Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello,
Tahoe had his staples out today and the surgeon was very pleased with the recovery, 2 weeks post amp. The downside of today's visit was the confirmation of histiocyctic sarcoma from a quarter-sized soft mass excised and biopsied from Tahoe's chest during amp. This was not the news we were looking for, especially so soon after amp. The pathologist has indicated that the histiocytic sarcoma is very aggressive, with likely widespread mets and "grave prognosis", though the lungs and abdomen were 'clean on xrays and ultrasound 3 weeks ago.
We have had parallel discussions with two different medical oncologists regarding a chemo treatment plan, as we are waiting for a plan which will likely consist of alternating lomustine and doxorubicin. My surgeon today suggested investigating the merits of consulting with an Oncologist, specializing in Alternative and Complementary Medicine. We found one at in Michigan at the Oakland Vet Referral Services (Dr Bannink). Does any have any experience and/or suggestions as to pros or cons, western oncology compared with alternative oncology?
I am feeling lost in trying to do what's best for Tahoe, considering how aggressive this cancer is appearing to be.
As always, thank you ...
Stirling and Tahoe
"Tahoe" - Our Amazing Superman and Best Friend.
Dec. 01-03 to Aug. 19-14
Diagnosed with Periarticular Hystiocystic Sarcoma Feb 14-13; Amputation March 18-13, and diagnosed with STS April-14. Tahoe touched so many people while visiting us, leaving a massive void in our lives. Always Missed, Never Forgotten!!
Just got your PM and, as you know by now, it may have been sent to Mars instead!
Referring above to the one I sent back....
Yes, complimentary alternative therapy can make a difference. Rather than duplicate what I already sent you, I am checking with some of my resources I have used in the past with good results and they re credible!
As I mentioned, the tumor is gone from his leg and gone from his lung and he feels strong and happy! That is a fact! I know he's enjoying having the stitches out. Tahoe is a strong resilient boy and he has a lot of spunk in him. He is in no pain and he is being loved thoroughly and that makes his kids limitless----and that's a great therapy.
Okay, Happy Hanna
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Keyboard just disappeared gain. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
happy Hannah and I are off to do alternative stuff for you... We are all in different locations but in the same canoe.. you just go enjoy Tahoe and rest----we will do the paddlig
You are not alone Sending you both o much love and sty strong and tay encouraged, Sally and Happy Hannah
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Stirling, I wish there was an easy answer here, but as you know this cancer thing just takes you on all sorts of detours. I'm sorry it's not an easier path for you right now.
Histio is a scary disease but did you see Chico's post today? He's a histio fighter and is almost at the one year mark! I hope his story cheers you up. Don't give up hope.
I think your onco's suggestions are great, it can't hurt to get another opinion from a doc who practices a different approach. Dr. Dressler (aka Dog Cancer Survival Guide) takes this 'full spectrum' approach as well and we really believe it made a big difference in my cancer battle.
You might also want to consult with Dr. Charles Loops in North Carolina. Dr. Loops is a homeopathic vet who has helped quite a few dogs here live way beyond their prognoses. Here is a Tripawds Nutrition blog post about him.
Don't give up hope that he can beat these odds. It's still early in the game and there is a lot you can do. Stay strong and know that whatever happens next, what Tahoe really wants most is to be by your side, happy and loving life. We're here for you.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Gosh---Dr. Loop is exactly one I've used and was looking up the info. for you. I got many extended months with a dog with nasal cancer long after conventional could do nothing else. Lots of love....will get back with more stuff Sally and Happy Hannah still rowing or you!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Thank you all.
I will follow-up with Dr Loops tomorrow. I just received an email from my local vet with chemo treatment plan recc of just using Lomustine and no Doxy, unlike the other onco who recc'd lomustine alternated with doxy. Hmmm..flip a coin?
Regardless, I am following many suggestions in Dr Dressler's book (great book BTW) and will research Dr Loops.
Information is so powerful, as like many people in the Tpawd community, we have to educate ourselves for our fur buddies.
Have a great night!
Stirling and Tahoe
"Tahoe" - Our Amazing Superman and Best Friend.
Dec. 01-03 to Aug. 19-14
Diagnosed with Periarticular Hystiocystic Sarcoma Feb 14-13; Amputation March 18-13, and diagnosed with STS April-14. Tahoe touched so many people while visiting us, leaving a massive void in our lives. Always Missed, Never Forgotten!!
I'm all for alternative therapy methods, but it bothers me when Dr. Loops says things about chemotherapy like, "At the very least, there will be several days of impact following each treatment. There will be stress and possible pain associated with IV injections of Cisplatin or Carboplatin", which in my experience (so far, at least) simply isn't the case. Blanket statements such as this cause me to question the doctor's objectivity.
I'm not saying that chemo is the right choice in every case, but I do think that it's vitally important to use a critical eye when weighing the options. Finding a practice where the docs are open to all modes of therapy even if they don't provide all of them is the best way to get a balanced viewpoint.
Cancer is a complex disease and there are no guarantees with any form of treatment. But by choosing solely homeopathic treatment you need to accept its limitations. That said, this process is always about quality of life, not necessarily quantity, so every case is different & you obviously need to determine what will give your fur kid the best quality and take into consideration other factors such as expense.
