Double Treatment Week! Chemo Schemo & Radiation for our boy this Week!

This sweet boy had double treatments today at MSU! It was his 4th (of 5) radiation treatments and his 2nd chemo treatment.

This morning before we left for his treatment, Max was doing zoomies in the backyard and chasing Sammy Lammington all around the yard! It brought tears to my eyes that this sweet boy still has his fun loving personality despite everything he has been through over these past 4 months and knowing that in just a few short hours he would be getting radiation and chemotherapy. Sigh.

Sammy on the other hand just got done eating his poop in the backyard... so there's that. LOL!  See this picture for proof of the guilty look!!! Who me?!

Max did great with both treatments and he has pretty much zero side affects from his radiation therapy. He has discoloration (blackish) on his tummy area, his pee pee and his butt area, but that is all to be expected. The last time he had chemo he was nauseous on the drive home and he was then nauseous starting day 4-5 along with diarrhea on day 2.

We have a good plan in place for his post treatment care so we can keep him comfortable. Instead of waiting to treat his nausea, we are being proactive and started him on nausea medication today. We will treat him for nausea the entire week this week to try and curb any nausea coming his way. If he has diarrhea we will start him on Metronidazole 250mg.

Max did well with his sedation today and came home and ate a small snack of cottage cheese and green beans and then took a nice afternoon siesta. For dinner he ate a 1/4 cup of ground turkey with some of his dehydrated veggies (about 3 tblspns) and then he continued on with his nappy naps. He is pretty tired which is to be expected and and he will probably be pretty tired tomorrow as well.

We are going to meet with a veterinarian nutritionist bc we are concerned with Max's weight loss. He has lost 7 lbs since his cancer journey began, which we think is from his new ketogenic diet since he is no longer getting any carbs. He also has to fast once a week for his treatment so he is missing meals which is probably adding to it. We just want to make sure he is getting the proper nutrition bc dogs fighting cancer need specific food and nutrition requirements so we want to make sure we are on the right track along with adding in more healthy fats to help him gain weight.

Week of double treatment:

Day 1: Max did well with his sedation today! He was given Cerenia prior to chemo today and he had zero nausea on the way home like the last time. Wahoo! He ate 2 small meals today once we got home (he was very hungry) and he slept throughout the day. I put a diapy back on him (he hasn't worn one since before his surgery in early June). He strained a lot to poop today but I am guessing it's because he doesn't have much food in his system and his prostate is probably inflamed and irritated from all of his treatments today. He is still taking his Metamucil for constipation to see if that helps with his straining.

Day 2: Max woke up at 4am to go potty but we were back in bed by 4:30a and he slept until 7am when Sammy woke us all up demanding his breakfast. :) Max was sleepy all day today which is normal after chemo day. He is eating like a champ today! We introduced him to Greek Yogurt which he LOVED! We are adding in more meals this week and we are adding Dave's Chicken Liver into his diet this week as well, to give him different nutrients and additional fat. He pee'd well today and actually pooped pretty well. Not too much straining but still some. He hesitates to go to the bathroom and I am guessing it's bc his prostate area is just inflamed and irritated from all of his treatments yesterday. I gave him 1 Cerenia pill this morning and will continue with 1 pill each day this week to keep his nausea at bay.

**We received good news today that Max did NOT lose weight this past week! Wahoo!!! He gained +.2 lbs, so not much, but he didn't lose so that is fantastic! We started adding lunches to his food regime mid week last week so he is eating more and we are beefing up his snacks so he will be getting 4 well rounded meals per day.

Today we started feeding him a larger lunch and then a larger snack before bedtime. He also started getting beef & chicken liver for his dinner and we upped his breakfast portion and dinner portion, adding more protein. We will see if this helps him gain weight before his next weigh in next week.

Day 3: Max slept through the entire night last night with his last outing at 10pm. He slept till 6am and then we snuggled in bed till 7am. Yahoo! He is pee'ing well and he is pooping really well today with not much straining at all. The bigger his meals are the less he strains. I am sure the Metamucil is helping as well. He is less tired today and has been spending a lot of time sunbathing on the back deck. No nausea and he's eating great! No diarrhea to speak of this week yet either!

Day 4: Max woke up today and did not want to eat. :( I had to call him out of the bedroom to come and eat (which never happens) and he wouldn't eat it breakfast. He would smell it but step back and stare at it. I added some yogurt to his meal and he slowly would eat some but only if I hand fed him. It took him about 15 minutes to eat it and he eventually licked his bowl clean but he did not have his normal appetite this morning. Today is the day his nausea hit hard last time and it's the day the cells start dying off so I am guessing he has tummy troubles. He is on Cerenia so hoping that will keep his nausea at bay. Max refused food for the rest of the day. We tried everything! The stinkier the better and he just wasn't interested. He was pooping and peeing great all day and he would drink (not as much as normal though). He was over all sluggish and just wanted to rest with this people but definitely not interested in eating anything. Not even cookie treats. :( I gave him pedialyte to drink and bought some baby food and canned dog food to see if that helps. He didn't want anything so hoping tomorrow his appetite comes back.

Day 5: Max slept well through the night. We went out to go potty at 3:45am but he went right back to bed and woke up at 7am like normal. He did eat breakfast this morning although he was super picky about what he wanted. He would only eat chicken liver and beef. Canned dog food type. He refused pumpkin and his normal veggies. He did eat an entire can of dog food though - hand fed. He is pooping fine and drinking. He seems like he has a pep in his step today more than yesterday so hoping as the day goes on, his appetite comes back. He still has not had any nausea. We have given him Cerenia every day along with 26mg of CBD oil and I think that is helping with it.

Around lunch time I made roasted chicken and Max loved it! I took the bones and am currently making bone broth in our instant pot. I tried to give Max some raw brocolli, which he would normally love, but today he turned his nose to it. I steamed it really fast and tried again and VOILA! He ate it. :) He also ate a 1/2 cup of greek yogurt for lunch and he has been drinking well. We will see what dinner has in store for us!

For dinner he had roasted chicken, kibble soaked in bone broth, broccoli, pumpkin, and his Paradigm veggies. He loved his dinner. Then for a snack at 8pm he had hamburger soaked in bone broth, pumpkin, broccoli and blueberries. He loved it all! He did want me to hand feed him most of the day today and I happily did. He did much better eating today. He drank a ton, too, today. He was not as sluggish today either. He pee'd and pooped well and was pretty active.

Tips for next time: Have bone broth on hand. Take chicken bones and 1/4 apple cider vinegar and 10 cups of water and put it all in the instant pot for 2 hours with 30 minutes slow release. Cool down the broth, skim off the top fat, and then freeze in ice cube trays so when he needs a little broth, I can just take a few cubes out of a ziplock freezer bag and microwave them down. Also the stinkier the food the better. He was not interested in anything that he couldnt' smell and warming up the food seemed to help bring out the stink. Stick with things like steamed broccoli, roasted chicken, kibble soaked in bone broth, tuna in a can, sardines etc.


