Griffin turned 11 years old today!  We celebrated with an extended morning romp in the park with Griffin’s best friend, Murphy, and a brief family Zoom party this evening.  Griffin chowed down on a chicken and lamb meatloaf cake with Velveeta frosting.  Earlier today we delivered some goodie bags to Griffin’s friends in our apartment building that contained delicious pupcakes and squeaky birthday tennis balls.  What a fun day!

Griffin celebrated his 9 month ampuversary in Buffalo, NY.  We were so happy to visit my mom, 2 sisters, and 2 nieces whom we had not seen in a year due to the pandemic.  My niece, Abby, accompanied us on daily walks in her neighborhood and she always made sure to give Griffin lots of treats in the afternoons.  Abby had a dream about Griffin while we were visiting and was kind enough to type it up for me!

Griffin started his 5^th chemo protocol (Chlorambucil) 11 days ago and has not exhibited any negative side effects.  His cough, likely due to a combination of acid reflux and the lung tumors, is limited to a handful of times each day, most often occurring during the night hours after Griffin has been laying down for an extended period of time.  Aside from the cough, Griffin is healthy and in good spirits.  His weight is stable, his appetite is strong, he loves eating treats and playing with toys (especially squeaky balls that belong to Murphy), and eagerly runs out the door for our daily morning walks no matter the weather.

♥ We hope that 2021 brings good health, great adventures, and much happiness to all of you! ♥

Griffin had an oncology appointment today, one month after he started chlorambucil.  Chest x-rays show that his metastatic disease has spread, and so we are closing the door on continuing any chemotherapy after cycling through 5 different types.  I was prepared for the news that his lung mets have continued to grow; after all, that has been the case since they were first discovered in July 2020.  But I also prepared Griffin’s oncology team for the type of conversation that I wanted to have today.  Here’s the email I sent them yesterday:

I’m figuring that you’ll want Griffin to have x-rays done tomorrow to see if his metastatic disease has continued to progress, and I’m fine with that.  Based on previous results, I’m not expecting good news from his radiographs and if that is the case, I’m assuming we will discontinue chlorambucil.  However, I would greatly appreciate it if our conversation tomorrow focused only partially on the x-ray results and more on the quality of life that Griffin has.  I have felt really defeated after his recent appointments when it seemed that the conversation was focused almost exclusively on the negative aspects of his radiographs.  For weeks afterwards I find myself focused on Griffin dying and looking for signs that I must be missing that show he is in decline.  I’m not naïve and I know that metastatic disease carries a poor prognosis.  But it has been 7 months since he was first diagnosed with lung mets and aside from the x-rays, I see no evidence that his quality of life has been negatively impacted.  His bloodwork and physical exams are routinely good, he is eating/sleeping/exercising well, and with the exception of his GERD related cough, I have not observed any signs that he is living any differently than before the lung mets were discovered.  Overall, I think he is doing phenomenally well for an 11-year old tripawd.

And guess what?  The majority of our conversation today focused on the positive.  The team shared that the x-rays showed progression and we agreed that there was no point in continuing with chemo.  But then we talked about how well Griffin is doing.  Dr. Camps called Griffin a “statistical anomaly” because he has lived far beyond the typical 2-3 month window after lung mets are diagnosed.  They talked about how his physical exam was unremarkable, including that his lungs sound good with no issues noted with breathing.  His bloodwork was mostly normal, but with a slight indication that he might be anemic, so we agreed that an iron injection was appropriate.  I shared that I have scheduled a chiropractic appointment for Griffin next week that will also include a holistic consult, and the team was enthusiastic in their support of that next step.

The reason why I am sharing this is because the statistics surrounding cancer suck, osteosarcoma especially so.  Griffin celebrated his 10 month apuversary yesterday and statistics indicate that he should not have been around to do so.   But none of our dogs are a statistic.  I know this Tripawds Nation talks about our pups not having an expiration date stamped on their butts, but it can be so difficult to push the statistics out of our minds and enjoy the present, especially when oncology appointments focus exclusively on diagnostics and not quality of life.  By clearly asking for the type of conversation I wanted to have today, I was advocating for both Griffin and me to ensure that a full picture of his life was discussed to come to the best decisions to continue his high quality of life.

I am at peace with the decision to stop chlorambucil.  Except for a few weeks, Griffin has been on some form of chemo for 9.5 months.  We have left no stone unturned medically.  And while I hope that my boy continues to defy the odds, I know that both of us have fought this awful disease with everything we have in us, and that will be enough.