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.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Henry is a pretty spoiled pug. He's been doted on for most of his life, but in the last few months, I'd say his spoiledness has reached a whole new level. Here he is inspecting a care package given to us by friends of ours. He hit the jackpot with this one. It was full of his favorite treats and had some extra special cookies that he loved! In addition to the yummy snacks, the special gift even included a card with encouraging words to help Henry stay #HenryStrongAllDayLong.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
The first visit to SEVO was our consultation with the doctor and then Henry's first chemotherapy treatment. Between the first and second trips, we had called the doctor and touched base with the doc since Henry really did not respond well to trip #1. After visit #2 (which was SO much better) we sent an email to the doc to let her know how he handled the second visit (which was a lower dose). We got the reply and we are pleased with the response. Henry's next chemo (and likely subsequent treatments) will stay the dose that he last received in treatment #2.
According to the doc, this lower dose will work for Henry. This is what the vet says:
" I would likely NOT adjust dose upward any further – just keep right where we are and continue with the same plan of aggressive GI support post-treatments. In a “normal” dog with both kidneys, I would suspect that this dose would be sub-therapeutic and unlikely to work, but in Henry, since he’s only got one kidney, his metabolism and excretion of the drug takes longer, so he’s getting a much higher “relative” dose compared to dogs with two kidneys and normal metabolism and excretion of the drug and it’s byproducts. Bottom line – one of our rules of thumb is that if it’s enough for him to feel the GI side effects from it, it’s also likely reaching a high enough level in his system to be effective, even though the “on-paper” dose is so much lower than usual. So I think we keep on keepin’ on!"
So, the plan for chemo visit #3 is as follows: chest xray, sonogram, blood work and the low(ish) dose of chemo. It will be a big day but after that we will be half way home!
#HenryStrong #HenryStrongAllDayLong #TeamHenry
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Looking forward to your captions in the comments.
Monday, September 29, 2014
So, you may recall, that Henry has taken a couple of unauthorized, unexpected dips in the swimming pool recently. Since he has to cut through the pool area to get the backyard to go potty, we realized the urgency that this scenario has presented. There were a few people who suggested a litter box for dogs, letting him just have accidents in the house, putting an alarm in the pool, etc. There were multiple solutions and opinions offered. (Not just by OBP readers but other friends, family and neighbors, too.)
Well, we like to think of ourselves as problem solvers, too. And we had an initial vision of what we wanted. Or maybe what I should say, is what we wanted was for Henry to have his vision! LOL. If ya can't laugh at his missing left eye, you'll cry, right? So, anyway, of course we would want his vision back but we did have a plan in mind.
It entailed making a barrier that prevented him from gaining access to the area where he tends to have troubles and just block his access to the pool, in general. However, we had to be sure that we were still meeting Cupid's squirrel hunting needs! She needs total access! She can't just sit around and not get up close and personal to the squirrel just on the other side of the screen!
So, as you can see, this is what we came up with. It is just sturdy enough that it isn't going to blow over or fall into the pool should a gust of wind come along and the space at the first and last cones allows Cupid wiggle room to get through. Henry is not the type to challenge the barriers and so far he is behaving as though they have been there his whole life.
We were a little bit concerned that in his general clumsiness he may get "tangled" in the orange webbing but after a little bit of use so far, we think that won't happen. Fortunately we are not so house proud that the eye sore of the bright orange warnings that go for 30 feet on the pool deck pose no true design problems for us. It is for sure an ugly solution but it is one that works for Henry (and Cupid) and that is really all we are worried about, their safety and contentment.
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