Day 6: Max was totally back to normal today! We didn't have to hand feed him at all and he had zero food aversions and was excited and happy to eat! He is peeing and pooping really well with barely any straining at all. His poop looks great.

Day 7: Another great day of being back to normal! His activity level is good and he is eating completely normal and loving his extra meals. We are looking forward to weigh in on Tuesday when he goes for his last radiation treatment to see if he has gained any weight. He is peeing great and he is hardly straining to poop. We think he just needed some Metamucil bc that seems to have fixed about 80% of his straining issues.

*Note: Since we started giving Max Metamucil (1/4 tsp in the morning and 1/8 teaspoon at night) and since we started feeding him MORE food, he is barely straining to poop now and his poops look so much better!!!!



Cost of Treatment:
$690.02

Week 3 of Radiation Therapy.....

This picture sums up my boy Max. He is the goofiest dog I have ever known and has the best personality EVER!

This week we start his 3rd week of radiation therapy. Last week he did great with radiation and doesn't seem to have any side effects except he was overly sedated. So this week we changed up Max's sedation.No trazadone for him any more!!!

When Max was done with radiation therapy (which only took 1 hour today) he was alert and happy! He rested in the backseat of the car with me on the way home but once we were home, he was literally back to his normal self. He didn't have any sedation issues today at all! 0So thankful!

He was not nauseous at all and ate a few smaller meals throughout the day today to avoid nausea from whatever anesthesia was still in his system. He is not experiencing any side effects at all from radiation except he does have discoloring on his tummy area and his wank area from the radiation (instead of being pink in color it is turning black'ish).

Max has had a great week so far and has been acting normal and eating well. He is still straining to poop so we are trying to figure that out but we are starting to think it could be constipation caused by too much protein. He is still around 49lbs (a healthy weight for Max is around 56lbs) so we are trying to put some weight back on. We added in a 3rd meal at lunch time for Max (see info below on this). So far that seems to be helping with some of his constipation issues. It has definitely helped with his poop looking ribbon-like. Some of his poops are full and completely normal, which we haven't seen in awhile. Some other poops are smaller but not as much ribbon-like as before.

This week Max chased rabbits, played with Sammy Lammington, ate a cheeseburger for a snackie and went to the groomer. He had a great week this week as we finish up week 3 of radiation (he only has 2 radiation treatments left) and as we head into his 2nd week of chemo next week.

Fresh back from the groomer for these two this week!

No butt ruffel! I love his little butt!!!! :)

Below is how Max's week went:

Day 1: No side effects. We changed up his sedation protocol so he will no longer receive trazadone. He was alert after his treatment (only took 1 hour today) and he acted totally normal when we got home. Still straining to poop a lot today. Fed him several smaller meals so as not to give him nausea with whatever anesthesia was still in his system. Slept well all night long.

Day 2: Slept well last night. He acted totally normal today. I decided to start feeding him a 3rd meal. I was doing 1 full breakfast, small snack at 11am, full dinner at 4pm, and small snack at 8pm. He weighed in at 49lbs today which is about 7lbs off from his ideal weight so I am changing up his food routine. Today he had a full breakfast at 7am, full kibble lunch at 12pm, full dinner at 4:30pm, and then a light snack around 8pm. He gets his Carprofen at 7am & 7pm and then CBD oil at 12pm and 8pm. He still strained a lot to poop today.

Day 3: Holy poop batman! He did not strain this morning at all to poop and his poop looked completely normal! I am thinking it is because he was constipated that he was straining so much! We have had him on a mostly ketogenic diet so I am thinking maybe we need to adjust his protein levels and add some healthy carbs in to keep things moving and to help him. He pooped 3 times by 9:45am and did not strain at all either time. Another full kibble lunch at 12pm today for Max.

Day 4: Day 3 of us giving Max a full kibble lunch. He had a few great poops today where he didn't strain but then some other poops where he was still straining. I bought MetaMucil today and will be adding to his meals to see if that helps with his straining. Max played with Sammy Lammington after dinner tonight and he was bouncing all over the place. It is the most energy we have seen from Max in quite a while and was wonderful to see. Max woke up this morning at 5:30am to go out potty but before this he had been sleeping until 7am. We did start a new routine of taking him out at 12am before Colin comes to bed so he can get through the night without urges or having to go potty.

Day 5: I started giving Max 1/4 teaspoon of Metamucil to his morning breakfast and then 1/8 of a teaspoon with his dinner to see if that helps his straining. He did well on certain poops today but other poops he still strained. We will see after a few days if the Metamucil helps him or not. Max went to the groomer today and he did fantastic! He is usually pretty nervous when we go there bc he HATES being blow dried and hates having his nails clipped so I gave him 11mg of CBD oil just before we left the house. When he got to the groomer he jumped up on her table (which has never happened before)! When we picked him up she said this was the BEST he has ever been for her! He was calm, didn't bark except for when she walked away from him (hahahahaha!) and he did great with the blow dryer and his feeties!! Amazing! He looks adorable after his new hair cut!!! He was also there for 1.5 hours and never pee'd so he held his urine, which was fantastic.

Day 6: Max had a great day today again and is still eating very well. He is loving his extra meals throughout the day (so is Sammy). He did have an accident in the house today but I think it's because we were outside for a long time doing some much needed yard work and he just couldn't hold it. We don't sweat that stuff any more. We bought a carpet cleaner on Amazon in July and just clean it right up with no problem. He hasn't had an accident in the house since June though! He seemed to strain less today when pooping, too, so maybe the Metamucil is working it's magic!

Day 7: Chemo fence went back up today getting ready for chemo week this week! Max has been pooping GREAT since we added in Metamucil to his diet! He barely had any straining at all today and had great looking poops and hardly strained at all! Have we found our miracle?! Could this have been a simple case of constipation?!


We are heading into another week of radiation (treatment 4/5) and Max will have his 2nd treatment of Chemo this week! Please pray he does great with his chemo and that he doesn't experience the nausea like he did last time.

Thank you for all of your prayers friends!
Much love,
Brenda & Max (and Sammy Lammington too)




Total cost of treatment: 
$411.90 (they did a urinalysis today and we had 2 prescription refills for Carprofen and his ear medication)

Second Week of Treatment (Radiation Only This Week)

We were back at MSU bright and early Monday morning (8/12) for Max's 2nd radiation treatment!

There weren't too many dogs in oncology this morning but we did run into a dog mom, Darlene, from the Irish part of Indiana that we've seen a few times now and have gotten to know over the past few weeks. She is a sweetheart and drives 2.5 hours every Monday for her dog to get chemotherapy. There are so many great parents out there that love their fur babies as much as we love ours. Although I am sad she has to be there and I pray her fur baby to do well with treatment, it is comforting to see a familiar face in the waiting room and to have someone that understands and that we can talk with while we wait.

