Hi,

My 11 year old, 65lb, Shepherd/Rotty Mix Brodie was diagnosed with OSA on 9/12/11, had his right forelimb amputated on 9/26/11 and is going to begin Chemo this morning at 9:40 AM! I will post more about the whole sordid affair in the "Share your Story" and blog sections, but I was looking for some advice/info relating to what chemotherapy protocols everyone has been following.

Brodie is being seen at the Veterinary Cancer Group at the City of Angels Veterinary Specialty Center in Culver City, CA. His Oncologist, Dr. Mona Rosenberg, initially recommended 6 doses of Carboplatin followed by Palladia. From the research I've done, Carboplatin protocols are anywhere from 4-6 doses 2-3 weeks apart. What protocols have other Tripawd parents tried with respect with Carboplatin?

Also, and Brodie was originally scheduled to begin Chemo on 10/11/11, 15 days after his surgery, but then he was diagnosed with Bacterial Endocarditis, and Chemo was put on hold until his heart problem was worked out. Thankfully, he appears to be ok now, but I am worried that by waiting two extra weeks before starting Chemo that I may have hurt his prognosis. 

For those of you that have tried Carboplatin, how soon after the amputation did you begin Chemo?

Finally, I've read a lot about OSA in the past 6 weeks, and I kind of know what to expect after Chemo, but what have been some of your experiences after the first dose?

This is an incredible community and I am very appreciative of everyone sharing their time and experience to help out fellow pups going through the same ordeal.

Thanks,

Bruno

Hi Bruno,

I am a 5 yo Irish Wolfhound who was diagnosed with OSA on 9/20/11.  I had my right rear leg amputated on 9/22/11.  I had my first chemo treatment of Carboplatin on 10/13/11.  My mom and the doctor decided to be proactive and I received a Cerenia shot along with my chemo (anti-nausea med).  Also, I was sent home with 2 days worth of Flagyll (anti-diarrhea) and Cerenia pills.  When I got home from the chemo that night, I was a little more tired than usual and a little picky with my food choices.  I ate but it had to be boiled chicken and vanilla yogurt.  The next day I was back to normal and have been since then.  No diarrhea, no vomiting.

My protocol is is every 3 weeks for 5 or 6 treatments.  Two weeks after each chemo, I will have a blood draw (this week) to determine if my white blood counts are ok to proceed with the next treatment.

I hope this helps, good luck,

Fergus 

Thanks for all of the replies; Brodie did great! I was really worried that Brodie would not respond well to the Carbo; in fact I originally thought that they had taken him back to only do the x-rays, and I was starting to get worried why it was taking so long. When he finally did come back, I was told that his x-rays were clear and that he did great! I could not believe that they had already administered the Carboplatin!!

He was wagging his tail and was super happy, and he was like that the rest of the day! He ate all of his food, took a normal walk, his poop was normal, it was amazing!!

He only ate half of his food this morning, but I think that it is because I messed up and put all of his meds in the food and it made it taste bad. Normally, I give him his meds dipped in Trader Joe's Organic Creamy Peanut Butter, but I, uh, got hungry last night and finished the rest of the jar… I was hoping that he wouldn't notice if I mixed them in his food, but I guess he did…  I'm going to get more later today and I am hopeful that he will go back to eating all of his food.

Thanks for all of the replies,

Bruno

Hi Brodie and Bruno!  Glad to hear Brodie did well on his first treatment.  Our dog Max did 6 rounds of carboplatin.  He tolerated the first four very well; he would be a little tired about 24 – 36 hours afterwards, and that would last about a day.  Sometimes he also wasn't too interested in his food.  On treatments 5 & 6, Max did have some diarrhea, but it passed within a day.  As someone mentioned above, your onco can prescribe cerenia to help with any possible upset stomach Brodie may experience.