Wow.  That's alot to take in.  Glad it was good news, though.

It may be the Carbo/low WBC causing the weakness.  Zeus had his third Carbo treatment last Friday and he has also been very week/unstable on his feet.  Just for comparison, here is his history:

-After the first treatment he had one very loose poop but there were no other noticible side effects.

-After the second treatment, he was very lethargic, for two weeks he had looser poops and generally seemed to feel bad.  When we went for his third treatment, his WBC count was too low and we had to postpone for a week.

-He had the third treatment last Friday and that night he threw up his entire dinner.  As of yesterday, he was extremely week and seemed hesitant to even walk far enough to potty.  Then he was up ALL NIGHT last night – seemed nauseaus and could not get comfortable.  Had a hard time moving around like his remaining leg was weak.

After resting all day today, he seems a bit better.  Sorry to be so lengthy, but I thought it was important that they are both having similar symptoms and both have low WBC results.  So, maybe it's the low WBC and not the high blood pressure causing the weakness?

So glad that you got some good news. I know you must feel very relieved. I will pray that the medication works and Crystal gets back to doing very well. I know the falling is very scary. Poor Crystal. Hope she gets back to feeling better soon. 

zeuspod said:

Wow.  That's alot to take in.  Glad it was good news, though.

It may be the Carbo/low WBC causing the weakness.  Zeus had his third Carbo treatment last Friday and he has also been very week/unstable on his feet.  Just for comparison, here is his history:

-After the first treatment he had one very loose poop but there were no other noticible side effects.

-After the second treatment, he was very lethargic, for two weeks he had looser poops and generally seemed to feel bad.  When we went for his third treatment, his WBC count was too low and we had to postpone for a week.

-He had the third treatment last Friday and that night he threw up his entire dinner.  As of yesterday, he was extremely week and seemed hesitant to even walk far enough to potty.  Then he was up ALL NIGHT last night – seemed nauseaus and could not get comfortable.  Had a hard time moving around like his remaining leg was weak.

After resting all day today, he seems a bit better.  Sorry to be so lengthy, but I thought it was important that they are both having similar symptoms and both have low WBC results.  So, maybe it's the low WBC and not the high blood pressure causing the weakness?

I'm sorry Zeus hasn't been feeling well because of the chemo but I really appreciate all of this info.  Crystal is experiencing a lot of the same things although she's only had one round of chemo (mainly diarrhea/loose stool).  It's comforting to know that Crystal isn't the only dog in the world experiencing restlessness and weakness, but I wish that both Zeus and Crystal were feeling better.  You're probably right about the low WBC causing the weakness too.  There were so many things going on in my head when the vet was talking so I probably mixed up what she was saying.  If I'm reading correctly, Zeus has only recently started feeling weak.  Do you have any idea how long until they tend to regain their strength?

Dakota Dawg, thank you for reminding me that the effects of chemo are cumulative.  I definitely need to remember to talk to the oncologist about this next week.  Her quality of life seems so poor right now and she's only had one round.  It makes me wonder about continuing the chemo…  Ugh well it's too soon to tell now I suppose so I better wait until later to have these thoughts.

Oh and yes Crystal is quite the senior dog.  She turned 13 last November.

zeuspod said:

Thought you might like to know that Zeus is SOOOO much better today.  He slept all night last night and this morning was back to normal.

From what I have read, it is common for dogs on Carbo to have a crash 3 to 5 days after treatment (that would be about right for this treatment b/c he had chemo last Friday).  Our vet also said it is not unusual for a dog to have at least one treatment that hits them really hard and causes the WBC count to drop so low they have to postpone the next treatment (which would have been what happened on his second treatment).

I have to tell you that, as of yesterday, I was contemplating stopping chemo (or at least trying to make it through one more and do just 4 rounds instead of 6) because of the "quality of life" concerns you mentioned above.  Today, I would rethink that b/c this seems to have been just the expected couple of days of feeling bad before they rebound.  Hopefully…

How is Crystal today?

Yay Zeus!!!  Crystal unfortunately isn't much better today.  She's still having a lot of difficulty standing and her walking is clumsy so I have to sling her.  Crystal's timeline has been completely different from what was expected.  Her diarrhea started the day of treatment, didn't feel hungry the day after treatment (but returned to normal on day 3), had a normal CBC on day 9, started acting strange on day 10 and started having leg issues on day 13.  Hopefully she gets better later today or tomorrow.

zeuspod said:

Every dog will be different, but if it makes you feel better, her timeline isn't totally abnormal.  I found this article online which offers some great info about Carbo:

http://www.vet……platin.pdf

Our vet has never given us information about the chemo, so I thought this article was quite helpful.  I can tell you that Zeus has reacted a bit differently to each chemo session, so maybe this is just Crystal's turn at having one hard session and the others won't be as bad.  Here's hoping!!!

Now that you mention it, I do remember reading that some dogs experience side effects relatively late.  Thanks for the info!  Hopefully she will be back to normal tomorrow.  Since the effects of chemo are cumulative, I wonder if this means that she will have worsening side effects after each subsequent session.  I will ask the vet next week when we go in to check her bloodwork again.  I don't want to make any rash decisions so we'll see how long it takes for her to return back to normal.