This morning, they had us give Max Trazadone, which is medication to treat anxiety for dogs (it also sedates them and calms them down). Max has a lot of energy and evidently the last time he was there for treatment, he was overly excited and it took them more time to get him ready for his treatment bc of this. So they wanted us to give him 2 Trazadone an hour before we left for his treatment. So, we gave him 2 pills before we left the house and then we headed to MSU for his treatment.

Well.... we won't do that again.

Max ended up getting car sick bc of the Trazadone and the motion of the car moving. He puked all over the back seat, and ended up throwing up his pills. We felt sooooo bad for him! The pills had been in his system for about an hour before this happened though so he was definitely feeling the affect of the pills.

When we got there, they took him back and ran a blood panel to check his white blood cell count and then gave him anesthesia for his radiation treatment. The entire process took just under 2 hours and from start to finish (from front door to front door) it took 4 hours, which we were super thankful for because the previous week we were gone for the entire day!

When they brought Max out to us and we got him in the car, he was pretty out of it. Very sedated. We expected this bc he was under general anesthesia for his radiation treatment and usually he comes out of anesthesia within a few hours and hasn't had any issues in the past.

This time was different.

Max was REALLY out of it. When we brought him home Colin stood him in the grass and he pee'd a little bit. This was at noon. He didn't go to the bathroom again until 11pm. (insert panic here).

He was responsive if I said his name and stuck my face in his face. He would open his eyes wide or try to lift his head to see me but he was totally out of it. This went on for hours. Around 4pm, he was still super out of it so I called MSU and spoke with his oncologist and we all agreed that it was the combination of the Trazadone along with the anesthesia and we needed to adjust this form of sedation for next week.

I continued to watch him (and by watch I mean I literally just sat next to him making sure he kept breathing and rubbing him). I was pretty freaked out bc I had never seen him like this before. With his surgery earlier in January from a tumor on his back to everything we've been going through since May and all the sedation he's had, he has never had this hard of a time coming out of anesthesia.

I was worried since he hadn't pee'd in so long so Colin and I would carry him outside but he'd just stand there. His eyes were all glazed over and he couldn't walk. We did this probably 4 times throughout the evening. I was also worried bc he wasn't drinking anything so I would bring him "special water" (it's really just water with sugar mixed in that is in a food bowl that he thinks is special) and I would dip my finger in it and rib it on his lips. I was trying anything to get him to drink but he wouldn't.

At around 10pm we carried him back outside and we got him to take a few steps but he wouldn't go potty. He would walk 4-5 steps to get to me and then go in between my legs for butt rubbies. We carried him back in and laid him back down in his favorite chair. When I asked him for a kissy he lifted his head and gave me a nose bump before putting his head back down. It was something for which I was grateful.

Around 11pm we carried him back outside for one last ditch effort before bed to see if he would go potty. He stood out in the grass and just stared at us. I asked him if he was ready for bed and his ears perked up with excitement (he's always loved bed time bc he gets treats). I told him to go potty so we could go to bed and BOOM! He pee'd! Colin and I were so so happy! Of course, I started crying and praised him.

He walked back in the house on his own.... very slowly. He walked over to his water bowl and drank!!! Another achievement!

I was so happy!

He was finally started to come out of sedation!

He walked into the bedroom and we picked him up and put him up on the bed and he slept all through the night until this morning.

He woke up and was ready for a meal bc he hadn't eaten at all yesterday so he ate well and he drank well and went potty and poopy.

To say I am happy this morning is an understatement. It was scary yesterday.

I emailed his doctor this morning and told them Trazadone was off the table and that we needed to adjust his sedation treatment going forward.


Symptoms the week of Radiation treatment (no chemo this week):

Day 1: Had a rough time coming out of anesthesia due to too much sedation with Trazadone. Did not eat at all this day. Got car sick from the Trazadone on our way to MSU. Was sedated from 9:30am until 11pm.

Day 2: Anesthesia had finally wore off. Max woke up well and ate well today. He pee'd pretty well - not full hard streams though. He is straining to poop a lot today. This could be bc of the radiation and the fact he didn't eat at all yesterday. I added pumpkin to his meal today bc the little bit he is pooping is soft serve drops. He acted fine today though and was very excited to eat at all of his meals and was barking and bouncing around. Butt up in the air, lunging at Sammy to play, and over all excited.

Day 3: Max felt great today with hardly any side effects! He is straining less to poop today and has had decent poops all day. He seems to be straining more to urinate today. He has a decent first steam, with spurting, but then walks around the yard to mark. He is not peeing blood. I am guessing the treatment has inflamed or irritated his urethra so maybe he "feels" like he has to pee. Other than that, he is acting totally normal. Very excited to eat and does well outside.

Day 4: Max is straining to poop today. When he goes, it's long and ribbon-like. He pees well for the first pee and then marks around the yard. Other than that, he is doing well. No nausea at all this week. He is eating well and is alert.

Day 5: Max is doing well today. Still straining to poop but he's pooping! He is eating great still but having to go out to he bathroom a lot and walks around marking. Poop is flat and ribbon-like still.

Day 6: Max seems to be having issues with straining and pooping. His poop is very ribbon-like still and he continues to walk around the yard to mark/pee. His first pee is still ok. Not as strong of a stream but it's a full bladder's worth. He then walks the yard and pees, sometimes nothing coming out but sometimes spurts or drips. When he poops, sometimes it is only a little bit and sometimes it's a full poop, but very long and stretched out. This is either bc the tumor is growing or his prostate is irritated and inflamed from the treatment.

Day 7: Max is still straining to poop and pee. He is still going which is good but concerned about the straining that seems to be getting worse. :( Other than that, he is acting totally fine. Eating well and giving plenty of kisses. :)

Cost ot Treatment:
$320

Paw Prints Project.....

Grinch feeties!!!!! Is there anything cuter than Grinch feet??!!? OhMyGosh! Look at these feet!! I can smell the fritos from here!

I have always wanted to do a craft project with my dog's paw print! It's been on my to-do list for years now to create something fun with Max and Sammy Lammington's paws but I have never taken the time to do it.

There is nothing like a traumatic cancer diagnosis to get my butt in gear!

Sigh......

BUT, we did it! 

They turned out great!

I learned a few tips & tricks along the way so check out the details of this project below to help set you up for success with your fun paw print project so you can avoid the mistakes I made while creating your one-of-a-kind project!

I did not take pictures along the way bc let's be honest, it's ink and dog's paws. When I told them to hang on while I took a picture, they gave me the paw and moved (hehehehehe) so getting pictures during the process proved difficult for me. But hopefully my instructions below are enough to help you!

Items you will need:

-Canvas (or paper if you want to frame yours)
-Ink Pads or pet approved paint for their paws
-Paint and paint brush (for the detail work)
-A willing pet that will allow you to do this - HAHA! (It was actually quite easy)

I bought our ink pads on Amazon. These can be used on pets or babies. You can use another type of ink pad or you can use pet approved paint for their paws, but this is what I used and it was VERY easy to use and did not cause any mess on the dogs at all.

