Eva has been lucky to get to use the trial vaccine and I though I would at least let her tell you what it is like for her. All in all less impact than the chemo which is done in conjunction with the vaccine, but after the first treatment she bounced back really well. We will update after each treatment or as we get more details on things from our oncologist. Now I have to let Eva type cause she keeps pawing at me.

Hey Paws and Peeps,

Eva here. I wanted to drop a note and say that things have been crazy since my surgery, chemo and PT started. My peeps keep me busy and there are now multiple vet offices involved (my vet, PT, oncology) so I have to keep on my toes to know if we are going to the park for a walk or the Vet's office. PT is awesome but those other places are for the cats.

Anyway, I was lucky to get an oncologist who was doing the trial of the Canine Osteosarcoma Vaccine. I can't be in the trial but I was able to become an off-trial user. It is done in combo with chemo and I just had my third chemo treatment and got my first vaccine treatment. I wanted to just let everyone know about that process. Mom and dad say it is pretty cool and dad said there are some podcast and info here on the site but I am not allowed to use his headphones or be on the computer without him looking over my shoulder. 🙁

The vaccine is a modified Listeria virus that has been altered to help the immune system see the osteosarcoma cells and then induce an immune response from my immune system and in combo with my other treatments help prevent spreading into other organs like the lungs. Since it is still in trial the numbers are still being calculated but it looks like when it works, it seems to add years which is cool cause I have new baby squirrels  in my yard and those things can take years to properly train how to run the fence line. Easier to train than a cat but way harder than a dog, but I digress

I will get three treatments spaced three weeks apart. The treatment day is sooooo loooooooong. I got dropped off at 7:00am and picked up at 6:45pm.

I had to get an x-ray (only the first time) because they needed to make sure I didn't have spots on my lungs or other parts I can't see. They told mom and dad it was because the vaccine and the other tumors can cause complications so at this stage in the development of treatment it shifts things, but luckily I was good to go.

I got my blood work, IV and pre-meds in the early morning and then my therapy. The main side effect within a few hours after the treatment is a spiked fever. So i had to stay at the clinic and get fluids and hang out with my clinic peeps. There isn't much to do and I forgot my iPawd so no games or news to read. HaHaHa. They took my temp and vitals every hour or so. I also got to go out and use the yard for my personal business. My fever never got really bad and dropped by the end of the day. If my fever didn't go back to normal by the end of the day, I would have to stay overnight so they can keep my fluids up. Luckily, my fever didn't get bad and I got to go home. Mom and dad had to keep an eye on me to make sure that I didn't have any other big side effects. Which isn't a big deal, my bed is in front of the TV so it isn't like they had to do anything special.  When I got home, I got my three blueberry treats so the only big side effect I noticed was that three is less than four which is what I normally get.

Even though it is a modified virus, it is still listeria based so I wasn't really hungry and had some diarrhea for about a day or so after the treatment, but it wasn't too bad and I didn't have to take a pill. All in all it wasn't much worse than my chemo treatments and I felt better sooner. Mom and dad took my temperature for a few days to make sure I didn't have a late spike but all went well this time. I was pretty tired after the day and just hung out the next day.  I go back for my next treatment in three weeks and have my last chemo treatment between now and then so at least that will be over.

I'll let you know how it goes as I get more treatments cause for those of us on three legs this seems like pretty cool news, even if I have to spend the days at the clinic.

Peace, paws and hugs to everyone,

Eva