot begin to put into words how thankful we are that you are all here to help, share your experiences, and support mom and dad.  I know I am going to be fine so thank you for helping my mom and dad. 

We are still learning names but have seen some really cool friends out there – fortis, duckbutt, monkeybutt, to name a few.  Thanks again for the open arms.

Paws and Kisses – Sierra