Everything, unfortunately is a risk vs. reward choice, and "crunching the numbers" is incredibly difficult with this stupid disease!
Our oncologist said he's never had a dog live over a year with histiocytic cell sarcoma. We're 11 months now and still going strong. The oncologist recently had two other dogs with histiocytic cell sarcoma suddenly develop liver issues and he was afraid Chico might also. He hasn't but I attribute that to what I give Chico on my own to help support his liver because I know chemo is rough on it. For the past several months I've given him alfalfa, Sam-E and milk thistle. I do think it helps. I've also been giving him K9 Immunity for at least 6 months or more and recently decided to try Apocaps .
Good luck with which ever route you decide to take.
Thanks for sharing Chico. Here's another dog who's lived over four years with hystio! He's still going strong as far as I know.
Dharma, good point! I totally o agree that an open minded approach needs to be taken with this disease, and all treatments should be considered at the very least. That's one of the reasons why we love Dr. Dressler so much, he doesn't use scare tactics about any type of approach, just lays it on the line and discusses his own successes with each therapy.
Sally I didn't know you worked with Dr. Loops before.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Looks like you have some great true stories of encouragement for Tahoe.
My experience with Dr. Loops was over ten years ago with my BullMastiff Hostess Twinkie. My regular vet referred me as there was nothing conventionally left he felt we could do . Back then and in this area, there was very little discussion about chemo and certainly no specialists, etc.
Anyway, my discussions with Dr. Loops never involved any of his opinions on chemo., etc......and I couldn't tell you ow what Twinkie's regiment was. I just know that she had several more quality months beyond what my regular vet thought possible and that Dr. loops was very kind and helpful......at least I felt like I was doing "something".
Show has a lot of good options and you can combine all sorts of therapies it looks like
Much love to all, Sally and Happy Hannah
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
That's great to know Sally. Isn't it amazing how much things have changed in such a short amount of time?
That's terrific you had nine more months with Twinkie. What a gift.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for your thoughts and experiences, all very good input.
I have made arrangements to speak with Dr Loops next week and go from there. Looking forward to how that goes. I am very open to both western and alternative treatments, certainly not excluding any one treatment. Have seen personally (family members) how western and alternatives treatments can compliment one another.
We are starting our first treatment of lomustine on Friday if the preliminary tests are a 'go'
"Tahoe" - Our Amazing Superman and Best Friend.
Dec. 01-03 to Aug. 19-14
Diagnosed with Periarticular Hystiocystic Sarcoma Feb 14-13; Amputation March 18-13, and diagnosed with STS April-14. Tahoe touched so many people while visiting us, leaving a massive void in our lives. Always Missed, Never Forgotten!!
HI Stirling,
I wanted to add that you should keep an eye on Tahoe's kidney function while on and after taking lomustine. There is some fairly new info from Dr. Susan Ettinger (who works with Dr. Dressler) that lomustine can adversly affect kidney function.
My pug Maggie developed CRF (kidney failure) about 2.5 years after she took lomustine as part of her mast cell cancer treatment (6 or 7 treatments over 6 months). At the time the CRF was diagnosed our oncologist said they were unrelated. Spirit Rusty's (as of today 
) dad Chuck posted about the new info last year as Rusty also had kidney failure after a year on lomustine.
I still would have used the drug- in our case we were only expected to get 6 to 9 months. But I think I would have caught the CRF sooner if I had known to look for the signs. Maggie had lost weight slowly for several months before a bladder infection lead to the diagnosis, I wrote the weight loss off to her aging and picky eating habits (another sign of CRF but she had always been picky).
It doesn't sound like this is a common side effect- but knowledge is power!
I hope Tahoe is doing well.
Karen
Hello Karen,
Thank you for the heads up on the CRF possibly linked with lomustine. We had our first lomustine treatment last Friday and Tahoe has done very well. No vomitting or diarrhoea and just a limited amount of lethargy. He is on daily Sam-e pills for the liver. I reviewed what the oncologist's treatment plan and also what Dr Ettinger writes in the section on lomustine in the "Dog Cancer Survival Guide" but no real mention of kidney concern, only liver and myelosuppression.
I will certainly raise this question to the oncologist and also Dr Loops (who I will be working with starting Wednesday).
You are certainly correct, knowledge is power.
Best regards,
Stirling and Tahoe
"Tahoe" - Our Amazing Superman and Best Friend.
Dec. 01-03 to Aug. 19-14
Diagnosed with Periarticular Hystiocystic Sarcoma Feb 14-13; Amputation March 18-13, and diagnosed with STS April-14. Tahoe touched so many people while visiting us, leaving a massive void in our lives. Always Missed, Never Forgotten!!
So glad, so very glad to hear Tahoe is doing well! I know that's a huge relief!! Go ahead and give us the "sigh of relief"......we all love to hear that sound around here! Feels good, huh? I think you'll feel some relief after talking to Dr. Loops too....he really knows his stuff.
Would love to see some more pictures of Tahoe (hint)
Sending boatloads of healing support! Sally and Happy Hannah
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
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