Description: PChero 4 Packs Baby Handprint and Footprint Ink Pads - Pet Paw Print Ink Kits - Non-Toxic and Clean-Touch Print Kits (Amazon $14.99 4-pack) Colors: Black, Purple, Pink, Red

To the left is what the ink pads look like. They come with small card stock with them so you can use the cardstock for your paw prints if you want.

We wanted to do ours on canvas so we just tossed out the cardstock. (the picture shows a royal blue ink pad but we ordered this twice and ours was red, pink, purple, and black both times). These ink pads are completely flat. VERY thin. One side has the ink on it and the other side is ink-free. That is the side your pet will place it's paw. No mess. No fuss.

The first time we did this, it didn't go so well. It is because we were doing this on canvas. Canvas is wrapped and usually stapled around a wooden frame, so it's not actually a hard flat surface (See picture below).

I laid the canvas on the ground, right side up, and placed the ink pad directly on top of the canvas. I then had my husband hold on to our dog, and I placed his foot onto the ink pad (inky side face down on the canvas) so he was stepping on the non-ink side. I pressed down as hard as I could without hurting his little feeties.

But, because the backside of the canvas did not have support, it was hard to push down hard enough to get a great ink print.

You can use each ink pad approximately 2-3times or 4 if you are really pushing it. We used both ink pads for both of our dogs and bc I didn't have great support on the underneath side of our canvas, it didn't turn out well (too light and uneven).

Plus, our dog's have horrible grinch feet right now and they desperately need to be groomed and I did not cut the hair on their feet. This smudged the ink and the actual pads didn't come through well. It was more blob'ish.

My fault.

I realized what I needed to do so I ordered new ink pads and this time, I supported the underside of my canvas so when the dogs stepped on it, there was firm footing (I actually just used the box that the ink pads came in).

I also cut the hair on the bottom side of their feet so their pads were more pronounced.

The second time I did this, I did not have my husband's help, so, to make it easy on me, I set up shop right in front of our fridge. I smeared a tablespoon of peanut butter on the front of my fridge door and let my dogs go to town. This gave me the chance to take their feet, press down firmly on the ink pad, and make great prints onto the canvas!

I moved each ink pad twice on each canvas and so each pad was used around 4 times.

Once I used all 4 pads for paw prints for both dogs, I tossed them away and went on to painting.

I wanted to make their paw prints look like flowers in a vase so I chose to color in their paw prints so I could add shading and other details with paint. 

This is our canvas painting once I was done with everything. It turned out great and was easier than I thought it was going to be since these ink pads are clean. They are mess-free and they were very easy to use!

If you have been wanting to create something using your pet's paw prints, don't wait for a cancer diagnosis to get you in gear. Do it now and enjoy the process with creating this one-of-a-kind masterpiece that you can cherish forever!

xoxoxo,
Brenda, Max, and Sammy Lammington

First Week of Treatment (1st Week Radiation & Chemo)

So our Maxie had a rough night last night. It is day 4 (going into day 5) post chemo treatment and we were told that between day 4-5 he may have some nausea symptoms or have straining issues with going out to urinate.

The reason for this is because day 4 & 5 are the days that the fast replicating tumor cells are dying off from the chemo treatment and this action can cause nausea. These symptoms usually dissipate after day 5.

Max has been doing really well all week with his symptoms so far (see the timeline below). Monday was his first chemo treatment and on Thursday afternoon he got a little nauseated so we gave him a nausea pill right away (Cerenia). It stopped his nausea.

He was good the rest of the night (this is day 4) until 11pm. He started having really bad nausea at 11pm and he couldn't get comfortable. He was pacing and lapping and trying not to throw up. The Cerenia pill can only be given once every 24 hours, so I couldn't give him another pill until Friday afternoon. My husband worked until 12am and he had worked all day so he really needed to get some sleep so I brought Max out into the great room and just tried to talk with him and make him as comfortable as I could, rubbing him and reassuring him that I was there.

If you've never had a nauseous dog before, consider yourself lucky. It's a very helpless feeling bc there is not too much you can do (although little did I know there was something I could give him that I forgot about). Every dog is different, but for Max, when he gets nauseous, he paces and can't sit still. His tummy is just so upset and all he wants to do is go outside and eat grass. He laps his lips, constantly gags, and can't get comfortable.

From 11-4am I just followed him around wherever he wanted to go. I sat with him on the ground rubbing him and talking to him. I sat in his favorite chair and he'd join me for a few minutes before getting back up and pacing. We went out several times throughout the night to pee (or not pee). He mainly wanted to eat grass which I wouldn't let him do, but I can't not take him out bc of his situation. The last thing I wanted to be doing was trying to console a nauseated dog while cleaning up chemo peepee on our carpet. So, outside we went. The moon and stars were welcoming and I didn't hear any coyotes tonight so that was helpful, too.

At 4am, he wanted to go in the bedroom so we went in there and he laid down and slept for 1.5 hours. I was so happy for him that he could get some rest and his nausea started to slow down a bit. I slept too.

At 5:30am he woke up wanting to go back outside so we went out just as the sun was starting to rise. There is something about the sun rising in the quiet countryside that, despite being so so  tired, it just soothes my soul and makes everything alright. See what I mean?!

We came back in and he was nauseated again so we hung out, I talked to him and just tried to get him comfortable, and I did my morning devotional with him lying next to me. I had super tired eyes but knew Sammy Lammington would be getting up soon for his breakfast so I waited to hear him stir. Like clockwork, Sammy got up at 7am demanding ...... errrrrr.... asking for his breakfast. :)

Colin got up and fed Sammy while I focused on Maxie. We had a professional photographer that I scheduled about 4 weeks ago coming out to the house this morning at 10:30a to take pictures of the dogs so I reached out to her to let her know we were going to have to reschedule. Thankfully she was understanding and very empathetic.

I was counting down the hours until we could give Max his next Cerenia pill and was talking with Colin to see if there was anything else we could do bc we felt so helpless.

Then it hit us. CBD oil. We have been giving him CBD oil for the past 2 weeks now, increasing his dosage every few days to get his body use to it. The most we've been giving him right now is just under 20mg for the entire day and we will eventually work our way upwards of around 25-30mg for the day (given in several doses).

I did not give Max his last dosage of CBD oil on Thursday night bc I had given him CBD oil already that day, along with Claritin for his allergies, ear meds for his yeast infection (due to his allergies), Metronidazole 250mg for his diarrhea, Carprofen (his NSAID), and Cerenia for the first round of nauseousness in the afternoon. I had given him so much throughout the day that I decided to skip his last round of CBD oil that I would have normally given him.

It just so happens that if I had given this to him, he may have still had nausea but the oil would have probably kept him comfortable.

