Monday, October 13, 2014
Henry had chemo #3 one week ago and he did very well. Usually, Wednesday nights and Thursdays are his worst days post chemo treatment. After his first treatment, he was, pardon the pun, as sick as a dog. After dosage adjustments, round 2 brought a much better post chemo week. Henry was lethargic on Thursday and had a little bit of a softer stool, but it was manageable. After round 3, Henry had his best Thursday yet! He was full of spunk on Thursday. This time, the chemo hit Henry on Friday. On Friday, Henry's appetite was pretty non-existent and his energy level was very low.
Knowing these are the usual side effects of chemo, we let him rest and wouldn't you know by Saturday morning he was back to his normal self, bouncing around, ready to go on his usual Saturday morning adventure.
Chemo is by no means easy, but it has gotten much better now that Henry's dose has been adjusted and we have a few rounds under our belts and we know what to expect. One of the hardest things with Henry's cancer diagnosis is that canine cancer is unchartered waters for us. As horrible as a trachea collapse is and all the complications that go along with that, we knew what to expect with Benjamin and Luna because we went through the same thing with Sol. We knew the little tricks, the side effects of the meds and sadly, we knew what the end would look like. I am in no way implying that a trachea collapse is easy or preferred, but we had experience, we knew what questions to ask. We knew the specialists.
With Henry's cancer diagnosis, we were consumed with the unknown and our worry easily got the best of us because we had no idea what to expect. We are by no means experienced in the realm of canine cancer but we seem to have a routine and treatment plan that is working well for Henry. Having a plan, and a plan that is working, not only gives us hope, but makes everything much more manageable.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Since Benjamin and Luna's passing, Henry does not like to be left alone. We understand. He was part of a pack his whole life and when the humans left the house he at least had Benny and Luna to keep him company. His demeanor lately has been, "Humans, you are all that I have left in my pack, so we are going to do everything together, OK?" And we have pretty much obliged whenever we can.
Whenever we pick up a carryout for dinner, Henry comes with. Running out for something quick at the store? Henry comes with and one of us waits in the car with him. Running out to put gas in the car? Come on Hank, you can go. Need dog food? Off the the pet store we go. And since Henry can go into the pet store, we have pretty much put him in charge of buying his own food. And every trip he tries to see if he can get a fish while we are there.
Even though we aren't really doing anything that is fun, Henry really seems to enjoy being out and about with us. We tell him he is the official errand runner and he seems to be pretty proud of his job. And he takes it very seriously!
Thursday, October 9, 2014
A cold front rolled in last Sunday and brought us a lovely day of mid 70° weather. There was no way we were not going to take advantage of such pug friendly weather. So, we suited Henry up and took him for a walk at one of our favorite parks. It was a great Sunday walk and was the perfect mini adventure for Henry before his 3rd chemo treatment the next day.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Last week, Nancy's mom shared with us the sad news about the passing of her pug Meiling. Losing a pug is always so incredibly sad, but a few days later Nancy emailed me this picture. I know this is Meiling's way of letting Nancy know that everything is OK at the Rainbow bridge.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Yesterday, Henry went for his 3rd chemotherapy visit. While we are always nervous before each visit, we were especially nervous this visit because Henry would be having chest x-rays and a sonogram to make sure that the cancer had not metastasized somewhere else. If everything was clear, we would proceed with his 3rd dose of chemotherapy. If things were not clear, we would need to come up with a different treatment plan.
Luckily, no additional treatment plan was needed as Henry passed his sonogram and chest x-ray with flying colors. Both tests did not indicate any signs of metastasis!
Henry received his 3rd dose of chemotherapy and we are now officially halfway through his treatment process! Go Hank!
We will be closely monitoring him this week hoping he does not have any adverse side effects from the chemo. Fingers crossed that round 3 of treatment is as successful as round 2.
Monday, October 6, 2014
There are a few fundraising events that I wanted to share. Both are for causes near and dear to our hearts. One benefits CFPR and the other is for the Alzheimer's Association. The details for both the events are below.
CFPR Yankee Candle Fundraiser
For all you candle lovers out there, this is the time to stock up on your supplies as well as buy gifts for your loved ones for the holidays. 40% of the proceeds will benefit CFPR and will be used to pay for the veterinary care of their rescue pugs. Thank you all!
Walk to End Alzheimer's
We are participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer's in November. We are walking in support of our family and in hopes that the funds raised will one day help find a cure as this disease. The disease has had a tremendous impact on our family. We would appreciate any support and thank you for letting me bring awareness to Alzheimer's here on the pug blog.
This year's walk is also fueling my knee recovering. I want to be able to walk the full 2 mile course by November.
Visit my walk page to learn about who, specifically, we walk for and sponsor me in the Walk to End Alzheimer's. There is also an option to mail in your donation if you prefer.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Last week we had about 12 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. At the house, we were lucky enough not to have any flooding. In the days following the rain, it was hot, humid and sunny. Which let to a bed of mushrooms growing in the yard.
Whenever I see a mushroom, I think of Benny. When Benny was a puppy, a very young puppy, less than 6 months, he almost died from eating a mushroom.
I had taken the boys out for a walk. At that age, the boys were hard to walk. They didn't really walk. Instead they just chased each other around, getting their leashes wrapped around everything. In addition to all their shenanigans they ate everything they came across. As I was unwrapping Henry from around a light pole, Benny found a mushroom growing in the grass and ate it. I yelled for him to stop, but of course he didn't listen. As soon as I could get to him, I got as much of the mushroom out of his mouth as possible, but it was really too late. He had already eaten a few bites.
I wasn't happy that Benny ate the mushroom, but I didn't think nothing of it at first. We finished our walk and Benny seemed to be doing fine. But a few minutes after getting home from our walk, Benny was no longer feeling very well. He started vomiting and having diarrhea simultaneously. Knowing that Benny had just eaten the wild mushroom, I scooped him up, wrapped him in a towel and we rushed to the vet. The drive to the vet was not far at all, but Benjamin was throwing up and have diarrhea the whole way there. The towel was quickly soaked through and by the time I got to the vet I was covered in throw up and poop. The vet stabilized him and then we took him to the emergency vet where he spent the night.
Benny made a full recovery, of course, and lucky for us, Benny got a bit more selective for things he tried to eat on his walks. And of course we never let him get near another mushroom.
I still drive the same car that I rushed Benny to the vet in that day. I spent hours and hours cleaning up the car, but the standing joke is that if CSI ever were to inspect the car, we are sure they would find trace amounts of vomit and fecal matter in some nook or cranny.
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