Sally..  I have to admit girl.... I read your blog and sometimes with the missing "n"s just challenges my brain to work this early in the morning...   and I haven't even had a tea yet!! lol  but the brain is an amazing tool and I was able to see clearly!!    lol  

I have to comment on your comment of  "THEN…..THEN…. OMD …THEN SHE SAID, QUITE FRANKLY SHE DIDN'T THINK NANNAH WOULD STILL BE WITH US THIS LONG!!! - 

Ok...   let me read this correctly.  She said that she didn't think that Hannah would still be with us this long.  Forgive me.. but I really don't see anything bad with this.. I believe it just to be an honest statement that she didn't think she would be here still and that she is beating those odds with big slobbery gusto!!  woot woot Hannah!!   

I understand that her comment could be upsetting because we, as tripawd owners, are very very very protective of our babies.. I know I was.. and I know you all are too.  I never had the chemo etc. with my Franklin, as you all know, so I cannot compare anything there.

But, she is probably amazed that Hannah is doing to well for so long.... and that is a GREAT thing!!   That is the way I would read that.  Frankly I am amazed at all the pups and kitties here who have tugged at our hearts.  We all know that there is no guarantee, time limit, expiry date with our babies.. but we enjoy each day to the fullest because we know that day will come for everyone!

I know that we don't know the whole conversation that happened as we were not there.. you were..  but we have to remember that vets are human beings too.  My sweetie was not impressed with our vet the first time he met him because he is honest, direct, and straight to the point.  Yet, the day that Franklin ran full gusto for the bridge, my sweetie shook the vets hand and thanked him for everything he did for our sweet boy.

I'm not saying don't vent.. we all need to vent.. scream and cry here..   It's acceptable, understandable and such a relief to get it off our chests.  I can't tell you how many times I have sat to type on this site with tears rolling down my cheeks.. in both sadness and happiness.  And sometimes we all need that little voice on our right shoulder telling us to breeeeeeeathe!!  

 Now.. I think we all need an ice cream cone!!

 Christine.... with Franklin in her heart ♥

Oh boy Sally can I relate to the insensitive things that vets can sometimes say. I'm so sorry you had that experience. Yes, I think vets love animals and try to prepare their pawrents the best they can, but sometimes they forget or don't understand just how much our fur kids are like our children. My mom just recovered from breast cancer treatment right before Atlas was diagnosed and I went on all her chemo treatments and doctor visits with her and I have to say they were always very sensitive and chose their words carefully. Yes, sometimes they have to tell us 'not so great statistics' but they were sensitive to how they delivered the news. I think some vets could use a little sensitivity training because in my opinion we should be treated the same as if it were a human family member. And it's not that we want to live in denial about the facts of cancer but presenting things with optimism and just saying something kind like: but we know Happy Hannah is so special we are hoping she does better then those statistics.... Can make all the difference in the world for us parents trying to live with cancer diagnosis.

The most important thing though is how great Happy Hannah is doing. So lets celebrate with some big bowls of ice cream, or maybe yogurt so its not too many calories. LOL!

Atlas sends pretty Happy Hannah a big Woof for being such an amazing tripawd warrior!

And I send you Sally a ton of gratitude for being here for all of us and I for one get a kick out of your frantic post, makes me feel like I'm not alone when I have my moments. Your a great mom and an unbelievable advocate for your girl!

Pat & Mighty Atlas

Hi Sally,

First, it's nice after being away for so long, to see that Hannah is still doing great. HOWEVER, I have to pretty much agree with Christine above- your vet probably was just amazed & blurted it out without thinking there was another way to take that statement.

While it was insensitive & not terribly bright on her part, I'm sure it wasn't meant with malice or even colored her plan for treatment.  But Hannah is indeed beating the odds and the onco probably got caught in a brain fart without a "next step" in mind to refer to!

I will say, though, that this makes me EXTRA grateful that we had a sensitive, caring, thoughtful oncology team!

Keep up the ice cream & keep that beautiful big gal beating the odds. HUGZ!

It's been a long time since I was here, but I'm glad I stumbled onto your post and deciphered it.  I think loads of folks above me have said some very good, very helpful comments: maybe the vet was being honest, maybe tact was missing, maybe..., maybe...  Truth is, Happy Hannah is doing well!  Truth is, Jackson's onco was very happy with us stopping at four chemos.  Four is the minimum they recommend, that is, if your pup and wallet can tolerate it.  Now, if your pup and wallet and mind want more of the juice, that's what 5 or 6 are for!  We did 5, because it made me sleep better.  The stats show that you want at least 4.  The stats I've seen, read, and talked about don't indicate 4 is better or worse than 6.  Interestingly, when discussing Jackson's long term plans last week with his onco, she had mentioned that if we didn't want to do Palladia if/when lung mets show, we could go back to more carbo.  Interesting, huh?  I didn't follow up with her on this, so I don't know if that'd help or if it's again another way to tug at pawrent's heart/wallet strings?  What it does remind me, though, is that Happy Hannah's care in your hands.  You knew this.  You KNOW this.  So..., if you've got reservations about "only" 4 carbos and wonder so deeply, so passionately about 5 or 6 - do the 5th!  I think I can say that there are no studies or any good stats that say anything about continuing chemo after months of "stopping" it, so you'd be in uncharted territory.  Welcome to CancerVille.  Because there are no studies on that, you'd be doing a 5th carbo b/c it makes you feel better.  Then...WHAT IF it helped...well, if you could tell?  Truth is, without cloning Happy Hannah (wouldn't THAT be awesome!), you're never going to know if what you did helped vs doing something else.  So, be confident in doing the target of 4 carbos or go back out there and get her the juice a 5th time.  Then, sleeeeeep easy.  Happy Hannah, march on, dear!  You got this, girl!!!!

~ Katy & Jackson