I was so focused on counting down the hours until I could give him Cerenia again that I completely forgot that CBD oil has anti-nausea properties and is perfect for that.

Serious mom fail.

We grabbed a treat and put 7 drops of CBD oil on it and within minutes, Max's nausea went away.

(face palm)

I suck.

HUGE mom fail.

I feel so bad bc I could have made him feel better last night and he could have had a good night sleep and not have felt so crappy.

Sigh.

It's not the first screw up and won't be the last, but I certainly learned a lesson and I can help alleviate this symptom for him moving forward with CBD oil (We use Lazarus Naturals by the way). Also, the next time he has chemo, I will be pro-active and give him his Cerenia pill probably on day 2 or 3 - day 5 to help him with these symptoms.

It is now 2:30pm on Friday and he has been fine since then. I rescheduled our photo shoot for Sunday evening and I am just hanging out with the dogs for the rest of the day.

Symptoms Max has had since his first radiation/chemo treatment:
Day 1: He was nauseated in the car on the drive home (most likely from the sedation). We will either give him CBD oil or a Cerenia pill prior to getting him in the car after his next treatment to avoid the car sickness. He was tired that night and slept the entire night all the way until the next morning.

Day 2: He was tired. He used the bathroom fine but slept most of the day. Diarrhea started today so we gave him Metronidazole 250mg (1 pill every 12 hours). This pill is to be given to him 2 days BEYOND full resolution of all diarrhea. This helped him within one day and I kept him on this until Thursday night.

Day 3: Normal. He was not as tired. No diarrhea. No nausea. No straining to eliminate. Even chased bunnies outside. :)

Day 4: He was acting normal until around the afternoon when he became nauseated. We gave him 1 Cerenia pill and his nauseousness went away. He started "straining" to urinate today. By straining, he still has a good first stream but then he tries to "mark" around the yard afterwards with nothing coming out. Around 11pm, he became very nauseous and was nauseated until we gave him CBD oil the next morning. Next time, we know to give this to him right away (how much will depend on how much has been given to him already that day bc you don't want to give dogs too much). He is pooping just fine. I removed the chemo fence on this night bc the chemo should be out of his system now.

Day 5: Once we gave him CBD oil, he was perfectly fine. He is still straining to urinate (great 1st stream and then constant marking around the yard) but he is pooping just fine. He had slight nausea last night but slept through most of the night.

Day 6: No nausea today at all! Wahoo!!!!! He is definitely straining to pee and poop today. He has a good first stream but then walks around the yard trying to pee with nothing coming out. He is also straining to poop today. No Nausea at all today though! Great news! He had energy today, was barking, running, and acting like himself. He woke me up today by licking my face. What a wonderful way to wake up.

Day 7: No nausea today again! Yeehaw! He is eating like a champ! No fussiness at all. He is getting around 24mg of CBD oil each day (in 2 doses). He is still straining to urinate a little bit but he's peeing. He did not strain as bad today to poop. Just a little straining in that area. He slept through the entire night last night. He acted most like himself today more than he has in months! He was running and happy and barky! I loved every minute of it. We had a professional photographer come here today to take pics of the boys and they both did so well!

Side note: Max has had a great appetite all week long and has been eating well all week.

I had called and left a message with his oncologist yesterday afternoon bc I noticed his gums were slightly pale. The color seemed to come and go. I heard back from his radiation oncologist and she
wasn't worried since he was eating well, eliminating fine, and not lethargic.

His chemo oncologist & his radiation oncologist BOTH called us today (Friday) to check on him (MSU is AMAZING). I told them both what happened with his nauseousness and they confirmed that this is all normal for days 4 & 5 after treatment bc of the cancer cells dying off and they were happy the CBD oil worked.

Side note: In the state of Michigan, vets are NOT allowed (it's state law) to discuss CBD oil with patients and owners. They can not advise this kind of treatment but they both let me know that if we decide to use it, it will not adversely affect any of his treatments.

They both agreed with my plan to be pro-active after his next round of treatment and to start with Cerenia on day 2 or 3 - day 5 to keep him comfortable, bc likely he will experience these same symptoms again. Plus I have CBD oil in my arsenal.

Max is sleeping next to me right now and he has decided to forgive me for being stupid and forgetting about CBD oil (duh-mom!).

We are hoping to have a much better night tonight for him. He has been such a trooper through all of this and he's such a sweetheart. I hate to see him sick or hurting. I am learning so much and making some mistakes along the way, but hoping to not repeat any of them.

Thank you for your prayers and for taking the time to read all of this! I hope it helps someone going through this down the road.

Total cost of this treatment today:
$1,614.40

Much love from Max, Sammy and I!
xoxoxo

Second Day Post Radiation & Chemo Treatment

Max had another great night of sleep last night! He woke up around 5:30am and we snuggled on the recliner in the living room until breakfast. He definitely (and thankfully) has his appetite still and he had his Paradigm along with the last of the ground turkey for breakfast. He gobb-gobb-gobbled that all up and then it was time to see if his diarrhea had subsided.... and..... IT DID! Wahoo!!! Hard poopies for Maxie! It is something we continue to celebrate when Max has good poopies! :)

Today he has been peeing fine and the rest of the day he had great poopy (I know you want to know this stuff ;). With this type of cancer and his treatments, the bathroom breaks are something that need monitored and celebrated. I should be able to take him off his anti-diarrheal medication after tomorrow if he still has good poopy so I am hoping that is the case bc he's on several diff. meds right now and I don't like giving him so much.

He isn't straining to pee too much (a good first pee) and then he walks around the yard and squirts a little here and there. There has not been any blood in his urine which is fantastic and he isn't straining too much to poopy at this point either. Day 4 & 5 after his treatment can be difficult from a straining standpoint, so we will be really watching him Thursday (tomorrow) and Friday.

He was less tired today than Monday night and all day Tuesday. He took an afternoon siesta after dinner around 4:30p but he was up and about all day today following me from room to room like he always does. He didn't want to play with toys but would watch Sammy play, but he wasn't super sleepy which I was happy to see.

Here is Sammy. He fell asleep playing with a toy with his head stuffed between pillows. :)

We had an interesting morning bc I went to wipe off Max's feet this morning and noticed something hard in between his paw pads on his left foot and sure enough - it was gum! I wrote a blog post about it already so I won't go into details but thankfully we were able to get it out easily for him. It's always something. :)

Max had another snackity snack tonight around 8pm (green beans, kibble, and fruit) and then we will keep monitoring him to see how he does the next few days. We have a professional photographer coming here Friday late morning to take pics of the dogs and all of us together so I am hoping he feels well enough for that. It will be good to get a few treatments under our belt just so we can know what to expect. So far so good.

Please keep praying for his white blood cells. They will get checked again on Monday to ensure they aren't too low. If they are, we will just adjust his chemo dosage and schedule but we are really hoping he is tolerating everything well.

