He has been experiencing some symptoms since his last treatment of constipation and GI upset. He's having a real hard time pooping - lots of straining and not pooping for days. He is also not eating well. One entire day he threw up everything he ate including water and pills. The next day he refused to eat. His stomach is obviously very upset so his eating is very off and he is having issues with the potty. He has also been in some pain and we were thinking it was muscle and joint pain from his chemo. He has been walking slow and will yelp when he tries to jump up on the bed or couch. We are now lifting him to get up on furniture.
We wanted some scans done today to see if they could find out if his cancer had maybe spread to his bones or spine which could be causing the discomfort and pain. Thankfully, there was no evidence of spread of disease on his bones or spine. The scans showed that his hips looked great and his prostatic tumor and lymph nodes are stable, which is all great news!
The scans did detect a disc that was thinner than what it should be which could be causing the discomfort. They are concerned that Max has the early stages of Degenerative Disk Disease. Here is the definition of DDD:
Degenerative disc disease causes spontaneous degeneration of the outer part of the disc, resulting in sudden disc rupture or herniation (also called a "slipped disc"). It may not be related to injury, although the rupture frequently occurs after some sort of traumatic event, such as a fall or a relatively small jump.
Although this act is frequently blamed for the disc rupture, the injury actually occurred due to chronic disc degeneration. Most dogs with degenerative disc disease are middle-aged, from three to seven years old. There is likely a genetic predisposition to this disease. Certain breeds, especially the Dachshund, Poodle, Pekinese, Lhasa Apso, German Shepherd Dog, Doberman, and Cocker Spaniel have a high incidence of intervertebral disc disease.
When they did his scan to check for cancer spread, they found fluid in Max's abdomen. They drew out some of the fluid to have it tested. This fluid can be there for many different reasons, and his doctor is thinking it's because of his recent GI tract upset. The fluid can go away if it is indeed caused from is GI tract upset so we are moving Max to blande foods to try and get his tummy back in shape so he can have some relief.
Max's test results came back for the fluid in his abdomen and it has cancer in it (deep breath). This cancer and fluid can go away if the chemo shrinks it. It can hold in place and he can live with it this way if the chemo stabilizes it. Or it can progress.
Max's test results came back for the fluid in his abdomen and it has cancer in it (deep breath). This cancer and fluid can go away if the chemo shrinks it. It can hold in place and he can live with it this way if the chemo stabilizes it. Or it can progress.
After we got off the phone with his oncologist with this news, we immediately prayed and thanked God for Max. The fact we have Max is God ordained. The story of how we got him is amazing and one that I will share one day. He is meant to be ours and we are so thankful for him and his crazy antics.
Not the news we wanted but looking ahead and staying positive. We are staying focused on the good. We are staying focused on how Max is doing so well through this entire crazy rollercoaster journey and we are staying focused on how God is good.... all the time. Through our tears. Through sorrow. Through the happiness and joy that we still find.
Side note: In hindsight - we should have never done this 3rd round of Vinblastine chemo. We should have given his tummy time to heal and reset since he is struggling so much. The day he had his next chemo, he started a new pill regime. He has a lot of new pills to help with pain in his back and also to help get is GI Tract feeling better.
Now, do what we had to do. Wipe those tears away. Please join us in thanking God for this high spirited spunky joyful black and white furry dog named Max that has changed our lives and been a part of yours! We are not done yet! We are hopeful. We have to be. Let's enjoy our time with Max. The cancer doesn't win in the end. We do. Max wins. We all win bc we know a dog named Max.
xoxoxo - Brenda
Day 1 (10/15): Max woke up wanting to eat and ate his normal breakfast of Dr. Harvey's and broccoli and chicken with bone broth. Yummy! For lunch he had cottage cheese and raspberries. He was super picky at dinner though so I had to be creative. He literally spit out his Dr. Harvey's which was quite comical. He is walking slow still and we have to lift him until we can get a ramp for the mattress. He yelped once when trying to jump up on the couch. He is pooping without straining but he now has diarrhea probably bc of the new meds and the chemo. We will get that under control with meds. He did a great job today of just resting. He doesn't seem to fall asleep after his Gabapentin or Codeine like I wish he would but from about 2pm on today he slept throughout the day. My boy needs his rest to fight this cancer! Today was the first day of all of his new meds. He took them well.
Day 2: Max didn't want his Dr. Harvey's again today and he only ate a little chicken for breakfast. I decided to switch him back to just kibble for now since that seems to be the only thing he really wants. He ate a great lunch of kibble and then he had chicken, pumpkin, and cottage cheese for dinner and a late night 2nd dinner of kibble. He rested a lot today. He still has diarrhea and is squirting poop when he farts in the house. He is also squirting his pee when he stretches or stands up. I bought him Depends (size small/medium) and he has been wearing those to catch everything and I have him lying on pee pads to also help. His stool is still loose. This is day 2 of the diarrhea meds so hoping tomorrow we see a big turn around with his stool. He seems to be walking better and not in as much pain most likely from the pain meds he is on. He rested all day again with no problem.
Day 3: Max wants nothing to do with his Dr. Harvey's or broccoli any more. He didn't even want kibble soaked in bone broth. For breakfast he had straight kibble with chicken. He is still loving his chicken thighs. For lunch he had cottage cheese and chicken with pumpkin. For dinner he had kibble. Late night snack at 11pm of kibble again. He still has horrible diarrhea and he is having trouble keeping it in when inside the house. If he stretches, sneezes, gets up, or farts, poop comes out. I bought him Depends diapers (size s/m) which is keeping things where they should be instead of on carpet and beds and then we are putting Depends diaper (size xl) over top of the smaller size for extra coverage due to spillage. He is squirting pee as well when he sneezes and stretches. The depends is helping us. We have to wipe him down after every potty break (wipe his butt) and we are using moist grooming towelettes but his but has become raw from all the diarrhea. I am putting on neosporin on his butt after each potty break.
