Wendy and Henri,

We are so very sorry to hear of Henri's downturn. This wonderful community will support what ever decision you have to make. We know that your decision will be the best for Henri and want to make sure that you realize that we stand behind you completely. Miss Cherry's difficulties with chemotherapy were very mild but even those cause our oncologist to question completing the protocol. Henri's condition would give any of us reason to question the direction of treatment.

We send our best thoughts, and pray that Henri will not only have a better day tomorrow, but that his condition will steadily improve – make that Quickly Improve. We want you to enjoy some excellent quality time just as soon as possible. Both of you could use it.

Spirit Cherry's Dad

I so hope that Henri starts feeling better soon!  We were fortunate in the fact that Jack had no side effects with adriamycin, but I can imagine the feeling of wishing you hadn't done it :(  If it were my dog, I would stop treatments until he has had a week or two of being "normal", then have another talk with the oncologist about other options (other chemo protocols, herbal/holistic medicine).  Dogs don't understand what it wrong with them, they just know what they're feeling NOW.  If he is happy NOW for 2 more days, isn't that better than being miserable NOW for another few months?  Watch how Henri is feeling, and when he gets less nauseous, maybe you will know what you will do.  I stopped Jack's chemo 2 sessions too soon, one reason being finances, but the other was because we had moved and I strongly disliked his new oncologist.  I would rather have him on no treatments than receiving treatments that I did not agree with.  Any decision you make is one based on love :)  Best wishes!!

<3 Laura and Jackaroo

I think Laura (ldillon81) made a really good point.  You're making the right decision.  Stop the treatments for a bit and let poor Henri get back to his old self.  Then sit down with your vet and figure out your next move.  There's more than one kind of chemo, and also the homeopathic treatments.  You have plenty of options.  Nothing is worth making your dog that miserable, so don't feel bad about pulling the plug on this particular course of treatment.  You're not giving up, you're just changing the way this is going to be fought.

And for the next week or two, don't worry about it at all.  Live day to day.  Just concentrate on watching Henri recover.  You'll probably have a few more bad days while all that nastiness flushes out of his system, but at least you have the comfort of knowing it will pass.  And once he's back to his old self, take a day off and take him to his favorite place and do whatever it is that he loves most.  Do that before you start any new treatments.  It'll do a world of good for both of you.  Nothing makes you feel better than watching your dog having the time of his life – that's why we have them in the first place.  Their joy is infectious. Sounds to me like you need this just as much as he does.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Thank you guys for all of the emails!  I really appreciate it a ton!!!

Henri had been mostly resting this weekend.  Still having trouble going potty.  So I will call the Vet tomorrow.

I had to hand feed him and bring him water yesterday,…but today, he did eat on his own.  He has been staying in one place mostly…not a lot of moving around.  Think he is still recovering.  It certainly has been a very tough weekend. 

Hope I have better news to report soon!

HUGS!

Wendy and Henri!