Thank you for your continued prayers, love, and support! We love you all!

PS For Max's last potty break tonight, he chased another rabbit at FULL SPEED and then raced me back in the house. :) He had a great day today and is acting pretty much normal again. It makes my heart so happy. Embracing this great day!

xoxoxo,
Brenda, Colin, Max, and Sammy Lammington

Dog Hair + Gum = No Problem!

As if my Maxie wasn't going through enough, we found gum matted in his foot pad today! Really?!? This poor fur baby has been through the wringer lately! He is fighting cancer, has an ear infection from his allergies kicking up, and now he has stepped in gum and it's a sticky mess!

Max absolutely HATES his feet to be messed with. He is crazy when he goes to the groomer to get his nails cut and grinch feet trimmed.

With both of our dogs, we started right when they were puppies with touching their feeties so they could get use to it. We never had any issues with Max until a groomer cut his quick. After that, it was over. I have to bring peanut butter to the groomers now so that he can be distracted while she does his toes. Poor guy.

So Max is on chemo right now so for 3 days after chemo, it's important to avoid pet urine since chemo is processed through the kidneys. Max has been doing great but today I noticed he stepped in his peepee so when he came back in the house I grabbed a grooming wipe (if you don't use these you are screwing up! They are AMAZING!) When I went to wipe his feet, I noticed something hard in between the pads on his front paw. I honestly thought it was a piece of mulch that got caught in his fur bc it was really hard.

Once my husband and I got out the flashlight and put on our glasses we noticed it was completely matted fur (he has grinch feet right now). We knew it had to be gum. How in the world did he step in gum!??!!?!? We are super careful with gum bc sugar-free gum can kill your pet and gum is just bad news in general for your furry family members. The only way he could have gotten this was from either our trip to the beach this week or when we took him potty outside the medical center 2 days ago when he was there getting radiation and chemo. We are shocked we didn't notice it earlier and we are so so so thankful (thank you God!) that he didn't chew on his food and eat it! He's been pretty tired since he had his treatments on Monday so we are guessing he didn't even notice it being there.

We didn't want to take him to the groomer right now bc he's already going through so so much and it stresses him out to go there and have his feet touched. Below is what we did and it worked FANTASTIC! If you ever get gum in your dogs hair or feet, follow these simple steps to remove it easily and painlessly.

To remove gum from dog hair:

1. Put your hair dryer on the low heat setting and heat up the matted fur/gum for a few minutes.

2. Get a warm wet washcloth and rub it over the matted fur for several minutes. (I wetted my washcloth twice with warm water and just let it soak over the matted fur for a few minutes).

3. Grab oil (I used coconut oil) and rub the oil into the matted fur/gum. Keep rubbing it and massaging it into the fur. This will loosen up and breakdown the gum.

4. Once the gum becomes pliable, either cut it out or gently pull the gum to remove it. Since the gum Max stepped in was in between his pads on his foot, it was in a very sensitive area and I was super careful to not cut his webbing or pads. I only used scissors on the big chunks of gum I knew I could cut without hurting him. For the rest of the gum, I just kept massaging the oil into the gum and when it was pliable enough, I'd gently pull it out.

5. Continue with the oil until all gum is removed

6. Thoroughly wash the affected area with soap and warm water.

7. Make sure to give your pup lots of kisses and a treat for being so good!


Hope this helps if you ever "step" into this problem like we did! Our Max is such a trooper!

Have a great non-sticky day friends!
xoxoxo
Brenda & Max

First Day Post Radiation & Chemo.....

Max had a very restful sleep last night. He was not nauseated at all and slept through the entire night.

All day on Tuesday, 8/6, he was pretty tired. If he wasn't outside going potty, he was inside resting comfortably. I was careful with his feedings today bc I didn't want to upset his tum tum so he had 4 small meals throughout the day.

Dogs on chemo can get fussy about what they want to eat so I wasn't sure how he'd do but he did pretty well! He had 1/2 cup of ground turkey for breakfast and then some cottage cheese and blueberries for a mid morning snacky. For dinner he ate dehydrated veggies along with more turkey and blueberries and then for a snickity snack around 8pm he had some green beans, cottage cheese and fruit. He did well with everything except when I went to give him his NSAID pill, he spit it out (it was wrapped in cheese which he usually loves!). I am assuming maybe it was the texture or the smell of the cheese that he didn't like. No problem! I stuffed it into a large blueberry and he loved it. :)

Look at this snacky before bedtime! I would eat this all day long!!!

I started him on Claritin 10mg today bc his seasonal allergies have kicked in and his ears are yeasty so with ear meds and the Claritin, we should see that clear up soon. Since we are heading into fall soon, his allergies should not last long either.

Even though Max was tired today, he did go CRAZY when he saw a baby bunny in our backyard. Colin took him out to go potty and when Max saw the bunny, he took off after it like a lightening bolt! That bunny has a death wish and better find a new place to live! We have 2 live traps out there to try and catch it but we think he's too light weight to set off the trap. He is eating the food but not getting caught. Stinker!

Max had some loose stool today so we started him on Metronidazole 250mg. We made sure to block off the backyard so Max will go on one side of the yard to go potty and our other dog, Sammy Lammington, will go on the other side.

For up to 3 days after Max's chemo, we need to be careful around his urine and poopy to make sure we don't come in contact with it and we didn't want Sammy stepping in it or eating his poop (oh yes.... Sammy is a poop eater).

We go out with our dogs every time they go outside bc they ALWAYS pee and poop right away before running around chasing birds and digging up mole holes so we've made it a habit to go out with them so we can pick up the poop right away so Sammy doesn't have a second meal and so they don't step in it and carry it all throughout the house (yes this has also happened before!). Before you ask, YES we do this in the winter, too (insert eye roll here).

We didn't really know what to expect after his treatments so this week will be interesting to take notes and to see what we can expect moving forward. So far, nothing too major but we will see what the next few days and weeks have for us.

Thank you for all your prayers for our family and for our sweet boy. We continue to be humbled and amazed by the generosity of people and the kindness of others. Amidst the 3 horrible mass shootings in California, Ohio and Texas within the past week, we find ourselves praying for our country and the families that have experienced such great loss. Despite these 3 men that have taken so many lives, we have heard stories of heroism and love. There are wonderful people in this very broken world and we need to all focus on being the solution and the love that this world needs.

We are grateful and thankful God has surrounded us with such loving friends, Britt lovers and family.

Much love,
xoxoxo

First Day of Radiation & Chemo....

Max starts radiation & chemo today (8/5/19) at MSU. Thankfully, we only live 1 hour south of the campus and it's a very easy drive so on Monday morning we hit the road at 7:45am and headed to MSU for Max's first round of treatments.

When we walked in the lobby was empty but by the time we'd leave in the late afternoon, the entire lobby was full and had been full ALL DAY long with dogs coming in and out for their own treatments that day. We were impressed by how smooth and organized the practice was and feeling very thankful God placed us here.

