Thanks about the tip on ending the gabapentin.

I think the sprint made Luka pretty sore yesterday, but today he seems a bit better. I hope I do get the hang of monitoring that. I don't want him to have to be on the leash all the time, but he is so driven to chase birds, squirrels, whatever moves, that it is tricky.

No pics from sunny Sunday! I want to upload video but I think that needs to happen through a youtube link or something like that.

Lisa

Well . . . it's been a nice two weeks of recovery. The cone is off and a doughnut is around Luka's neck when I am not home because he continues to lick. His hair is really red, like dark blood, although there do not seem to be scabs of any kind. I took him to his surgeon for a check-in about strength and flexibility, and she told me that dogs have some kind of enzyme in their saliva, and if they lick persistently, it will turn red. I have seen pink hair on little white dogs before and never knew what that was about! So something new. Otherwise, he has been given permission to return to mostly normal, unrestricted activities. She definitely wants him to have some off-leash time in the backyard, in addition to our regular walks. 🙂

It has been two weeks since carboplatin, and test results from Saturday say low white blood cells. My regular vet told me to give Luka an antibiotic, and the onco tech said it wasn't all that important unless it's still low (or lower) with next week's check. Any input anyone has on that would be great.

Thanks much.

Lisa

Keep forgetting my camera when we are out rolling in the sunshine. I will remember next time!

We are having a little weirdness right now. I noticed the skin on Luka's incision-side belly was becoming black, as was his penile sheath (TMI?) so I was worried that he had some kind of infection due to low WBC after the second chemo. As we know, he is kind of a licky guy these days, also. I took him in to my regular vet, who is in close contact with both onco and surgeon (they just cc everything to everyone anytime we show up) and also took in a urine sample because the emergency folks I talked to on the phone last night suggested it might be a UTI. Turns out there is some bacterial thing going on (but it isn't huge), so now he is on the antibiotics I never gave him after chemo 1. BUT the really good news (I think) is that my vet found an errant SUTURE that the surgery techs had missed, the onco had missed, the surgeon had missed six weeks post-op on the PT check, and I had missed! Its location was exactly the neurotic lick spot. It would be wonderful if that stray were the source of all lick evil! The vet also gave me some topical stuff for the black places (lick bacteria), which she thinks will fix it. Wow. If it is that easy to get through the lick, we are licky LUCKY. I am so glad they found the suture for many reasons, including what I had begun to think was a neurosis. I am just glad he was not biting it or pulling at it.

Sunny day on muddy trail yesterday and humping it through a shallow creek. Life is good!

Lisa and Luka