Ginger in fleece jacket, put her in car, collected husband, gave
bullies to 3 dogs left behind and set off for Greenville for
oncologist appointment. The ultrasound shows no change in the
sublumbar nodes, (still 'markedly enlarged') the Doxo apparently did
not work. However, her blood work is good, calcium level normal, and
she is eating well, gaining weight and lively, so the oncologist says
her lymphoma is 'stable'. He also said it was 'hard to believe' the
nodes have not gone down, as she is 'doing very great clinically' and
is 'so lively' (apparently they let her off leash in the treatment
room and she bounded around like a puppy) and is regaining weight and
muscle mass ... and is 'so ravenous' (he said she'd eaten all the
treats they had in the back and they had to open another box, and he
brought some with him to give her before she left saying 'look at her
eat!').... But he said it was unlikely she would respond to a second
round of the CHOP protocol (as she only had a slight response this
first round, and NO response to the Doxo), he said we could try
Vincristine today and then bring her back next week to check
ultrasound and if nodes still unaffected go with CCNU then, but he'd
advise trying it now ... so, we're trying the CCNU. He agreed with my
main concern, that the resistant nodes are close to the kidneys and if
they increase again will undoubtedly put her in renal failure again
(which is how we started out)... he also said if the CCNU didn't work,
that was the last chemo he'd advise ... he mentioned the possibility
of radiation (which would require 5 days of radiation, being
anesthetized each day and irradiated 4 hours, this would in effect
mean she'd be hospitalized 5 days as I couldnt drive her there and
back each day for a week.) He said it would only 'work' on those nodes
and he seldom advised it for dogs with lymphoma as lymphoma is
systemic and it would likely just pop up elsewhere (she originally had
some nodes in her chest affected also) unless the affected nodes were
in the throat area only and making it impossible for the dog to
breathe .... this doesnt sound like a good option, to me. OK, so,
decided to try the CCNU (she's already on milk thistle, as a liver
protectant, he also advised giving her Sam-E (which I happen to have
at home). the CCNU is apparently really hard on the bone marrow and
platelets, so he gave me a round of antibiotics to start Sunday, also
she'll have her CBC checked next week (and again the worry about
sepsis day 7-14.) And in 3 weeks, if her liver enzymes are OK, if she
hasn't gone 'septic' and IF an ultrasound shows the CCNU is working,
then try another round of CCNU. If not, well, I gather that's about it
(except for the radiation), and I'd then keep her on pred (and
possibly Leukeran, a fairly mild chemo pill you give with the pred) to
try to keep her 'stable' as long as possible ... he said there are
other rescue protocols but in his experience if the CCNU had no
effect, they wouldn't either in initially putting a dog in
remission.... He said it was somewhat different for dogs that had gone
in to remission, then came out of remission, but that we had yet to
achieve remission with Ginger.
I am, of course, very disappointed that the Doxo did not work; I am
praying the CCNU will do the trick AND not make her sick... but I am
so very proud of my beautiful red girl, who has stolen the hearts of
everyone she meets, she is so bright and lively and cheerful ... and
so patient with we humans poking and prodding her and dressing her in
jackets and diapers and dragging her on long car rides ... and she was
SO glad to get home, she bounded out of the car and ran to the kennels
and 'danced' there until I caught up and let out the other dogs, and
then ran and ran around the property, ears flying, tail high, in that
beautiful Irish setter lope .... I got on the mower and rode around
with the dogs til night fall, then fed and kenneled them .... will go
get Ginger for her evening meds in awhile.
Thank you all again and again for your prayers and support ... I do
know that God answers prayers, as my Ginger is bright and lively and
having a great quality of life .... and that was my initial hope for
her when she got sick.... and the way she has touched the lives and
hearts of so many people is an amazing blessing.
-----
Mary Lou
DB,Banshee,Ginger and Snoopy(dogs)
Damcat
Callie in spirit (04/90-06/07)
http://marylouandcompanions.
http://gingeroftheflyingears.
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