Will be more than happy to be your tour guide when you visit India. 

Just to update Tyson is doing very well. He's pretty much back to his normal self. His wheelchair comes this week so he's going to finally be able to go for his longer walks. The right pain medication really made a world of a difference. Will update a bit more closer to him starting chemo and post on how he does with it. 

Hi all,

Sorry it's been a while, wanted to post an update on Tyson.

He just finished his fourth dose of Carboplatin last week. He’s been doing quite well with the chemotherapy for the most part. The scans so far have all been clear and his blood work is fine (some levels are low as expected with chemo). He has not had any severe reactions the first three doses however on the fourth dose last week he was uncomfortable immediately following treatment (for about 2 days). The first night he went to the bathroom three times but no signs of diarrhoea.  He was back to normal the third day but developed severe diarrhoea the 5th day with nausea (vomited once that day). On recommendation from the oncologist we took him to the vet that evening and administered an IV with Pantaparazole, Ondansetron, Metronidazole and a B complex. He was back to normal again the next day and has been fine since. 

Other than some side effects this last round of chemo he has been doing good. The only other change we’ve noticed is that the spots under his fur have turned from a light brown to very dark since starting on chemotherapy (can only see the spots when shaved, top coat is still light brown). The oncologist initially mentioned we could do 4 to 6 rounds of chemotherapy and we’ve currently completed 4. Given some of the discomfort and side effects with the last treatment we may stop at 4 but will be consulting with the oncologist again next week to evaluate what is best for him. 

We’ve been giving him 40mg of Pantoprazole once a day in the morning for his stomach since we started treatment and CBD oil at night (12 drops from a 1500mg strength 30ml bottle). We stopped using the dog mobility wheelchair as he really does not like it (it bumps into a lot of things on his walk). The walks are shorter and we take a break mid walk as he does get more tired but he much prefers to hop around on three legs and is very comfortable doing so despite his size. 

Thanks again everyone for all the help and support along the way. Will keep this thread updated along the way. I hope it may be of help to someone in the future.  

Thanks everyone, we owe a lot to the tripawds community for helping us get through this. Right from the initial anxiety to getting him on the rights meds post surgery.

The cbd oil we’re using is called Vedic tails which is a brand based out of India. A friend of a friend started it and was immensely helpful getting it to us and advising on dosage and possible interactions with any other medications.

We are hoping we can stop at the 4th dose of carboplatin like you mentioned. Our oncologist in our initial consultation also informed us that there was no significant difference between 4 and 6 so 4 should be more than enough.

And yes giant dogs can do well as tripawds! More than anything that was our biggest apprehension (not just his size but also because of his operation for hip dysplasia as a pup) but we’re so happy to see him doing so well.