**Emergency room vet at 7pm tonight due to huge swelling in Max's back legs. See blog post about the visit. We stopped giving him his tummy pills (Ondansetron). Last pill he had was 8am Thursday morning. We think this is giving him the diarrhea so we are only giving him pain pills, diarrhea med and the Carprofen right now. Pumpkin only. No Metamucil.
Day 4: Max had 1/2 cup of dry kibble for breakfast. We are sticking with only giving him his pain meds, Carprofen, and diarrhea meds right now. He had chicken and pumpkin for an early morning snack. I started massaging him this morning to help the fluid in his legs move and to reduce the swelling and then gave him warm compresses (heating pad) on his legs. I will do this 4 times a day to help with the fluid buildup in his legs. He had bad diarrhea around 8am this morning. Hoping his diarrhea meds start kicking in. He is drinking and eating some. Only chicken for dinner. He didn't want kibble or anything else. He still had swelling last night.
Day 5: Max slept from 11pm - 5:30am. He had peanut butter poop this morning which is better than diarrhea so we are hoping his bland diet, taking him off his GI tract pills and only giving him the meds he needs is working. He is drinking really well so far today. He only wanted chicken this morning and not much of it. We made him rice and chicken so hoping we can keep him on this bland diet and that he will eat it. He still has swelling in both legs and the swelling in his abdomen is more. I am massaging him throughout the day and doing warm compresses. He doesn't appear to be in any pain. Just focusing on the swelling right now and trying to get his diarrhea under control. He has been resting all day. He is peeing in his diapy. He started doing this yesterday and today. We think it's bc he is drinking a lot of water (which is good since he has such bad diarrhea) and bc of his fluid retention. Some of that fluid is probably moving through him. The depends diapers have been a game changer for us. He was refusing to eat this afternoon and we are trying to keep him on a bland diet since his tummy is upset. He spit out rice all day and will only eat chicken but then stopped wanting that. Our friend Amy Pluth suggested lean ground beef so we made that and mixed it with rice and he gobbled it up and wanted more. This made our day! So so thankful! He hasn't pooped a lot today but when he does go, it's only a little bit. He had a lot of diarrhea earlier on in the day but throughout the day he hasn't gone too much. Still diarrhea when he does go. We are using diaper rash ointment on his butt since it's so raw from pooping. We are hoping to see a turn around tomorrow with his diarrhea since we are finally getting rice in him and some lean beef. Hopefully this will help his tum tum. His left leg is the one with most of the swelling. Still doing massages and warm compresses, although he is not liking the massages all too well. I try to do it while he sleeps.
Day 6: Max has had a MUCH better day today! He woke up bright and alert and ate well all day long (burger and rice). He was up from 6:30am and never slept or took a nap until 4pm! He has been sleeping all day for the past 5 days and he's been very inactive. Today he was active, walked around a lot, begged for our lunch and flew off the bed when he smelled me making his dinner. The fluid is rapidly leaving his body. He is peeing in his diapy a ton and he is pooping all water. His legs are still very swollen but the fluid in his abdomen has gone down a ton. He was very alert today and wanted to be outside where he laid in the sun and tried to eat bugs. He gave tons of kissies today and moaned when he wanted to be rubbed (like his normal self). We are hoping and praying this is him turning the corner. We take him to MSU tomorrow morning to meet with the head Oncologist about what we need to do moving forward. Hoping to see continued improvement and that the fluid continues to leave his body and that he continues to improve.
Day 7 (10/21/19): We took Max to MSU today to meet with Dr. Paulo. Max had diarrhea once today. He had a blood panel ran and his numbers all looked ok (wbc was 2.2 and APL was high which is indicative of tummy issues). Dr. Paulo was not concerned with anything on his panel. He ate some burger and rice when we got home from MSU. He slept well. His R leg is swollen around 20% and his L leg is swollen around 35-40%. Abdomen around 25%.
Day 8: Max slept from 10p-6:15am. He had a great night sleep. He had diarrhea with the consistency of peanut butter this morning and then a very water diarrhea in the afternoon. He hate 2 tbls of greek yogurt along with 2 small meals of burger. He will be eating beef again today and we will switch him over to chicken tomorrow. His R leg is swollen around 15% and his L leg is swollen around 30% at the joint/knee. His abdomen is swollen around 20%. Swelling appears to still be going down and Max has started to alert us when he has to go potty. He hasn't pooped in his diapy since Friday but he is still peeing in it.
Day 9: Still has diarrhea but it's been small probably bc he is not eating much at all. He is only picking at burger and steak at this point and wants nothing to do with the rice. He did eat a little yogurt yesterday which we are hoping will settle his GI Tract. He is still pretty sleepy.
Day 10: Max is really not wanting to eat anything. He won't even take his pills at this point. He ate some eggs this morning and a little tuna but refused a cheeseburger from McDonalds, which is his absolute favorite. He is very tired still. He has diarrhea but only goes a little bit now. His pee stance is very different, almost like he's uncomfortable to pee and we have to lift him up to even go outside to pee at this point. His left leg is still very swollen and the swelling seems to be coming and going. His R leg is better (only about 10% swelling around his knee). We went outside and layed in the grass for awhile and took pictures. He really enjoyed it. He was smelling the crisp air, jumped when a leaf would blow like he was going to attack it, and kissed the hell out of us. He was happy. And so were we.
Day 11:
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Day 14:
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