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
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
❤️❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteMax, I just love your party-hat attitude! xoxo
ReplyDelete