Sunday, Chubby Sunday

What a wonderful Autumn weekend its been so far! Ozzie is currently lounging on the deck with his Pop and all is right in the world at the moment. He  has been feeling well and with that his weight has gone up. Though you like to see him maintain and not lose weight with the lymphoma, one would hope he wouldn't start to fit in his extra-large size pants again.  ( That is if he were to wear pants!) It may be back to his low cal dog food. I have a call in to the vet to see what she thinks about switching foods.

In the meanwhile there shall be no more pizza crust for Ozzie on Fridays!

"Hey, it's okay this is a low cal bullie stick!"

Suddenly Saturday and Smells Like Fall

We had a front come through last night that brought a little rain and some cooler air. This morning is glorious, sunny with a feel of Autumn in the air! Ozzie can definitely appreciate this weather and so can I!

Ozzie is feeling fine as of late. The only thing that bothers him (mostly bothers me) is his excessive panting. Especially after he exerts himself (i.e. going up stairs etc.), he just hyperventilates away! I know that this is a side effect of the Prednisone but it really is distressing to me. A good side effect if you will is that his skin has never been more irritant free and over all is clear from dermatitis of any kind! 

Last night I had a dream of finding a cat that was all white and bringing it home. Ozzie was cool with it and they seem to get along. I miss having a cat but perhaps that addition would not be good timing? I am sure there is some Freudian message in that dream but at the moment I will just take it for what it is!

Below is an interesting link to an article on the use of Prednisone for dogs with lymphoma if any of you out there are experiencing this same dilemma! 

For all of you, enjoy the wonderful weekend of weather and here is looking forward to the Fall! Yippee!

http://www.vetcancerspecialists.com/blog/2012/5/7/use-of-prednisone-in-canine-lymphoma-friend-or-foe/

Ozzie's Favorite Time of Year

Finally Friday and Prince of Poop

This week has shown some improvement with Ozzie. For the most part he seems okay! The vet started him on a new dog food. It's Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy. It is suppose to have nutrients that nourish the intestinal microflora in dogs. Along with omega-3 fatty acids to help support his immune system it is recommended by Dr Tracey to help Ozzie in his battle to keep the lymphoma at bay. I know one thing for sure that it does, it's made Ozzie into a super pooper. Not that he wasn't before but wow! The other night he went twice and the second time he didn't make it all the way down to the yard and pooped on the deck. Hm, I wonder if that's where the expression poop deck comes from? I guess a little intestinal unrest is expected whenever  you change dog food on your pup!

The Oz spends most of his time lying on the hardwood floor. Maybe its cooler there for him?! Oh well we are in the dog days of August! Hope you all have a great weekend ahead!

"Geez, can't a guy take a poop in peace around here?!"

Finally Friday and Chemo Treatment II

Ozzie went for his second chemo treatment yesterday. Everything went well as can be expected. Though Ozzie has lost 7 pounds since his last visit. The vet said the weight loss is due to the cancer. Its definitely not due to his appetite which has been ferocious. I am still cooking "special' for him making organic chicken and brown rice dishes. I am not sure in the end how much that will help but it can't hurt and Ozzie seems to enjoy it!


With this chemo protocol he could be with us 4 to 5 months, maybe longer. The vet felt that Ozzie doesn't appear to be in any pain at this time. There are moments where I still cannot believe  that he has lymphoma and that he will beat this disease. But.....yeah I know....

"Hey my bowl is empty! Where's the beef?!

Finally Friday and Feeling Fine

This Friday morning finds Ozzie feeling somewhat better. The swollen lymph nodes have disappeared and he seems a little less lethargic! The steroid has him drinking more and may have peaked his appetite to new ravenous heights! (Or is that just the normal Oz?) The other side effect to the med is that he has to pee more. Ozzie woke up at 5:00 AM this morning. We figured he had to go so we led him downstairs. At that time a thunderstorm was rolling in with lightening and drenching rain. "Great!" we thought, he won't want to go out in this mess. I fed him quickly and we went out through the garage. It was teaming at that point. He finally went into the yard and pooped. Hey! Where is the pee part of that poddy time? I went back upstairs to the bedroom and discovered his  blankets were wet! Oh well. 


Ozzie must definitely be feeling back to good since he was actually chewing on his Nyla-bone, something he hasn't done since he has been diagnosed with this disease. I guess the swollen nodes prevented him from enjoying his chewing time. We hope that there are more feeling good days ahead!

To all of you who have followed and worried with me, a grateful thanks to your support! Have a wonderful weekend all!

Worry Wednesday

Ozzie had his first chemo therapy yesterday. We  chose to go for the lesser single agent chemo route. It will be once every 3 weeks. If this doesn't improve his quality of life then we will not continue and just do the steroids which we are doing in conjunction with the chemo. The steroids help  to reduce the swelling of the lymph nodes but does not treat the cancer itself. 


I have struggled with doing this opposed to just letting the cancer take its course. In the end it's fatal and he will just have relapses that will get worse, so I am just buying a little extra time. Hopefully some quality time with us. Once it is no longer quality ..well then we will not prolong any suffering. 


Today Ozzie seems fine. Still eating heartily and pooping masterfully! Our joyful boy is still with us for now and we are grateful.

Finally Friday and What we Feared

Let me start with this is a difficult post and you will soon see why. The other day we went for a recheck on Ozzie's ear infection and we asked Dr Tracey to look at something that we have noticed for a while under his neck. We felt it several weeks ago and wondered what the heck it was. It was at least a size of a golf ball in the middle of his throat straddled by two other lumps on either side. We thought perhaps we missed this before because of all the fat and rolls around his collar. Maybe it was his thyroid or do dogs have Adam's Apples? Could it just be a case of swollen glands that would be accompanied by some kind of kennel cough? We did ignore it for a while but were going to make a point of showing it to the vet on his recheck visit. When Dr Tracey felt it her face instantly showed her concern. She felt Ozzie's back side too and said "This isn't good!" "I don't want to alarm you too much but this looks like Lymphoma." That fear in the back of my head that kept nagging me that this was bad was right! She suggested that we take blood and aspirate the lump to confirm her diagnosis. As they took Ozzie into the back room to do the test my husband and I stared at each other in shock. He was only with us for 3 years this is not fair. 
All of Ozzie's lymph nodes were enlarged, under his jaw and behind the knee. He had no other symptoms except he has been a little more lethargic than usual and stopped chewing on his Nyla-bones. Chemo would be the way to go to give him some extra time. Most dogs respond well suffering little of the ills that humans do from it since the doses are not as strong. This could give Ozzie a year or so. With no treatment he could be gone in 6 weeks. As we left the vet's office she said that the results should be back from the lab fairly quickly and then we could determine what kind of treatment would be best for him. 


So today we found out that he has high grade lymphoma which needs to be addressed sooner than later. We were given some treatment options to think about and we will wrestle with what is the best course for Ozzie. Treatment will start as soon as next week. I will keep you all up to date on Ozzie's progress. I know that this will beat him in the end since there is no real cure, but we will fight the good fight as long as we can!

Lymphoma in Dogs