BuffyTheDane

Late in the evening of July 10th Buffy suffered a seizure, something I had never witnessed before, and it was as scary as all hell. Not just for us and Odin but Buffy as well. I can’t tell you how long it lasted because it seemed to go on forever, which of course isn’t possible. She was very disorientated for a good 10 minutes afterwards and then very scared and unsettled. It took me about an hour and a half to settle her and for her to finally go to sleep.

A visit to the vet the next morning showed no signs of any permanent damage. We had a chat about what could be done if she had another, which would likely mean more in the future, although the likelihood that the cancer had spread to the brain and a tumor was the cause, was also discussed. I knew in my heart that medication wasn’t going to be the answer to this new problem but I took her home hoping it was an isolated case.

We went back to life as usual and she got excited each morning, as usual, about going for her 1k walk.

Exactly a week later, almost to the hour, she suffered another seizure. Not as violent as the first and it didn’t seem as long but still scary and disorientating for her. Although I was worried I didn’t panic this time and calmly sat with her trying to comfort her through it. She didn’t bounce back as well after this one. I kept a close eye on her and as visits to the vet stress and panic her I decided to give her a day’s rest before taking her in.

I rang them on the Friday and after talking to the nurses the visit was scheduled for the Saturday. Unfortunately about an hour before her appointment she had another one. It seemed mild in comparison to the other two she’d had but when she couldn’t stand, couldn’t even sit up and continued to have mild shakes that could have been mini seizures or strokes I knew it was her time.

Surrounded by family, including Odin we said our goodbyes and Buffy passed quietly on the 20th July 2013.

In remembrance of our girl – http://youtu.be/mcXWdT0bFyI

I’m sorry I didn’t think to say this before when I posted –

I’d like to thank the Tripawds site and community for all the support we received from the moment I found this wonderful site just after Buffy became a Tripawd. It was extremely cathartic for me to be able to post our journey and I hope helpful to others just as other blogs and the forums were helpful to me.

Good luck to all the Tripawds out there.

Our new arsenal for the ‘invisible to the naked eye’ battle Buffy’s body is fighting arrived today. I have a lot of reading to do but have already given her today’s dose of K9 Immunity Plus. Of course the ‘yummy’ beef flavoured wafers were deemed by Buffy to not be ‘yummy’ at all and not worthy of her attention.

Thankfully her having a large mouth works in my favour and I managed to get all 6 down her throat whilst fighting off Odin who would have been more than happy to eat them. I still have tablets to give her so I see more disagreements in our very near future. It would be great if I could hide any of it in her food but she’s too smart for that.

Nothing better than laying in the sun after being made to do something you didn’t want to.

Yesterday Buffy was scheduled for chest x-rays and then her 6^th and final chemo treatment. Whether more treatment would follow was dependent upon how she was doing. Unfortunately the x-rays weren’t good. I had been hoping that the chemo had kept the tumor they had found at her 3^rd treatment in check but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Not only has that tumor grown but others have appeared as well.

After talking to the oncologist I made the decision not to put her through the discomfort of the final chemo treatment. Now I’ll look at ways to boost her immune system through diet and concentrate on keeping her healthy and active for as long as possible.

I don’t know if we have weeks or months but as long as she is happy it doesn’t matter. At least we’ve had an extra 5 months so far with her that we wouldn’t have had if we had not made the decision to help her fight it.

She’s still eating well, going for walks and keeping Odin in line – so all still good. Every morning she gets up ready for a walk is the start of another day we’ve won.

Buffy on her 1km walk this morning. She is doing really well and had her 5th chemo treatment on Monday. On the 5th June she will celebrate her 4 month ampuversary.

Buffy had her 4th chemo treatment last Friday and she again did really well. She still amazes me with her willingness to co-operate. If you knew our neurotic girl seeing her just lay there with me as they put the catheter in and then put the drug through with saline would amaze you too.

The drug does seem to zap her energy for a few days afterwards which means her walks, which she still insists on, are shortened drastically. On Sunday I took her and Odin for a half hour joyride instead of a walk. Thought it would be good for her to have a fun change. She was so exhausted from all the excitement of going out, watching the world go by, having the wind in her face and sniffing all the smells out there that when we got home the poor baby was almost dragging her butt on the ground to get from the car to her bed for a nap.

Yesterday and today she was back to her 1k walk and enjoying every step of it.

Joyriding

Buffy had her 3rd chemo treatment today and it was also time for chest x-rays. On the positive side – she co-operated with them and they didn’t need to sedate her to do the x-rays. Yeah, no groggy sick girl. On the negative – they found a spot on her lung. It was always going to be a very long shot that none of the evil little cells hitched a ride in her system.

We’re seeing the chemo through though in the hope it will buy her some comfort time and hey, maybe a miracle. There’s always a rainbow after a storm right? She is a feisty girl. I wasn’t allowed to stay with her today because of the x-rays and got back to pick her up just before they had finished her treatment and took the pic through the door. She was such a good girl for them.