Max was FULL OF ENERGY (like normal) the morning of his treatment. He was doing zoomies bright and early today grabbing Colin's hat (an MSU one -HAHA) and running around with it and bouncing around on the bed like the clown he is. It warmed our hearts to be starting out this stressful day this way.



They took Max back to run some diagnostic tests (checking his white blood cells, temperature,

weight, etc) and they did radiation first (this took 1.5 hours total ) and then they moved on to chemo (with prep this is around 1.5 hours as well). We were gone for a total of 8 hours and it's because although we had an appt at 9am for his radiation, they then fit Max in where they could amongst the other chemo patients. Likely, this is how it will go for us when he does double treatments on the same day. Looooong day for him.

The doctors were very happy with how he did for both treatments and they said "Boy does he have a lot of energy! We just love him!". Hahaha! Sounds familiar from a few blog posts ago when he went in for his surgical biopsy. I think everyone is surprised to see how normal and happy he acts with having cancer. :)

We headed to breakfast at The State Room bc we knew we had hours to kill but right after breakfast we headed back to the medical center bc we just didn't feel right not being there. We were able to chat with many other pet parents who were all there for chemo, chemo check-ups, incision checks, etc. Everyone was very nice and we all had one thing in common - our love for our furry family members.

Side note: The tri colored dog in this picture to the right (the dog is on the left side) was pure comic relief bc it was in full on attack mode while it was getting checked out with the cashier.

This dog was small but it had a ferocious bark and would bite at anyone and everything that walked by. His leash and little legs couldn't carry him far but it was growling and showing it's teeth to anything that moved. Colin and I were laughing so hard I thought I was gonna pee my pants. Thank you Mr. Harry for bringing some much needed laughter to the room and into our lives at that moment. :)

Max's doctors came out to talk with us to let us know what to look for in the coming days. With radiation, Max is not expected to have any side effects at all.

With chemo, we needed to watch for the following at home:

-Diarrhea (if he had 2 stools that were saucy, we were given Metronidazole 250mg)
-Nauseousness (we were given Cerenia 60mg if needed)
-Blood in stool or urine
-Severe lethargy
-Not wanting to eat or drink
-Not being able to urinate or pass a stool

-We were given Trazodone 100mg to give him the night before his treatments and an hour before his treatment to help him calm down the day of his treatments bc he was so hyper while he was there (I think it took them awhile to get him calmed down to run tests and to start radiation). This is Max's normal behavior. He's a very energetic dog and has even been known to be put in "time-outs" at daycare bc he annoys the other dogs so much. :)

The general side effects of chemotherapy include bone marrow suppression and gastrointestinal upset. These side effects occur because chemotherapy affects the rapidly dividing cells in the body. With any chemotherapy protocol, Max's white blood cell count needs to be monitored closely to ensure that his immune system is strong enough to fight off infections. Gastrointestinal and bone marrow suppression side effects are usually mild and transient, and typically can be controlled with medications at home (such as the meds listed above).

Max will have 5 weeks straight (one week down/4 to go) of radiation. Then, he will be done with that treatment. They are doing radiation on his prostate area including the lymphnode(s) affected. The reason they only do it once per week is so that it gives the good tissue that may be affected by the radiation a chance to grow back and reproduce itself.

At the end of his 5 weeks of radiation, Max may develop some straining to urinate or soft stool during the last week and up to 1 week after the end of radiation therapy. This is all very normal and to be expected. Also, dogs that have radiation in the prostate area usually lose coloring on their thighs and the hair around the affected area (hair turns a salt & pepper color). We may not notice a change on Max bc he is already that color.

As far as chemo goes, Max was suppose to be on Vinblastine, however, there is a worldwide shortage for dogs and people for this chemo drug right now. So, Max's team of doctors decided to put him on  Mitoxantrone. It's a different chemo drug but equivalent to Vinblastine. Max will have chemo once every 3 weeks, checking his white blood cell counts every week to see if they need to adjust his dosage. They will also do a urinalysis on Max prior to his next chemo treatment bc with this type of cancer, he is prone to UTIs. After this next chemo treatment, they will also do a radiograph on him.

When Max was ready to head home, we could hear him coming before we even saw him. He was RUNNING to get to us, pulling the MSU student behind him. :)

He was in good spirits and seemed totally fine. After we got him into the car, it didn't take 5 minutes before he started getting nauseated. This has happened to him in the past after he's been sedated and in the car. It was motion sickness.

Colin actually got this after his heart surgery last week when we were on the way home from the hospital. Thank God I had plastic bags in Max's vet bag and handed them to Colin JUST IN TIME bc he puked the entire drive home. As soon as he got out of the car and wasn't moving, he was fine.

Max was pretty nauseous for the first 20 minutes or so. I kept the backseat cold air blowing on his face and rubbed his little head and he eventually fell asleep.

We did not feed him at all today, bc the last time we gave him a hand full of food after sedation, he was up all night nauseated, so we wanted to make sure he was comfortable so he could rest. Max slept all night long except for a few potty runs. He went to bed in our bedroom at 8pm and slept all night long until 6:30am. I was thankful he was able to get some good rest. When he's comfortable, we all can rest.

We will see what tomorrow holds.....

Total treatment cost for today:
$1309.60

 Goodnight my friends...... xoxoxo

MSU's Oncology Consultation Part 2

Tap. Tap. Tap.

My leg was tapping again as we sat down on the bench in the room.

Dr. Paulo and an intern were with us and I remember taking a deep breath bc I just knew we were about to get bad news.

As he started to talk, I swear a rush of calmness & peace rushed over my body. The only other time I have ever felt this was when we were at our ultrasound and our doctor couldn't find our baby's heartbeat.

I felt it then.

I feel it now.

That day in December we too felt a sense of doom when we walked into the ultrasound room. We were quiet the entire drive to the doctor's office and the only words we spoke was just before we got out of the car to pray together. We had this awful feeling, just like we did now.

Dr. Paulo told us that Max was not a candidate for the stereotactic radiation treatment because he was not stage 1.

Max's cancer had in fact already metastasized and he had a very large lymph node and he had 6 cancer nodules on his lungs.

Our boy not only has prostate cancer but it's worse than that.

We could have been mad and questioned why last week we were told Max was stage 1. We could have been pissed at his specialists for missing this and for not telling us. But what good would it have been. Why waste any more of our energy on things that we can't change.

We needed to focus on the facts and then what could be done.

My husband took a deep breath and choked up.

I stopped rocking and tap tap tapping.

We listened intently on what Dr. Paulo was saying.

In the blink of any eye Max went from a stage 1 diagnosis where he could possibly have had 2-4 more years with us to now having cancer in 3 places.

Max's prostate cancer was behaving like most prostatic cancer in dogs behaves. It starts on the prostate and grows. Then, the cancerous cells move on to the lymph nodes and from there, the lymph nodes carry the cells onto major organs, usually starting with the lungs.

