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Thank you everyone for your advice & support! We opted not to go for the surgery & the 2 types of chemo they offered was adria & carboplatan (not sure on how they're spelled). They said adria was cheaper & that the carboplatan had better results so we're going for that one instead. We also plan on having her take the bisphosphonate, pamidronate (sp?) a couple days after the chemo.
Then it'll be every 3-4 weeks. Does anyone know what I should expect after her first chemo or bisphosphonate session?
Dogs don't generally have the problems with chemo that people have. When Emily's red blood cell dropped about day 14 and again about day 20 she slept a little bit more but not much. Had we not known to look for it I don't think we would have noticed. I think you will find chemo little more than an inconvenience
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
8:14 pm
Maggie was on a different protocol, and was doing chemo for about 6 months. She had mast cell cancer- the treatment and chemo drugs are different than for OSA. Mag had minimal side effects- here is what I wrote in her blog:
The mast cell tumor protocol used by our vet was a combination of two drugs, with a scheduled treatment every two weeks, the drugs were alternated each treatment. There was a total of 14 treatments, 7 of each drug. The two drugs used were CCNU or Lomustine, an oral drug, and Vinblastine, an IV drug.
Mag spent the day at the oncology vet for each treatment. Prior to the CCNU treatment blood work completed was a CBC and comprehensive chemistry. Prior to the Vinblastine treatments blood work completed was a CBC. If she seemed nauseous between treatments or off in any way we completed blood work at our local vet during the ‘off’ week. Treatment had to be postponed once due to a low WBC.
The treatment strategy was to start with low doses of each drug, and increase the dose with each subsequent treatment until she had a
negative reaction. Then the dose was dropped back to the last value that did not cause a negative reaction, and that dose was continued for the remainder of the treatments. The negative reaction in each case was nausea. We never had vomiting or diarrhea. There was some tiredness or fatigue noticed about 7 days after each treatment.
Not all is pertinent to your situation- but I am still not allowed to type too much so I cut and pasted!
Good luck with treatment- keep us posted.
Karen and the pugapalooza
8:15 pm
13 July 2009
Offline
Hi Kalli and family
Sorry to hear your news. What a bummer to find a tumor in another leg after surgery. But it is great you are just facing things one day at a time. That is what we tripawds become very good at.
Timberkins had tumor in both front legs, so your could search the archives for his info (or maybe that is where Maggie sent you). Since they could not amputate, he relied on radiation but also the bisphosphonates to help strengthen the bone. He did well for quite some time (a year or so).
Why do they recommend high dose chemo (carboplatin or adriamycin). I thought that was generally to try to keep the "C" at bay before it showed up elsewhere. Of course you want to focus on quality of life. It does seem that carboplatin has more mild side effects than Adriamycin for most dogs around here, but I'd probably ask why they are recommending either of those types of chemo now.
An alternative is low-dose chemo or metronomics that I think Pam mentioned in her first post.
Do you have access to an ultrasound in the town where you live? You might want to get more information that way before embarking too far with chemo (see if the organs other than the lungs are clear). And, are you within a few hours of a city that might offer palliative radiation to try to control the growth of the tumor on the leg?
I know you are facing hard decisions, and I know how overwhelming it is to hear about so many things all at once, and wish you all the best.
Susan
4:24 pm
2 June 2009
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oh man, sorry to hear about that second tumor! Kali, stop freaking your pawrents out!!! I think it is difficult in the beginning because there are SO MANY options. We started out wanting to do everything humanly possible, then after 4 chemo treatments (adriamycin; had 6 sessions planned), I decided I was just going to let Captain Jack be a dog and do doggy things. I guess what I'm trying to say is that whatever you decide now, you don't have to keep that decision forever. Good luck in your next few weeks of choices!!!
<3 Laura and Invisible Jackers
7:05 pm
14 August 2009
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I got no experience on anything!
But I just want you to know we are here for you when and if you need a sounding board.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
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