Buffy had her 2nd chemo treatment Friday 22^nd. She was a very good girl, didn’t need sedation and lay quietly on the ground with me whilst the chemo was administered.

She cried a couple of times that afternoon when we were back home but I think that was just to check she still had the power to make me come running. She has not been off her food and has continued her daily walks. All looks good.

As I have mentioned before Buffy is being treated at the University of Adelaide’s Animal and Veterinary Sciences Veterinary Health Centre (phew, what a mouthful) which is out at Roseworthy. The Uni year started in March so Buffy has different students each time she goes who help with the treatments. New people taking her temp, listening to her heartbeat, taking her pulse, checking her gums, etc., (basically giving her a full once-over), asking me how she’s been since her last visit and then giving the full report to the oncologist before her treatment starts. Then under the watchful eye of the oncologist they administer the treatment.

Buffy hasn’t been fazed by any of it and as long as I am with her she stays relatively calm.

Our next visit is going to be a tough one. Prior to her treatment she needs to have a chest x-ray to check her lungs are still clear and the cancer hasn’t metastasised. This does mean I can’t stay with her and they will need to sedate her. It’s tough watching her trying to get around when she is ‘out of it’ and, as I’ve found out the hard way, it’s harder to assist a 3 legged dog than it is a 4 when they are wobbling around trying to go to the toilet or get a drink. However, if that’s the worst part of our day (meaning no metastasis) I’ll be over the moon.

Buffy after her treatment

Buffy now has a boot that fits to help protect the nails on her back foot.

Buffy was meant to have her second chemo treatment last Friday the 15^th March but she was running a bit of a temperature so the oncologist decided to delay by a week. They had already given her a sedative to try and ease her anxiety (she can work herself up into a real state) and that really knocked her about later in the day when she got sicker.

Buffy has occasional ‘attacks’ that nobody, not even after exploratory surgery a few years ago, can identify. She generally starts walking hunched and then ends up moaning in obvious discomfort and / or pain. Her extremities (feet, ears) go very cold as her blood rushes to internal organs in what I’m assuming is an attempt to fight off whatever it is. She goes off her food and also starts making the same sounds a person would who is trying to clear their throat, it’s not a cough. There have been times when she has actually spat out what appears to be phlegm but tests of that haven’t given any clues.

The first ‘attack’ which happened about 3 years ago was the worst and had me rushing her to the vet. Each subsequent one has been less severe but we’re still in the dark as to what causes it. On a positive note, antibiotics seem to clear the problem up for a while at least. Of course too many antibiotics and we run the risk of her system becoming immune to them.

Anyway, I never noticed her hunching probably because of how she hops now but did notice, too late, she was hopping with difficulty. So back on a course of antibiotics.

As of today she hasn’t had anything to eat, which is normal when she is like this, but hopefully tonight or at the latest tomorrow she will be back to eating and feeling a lot better.

All going well her next treatment will be on the Friday 22^nd.

Yesterday on our walk Buffy broke the tip off of a nail on her back foot which of course left a blood trail. Don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that the extract impact of hopping may cause that to happen. A pressure bandage fixed the issue though.

I got plenty of practice with broken nails with my boy Titan (passed a few years ago just after his 10th birthday) who as he got older had trouble lifting his back legs properly and continually scuffed his nails and often made them bleed. We bought him a set of boots to protect his nails. Now Titan had massive feet and Miss Petite Buffy swims in the boot but I thought I’d give it a try. She didn’t do too bad in the boot in the backyard although as it is too big it kept swinging around on her foot so as soon as we have some spare cash I’ll have to get her a set in the right size.

I put one on nosey Odin (our pup) to get him out of the way and he was so funny running around trying to shake it off. Smart little bugger eventually worked out how to undo the Velcro and get out of it. His big feet almost fit it though and he’s only 9 ½ months old.

22/2/13

Today was a day I had been looking forward to, another milestone and a day to hopefully kick the crap out of any cancer cells that may be lurking, but also a day I’d been dreading, one where her body is pumped full of toxins.

The plan the oncologist has drawn up for Buffy consists of 6 treatments of carboplatin with a chest x-ray before the 3^rd and 5^th treatments. Buffy will also have a blood test before each treatment to check her blood count. Carboplatin affects the bone marrow’s ability to produce blood cells and platelets. Whilst a small drop in the count is expected a large drop can mean other issues will arise like infection which then causes more problems that Buffy’s body may not be able to deal with.

Common side effects with Carboplatin are loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and possible diarrhea but they are less severe than other treatments. Poor Buffy’s not going to be able to make a move outside without me hovering to see if one of these nasties has her in their grips.

I found a free PDF on-line called Caring For Your Dog With Carboplatin Chemotherapy which might be of interest to anyone contemplating or facing this treatment. The link (which will bring up a dialogue box at the bottom of your screen allows you to open the PDF or save it) is – www.animalhospitalofantioch.com/refId,22733/refDownload.pml.

It’s very early days yet but Buffy has eaten lunch (2 chicken breasts) and is currently napping in one of her weird positions.