This was horrible news.

It was devastating.

Yet, I remained calm. The peace and comfort that I mentioned earlier was still there. I didn't have that panicked feeling any more.

It was as if right when we were about to get this horrible news, that God took a blanket of peace & comfort and draped it right over us. We were surrounded by it. We were covered with it. We were thankful for it.

Dr. Paulo told us that we had to move now toward what they call palliative care for Max. This means that instead of trying to treat the cancer, the approach is to focus on providing relief from symptoms and pain. The goal is to improve the quality of life that he has left.

The time he has left. I can't believe I am typing that out. (tears)

We were given a ton of information about chemo and radiation and then Dr. Paulo wanted us to make another appt to come back and speak with the head of the radiology dept - a woman who we would trust and love.

Once we had a meeting with her, we could make our final decision about what treatment protocol we wanted to try with Max, if any.

We left with our Maxie who was a bit groggy from his sedation and headed home. We made another appt with the head of radiology and went back the following week to meet with her to discuss options.

The treatment protocol we decided on was to finish out Max's Immunotherapy treatments to build up his immune system and to give the Torigen a chance to work and then on 8/5 we are starting a 5 week round (once per week) of radiation on his prostate and lymph node. The hope is that they can shrink his tumors in those areas.

At the same time, we will be doing chemo (same day as radiation) on Max (starting with Vinblastine) and he will do this for 5 weeks long, monitoring his white blood cells and other functions each week. If he can tolerate this form of chemo, we will do this for 5 weeks, then take off 1 week, and then start chemo again, switching to Mitoxantrone. The hopes with the chemo is that it will stabilize his disease so that it doesn't continue to grow.

Side note: The reason they switch up the chemo is bc cancer is smart and can adapt to certain types of chemo/medication so by switching it, this will hopefully not give it the chance to do that.

As long as Max can tolerate the chemo, he will stay on it in some form indefinitely. This could mean he slides back to a few treatments a month, 1 treatment a month, chemo pills administered at home, etc. But time will tell for all of this.

Side affects for these treatments:
Radiation: He will be placed under general anesthesia for the treatment. Most dogs tolerate radiation very well. We may notice a slight sun burn on his belly and the fur on his hips may have a color change to a salt & peppery color (We probably won't notice this bc Max is already that color). We may notice him straining week 5-6 but that should go away.

Radiation has a good response rate of 75%-85% in dogs.

Chemo: Max will probably be tired the day after chemo but then we should see an influx in his energy level after that. A side effect that people seem to notice is that their dog gets fussy with what they want to eat. Some foods maybe they loved will not be appetizing to them, so finding what they will eat and feeding that will be important. We will have to watch Sammy around Max's urine and we will need to wear gloves if we come in contact with his urine for 3 days after treatment.

Chemo by itself has a low response rate of 30%.

There has been research that states by coupling treatment (Immunotherapy, Radiation, and Chemo) it is showing good results in dogs with cancer. There is no way to tell if this will be the case for Maxie or any other dog, but we remain hopeful.

It's important to note that dogs treated with cancer is NOT the same as a person treated with cancer. With people, they get very high doses of treatment to try and cure them so they can live decades longer. That is why people have such awful side effects.

With dogs, they don't try to cure the disease. They try to stabilize the disease so that it can buy the pet some time while keeping their quality of life good.

Specific prayers that we need right now are this:
-That the Torigen has strengthened his immune system enough to help with the chemo and that the Torigen is doing what they hoped it would do, which is to kick that cancer's ass. :)
-That the 5 weeks of radiation will be enough to significantly reduce the tumors
-That Max can tolerate chemo well so that his tumors will be stabilized


Cost of treatment:
Consultation fee:$140
Carprofen: $32 per month (he will be on this NSAID indefinitely)
5 weeks of radiation: $2,300
Chemo: $400 per treatment (we will know more of a definite price when we go next week but it is sounding like it will be around $1,000-$2,000 per month in the beginning.)

Immunotherapy Treatments in Action.....

When Max wants to play....... WE DROP EVERYTHING AND WE PLAY!!!

Max's Torigen Vaccine came in and he had his first Immunotherapy treatment on July 18th. We didn't really know what to expect so we were a little nervous about it.

The day before we had Max's consultation at MSU with their oncology team and they ended up running additional tests for Max to see which treatment protocol he was a candidate for. They had to sedate him to run these tests (radiograph/ultrasound) and he hadn't eaten all day and we were told we could give him some food once we got home but that proved to be a bad decision.

The small dinner we gave him coupled with the sedation was just enough to make him SUPER nauseous. We were up LITERALLY all night long with him. We felt soooooooo bad! 

In the past after procedures when we gave him a small amount of food, he was perfectly fine, but not this time.

He could not sit still. He kept pacing and gagging and he was very uncomfortable. 

He'd pace, gag, cry, pace, lap, gag - repeat.

We didn't panic bc we knew this was due to the sedation and once the sedation wore off, we knew he'd feel better. It took until 5am for him to settle down and for the sedation to finally wear off enough that he was no longer nauseated where he could lie down and sleep.

We were suppose to be at the specialist's office at 8:30am and it was close to a 2 hour drive but we had not slept at all that night. 

We put in an IV drip of coffee & Pepsi and hit the road heading north for his treatment.  

When we got there, they took him to the back and checked his vitals and then administered the shot. It's literally just a shot like a normal vaccine. 

They brought him back to us and we then had to hang out for 45 minutes to monitor him to check for adverse affects like seizures, fainting, fever, etc. Once the 45 minutes is over, they check his vitals again and then as long as everything looks good, we are good to go home!! 

Most dogs that get this vaccine have zero side effects at all. It’s kind of like a form of a flu shot for people.The hope is that this vaccine, which is a personalized vaccine made from the cancer that is in his body, will stimulate his immune system to kill those cancer cells. 

This treatment, coupled with radiation therapy and chemotherapy are his best chances, not to cure his cancer but for longevity.  

The only side affect we noticed was that Max was pretty tired the day of his shot and then the next day as well. We are hoping that's a good sign that this vaccine is boosting his immune system and his immune system is working hard at hunting down and killing those cancer cells. 

Max had his second ImmunotherapyTreatment on 7/25/19 and then his 3rd treatment on 8/1/19 (all 1 week apart). All of his appts went the exact same way and were way easier than we expected.

On his last day of his treatment Max wore a party hat and brought the entire office pupcakes to thank them for all of their help and support with his treatment. He was the superstar of the office that day! 

Now, we pray that this vaccine is doing what it's meant to do and building up his immune system and actively killing cancerous cells. Max starts chemo & radiation on Monday, 8/5 and those 2 treatments can take a toll on the immune system so we are hoping this Immunotherapy will give him a good head start with a strong immune system to start things off! 

We are glad this part of his treatment is over with and now we can focus on the next step of his journey.

xoxoxo