Hello all. I’ve been off the site for the past week. Work and trying to spend as much quality time with Ophelia that i can. Figured I’d update this afternoon.  

Ophelia seems to be doing really well adjusting to three legs (knock on wood). She still tired much easier than before amputation but that is to be expected and her endurance is improving all of the time.  I’ve driven her over to her favorite part of our old, normal, walk a few times now. It’s by a sports bar that is probably 8 blocks/quarter mile from my home.  She loves one of the bartenders there and gets to meet new people walking in and out. The past two times that I’ve driven her over there she has wanted to walk all the way home.  And she’s done great.  I’ll post a video below of her just cruising.  I could barely keep up the other night!  

I took her to another vet hospital here in Denver to visit with an oncologist who has been around for years and has a background in immunology. You may recall that i had emailed a researcher at CSU a few weeks ago.  He responded and recommended that i make an appointment with this specific oncologist.  Turns out that it’s his wife. Lol.  He is the researcher who has worked on the Losartan combo with (forget the name of the other drug).  Anyway, the visit with the second oncologist went well.  She knew a lot more about the science behind all of this than Ophelia’s current oncologist.  So she answered lingering questions that i had about ELIAS vaccine more than anything.  She also recommended that i skip the third chemo treatment and move immediately to the vaccine.  So that is what we did.  Ophelia was suppose to get her third dose of chemo on Wednesday but i emailed the doctor the day before and told her that i wanted to begin ELIAS. So Ophelia has had her first vaccine injection and her second is this week.  

i also learned that i can have a sample of Ophelia’s tumor sent to a place called Fidocure where they will analyze it to see if it has any specific mutations that may be susceptible to special targeted treatments.  And if not, i can follow the ELIAS vaccine treatment with the Losartan combo.  So that’s the plan right now. 

It’s easy to forget that Ophelia is so sick when she is almost back to her old self.  That is probably another reason that I’ve not been here lately. It’s a harsh reminder.  But, i have been planning for the inevitable end, ie, euthanasia.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m optimistic and still have the mindset that we will beat this, but i think that it’s best to be prepared.  So i contacted a holistic vet that used to come to the house to give acupuncture to Ophelia’s sister several years ago.  She also does in home euthanasia.  The plan is that she will begin giving Ophelia acupuncture treatments every 2-3 weeks at the house, and when it’s time, she will perform the euthanasia.  It is really important to me that Ophelia is familiar with and LIKES the person who does that. Getting the acupuncture treatments going will establish her relationship with this vet.  

We did the casting for the prosthetic leg which was an absolute pain. But it’s done and sent back to the company so that they can begin building her new leg. We are probably still 4-6 weeks away from having it and then it will take time getting her to use it and be proficient with it.  🤞 

As always, thanks for the support. The value of this site is immeasurable.  Really.  Here are some videos.  🙂

Thanks Sally.  Thank Jerry.  That info and thar video was helpful.  That video was particularly interesting because it covered a variety of topics. 

i am leaning towards have the genetic analysis conducted by Fidocure and seeing what, if any, targeted therapy they end up recommending.  I don’t have to commit to the actual treatment part before I do that so i don’t see the harm of finding out.  I’ll post about it of course if i do. 

Right now though I’m have issues with the treating oncologist.  I received a voice message from CASE vet hospital notifying me that she (the oncologist) was no longer at CASE because she had left to pursue other opportunities.  When i called them back i was told that she left for personal reasons.  They just assigned Ophelia’s treatment to a new oncologist that doesn’t even begin until tomorrow (Monday). I have no idea if she has any experience with the ELIAS vaccine or how much experience that she has in general. Needless to say, I’m not very happy about this development at all. It certainly doesn’t give me much confidence in their continued treatment of Ophelia. I get that things happen, people take other jobs, or go through personal problems, but the way that they treated it as nonchalantly as they did really upset me. 

Especially concerning is that Ophelia has the two most involved treatment steps for ELIAS this coming Wednesday and the following Wednesday.  Aphorisis this Wednesday where they sedate her and remove the T cells from her blood and then send them to the ELIAS lab in KC, and then reintroducing the T cells after “supercharging” them through their process.  The reintroduction step is a little risky because it can cause a dog’s immune system to react very strongly causing cytokine storm.  Which can be life threatening if it happens.  So that has me really worried right now.  

They know that I’m not happy and their response wasn’t very comforting either.  They told “well, you don’t have to do it”… 🤦🏻‍♂️.  As i told them, i don’t have much of a choice at this point.  Ophelia is committed to the ELIAS treatment, she has already had the two vaccine injections and has foregone the final two chemo treatments.  

Anyway, i pretty much demanded that they get me in to speak with the new oncologist tomorrow. That appointment is at 2:30.  Either way, i dont see that i have any options at least until the ELIAS protocol is completed.