Everythings Shiny Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 (edited) Today has been one of the hardest days for me. Diesal was taken into my work yesterday as he had been a little off, nothing major, just a little unlike himself, getting irritable, trembling at times, not being able to put on weight We done some in house bloods, found out his packed cell volume was really low.... that raised a few alarms with my vets so we sent some blood to the lab and marked it urgent.... we were all thinking either he'd some how gotten access to rat baits (i don't use them and neither of my neighbours do either) or had some sort of infection. Normally all blood results are back the next morning.... alarm bells started ringing when they hadn't returned by lunch.... My boss rang the lab chasing them down.... thats when we got the news. Poor Diesal has some form of cancer.... i'm so in shock I don't think my brain has retained any of the information........... I thought the vet said lymphoma but I've checked his lymph nodes and the aren't enlarged.... gonna talk to my vet tomorrow at work again, try and get my head around it I'm absolutely devestated... Diesal has never had anything wrong with him and now has come down with this..... I'm absolutely lost as what to do........ Just needed to vent Edited August 17, 2010 by Everythings Shiny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 I am sorry to hear your news... After years of experience with a terminally ill dog (Ollie is MCT grade 2 - no clear margins and systemic) I have learned not to jump to the worst thoughts (not easy, the word cancer conjures up the worst of our fears)... Don't panic, honestly, it does you or him no good at all. Get all the information you need before make decisions on treatments etc.. Have his dx confirmed as to what it is and what grade.. Once you know this, then you can decided to treat (or not) with chemo, radiation, holistic treatments. Diet plays a huge part in the treatment of cancer dogs. Carbs feeds cancer, so if he is having commercial dog foods it might pay to check the information panel to see how much cereal and fillers it contains and slowly alter his diet to a good quality home cooked meal with supplements... Vitamin C has saved Ollie more than once when he has been very unwell (via a drip) - he has had it supplemented since he was dxd.. Mostly to begin with, just breathe - confirm and then decide... Once you know exactly what you are dealing with, then you can deal with it... I really feel for you - I still remember vividly the day the vet called with Ollie's results.. I was devastated but here we are more than 4 years post dx and he has lived 4 years longer than all the text books said he would... There are quite a few of us on here that can offer advice on how we have handled different situations and what we have done to help our pets deal with this.. When you are ready, we will happily help, even if it is just for someone else to chat too... All the best Jodie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted August 13, 2010 Author Share Posted August 13, 2010 Thanks Staffyluv - I'm trying to stay positive - its just another kick in the guts atm. My other dog Paige has been in remission for 12 months after having malignant mammary tumours removed, my dad died nine months ago from leukemia and a very good friend of mine has been diagnosed with a blood cancer - it's just a very dark time for me atm The vets have discussed options between themselves this afternoon and a couple of them have agreed that most treatments are out of the question - separating him from Paige sends him into a spin and he gets extremely upset. We are doing more tests this week coming to see how we go with him.... one of the vets have said we should just let him go and not try to keep him going as he is going to die either way, nothing we can do about it.... but we can keep him comfortable and go from there. I'm sorta thinking that may be the way to go... but I'm going to wait and see how we go with these next tests Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 That is a lot to deal with.. Take your time and take care of yourself too... If he does not like to be away from Paige how about holistic treatment - supplements, herbs and diet (personally I believe this is why Ollie is still alive today, I know the chemo helped but it is the diet and all the other stuff like keeping him happy and as healthy - apart from the cancer - that keeps him going so well for so long)... Like I said before, just breathe and take care of yourself too - you have been through an awful lot emotionally... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 I am so sorry for your heartbreaking news about Diesal. I've been down that path with my beautiful 6yo girl, Sophie, who is now at rest. When Sophie was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of the mandible both amputation and chemo were recommended. I declined on both counts because I found no evidence to support osteosarcoma responds to chemo and I couldn't put Sophie through the pain and rehab of amputation only to lose her a few weeks/months later. I don't believe amputation would have extended her life by more than a few months and we were lucky enough to have those months where she was happy and pain free without amputation. I think chemo is effective in some cancers but not with osteo. We saw an oncolgist every 3 weeks who was fantastic and very supportive. Sophie was on a few oncology prescribed drugs to slow down the progression of her cancer but I think the supplements she was on extended her life. She was given a 3-5 week prognosis upon diagnosis and she lived happily and without pain for a year. Sophie's story is in the Unwell Rotties thread. I would be looking into the supplements Avemar and Artemisinin. There are Yahoo groups for both of these supplements. It would probably be worth you joining those groups as there's a lot of knowledge from dedicated people who are going through the same thing with their dogs. I agree with Staffyluv regarding diet. Cancer feeds on sugar and carbs so eliminate as many of these as possible from Diesal's diet. Research the Budwig cancer diet. I had always fed Sophie a raw BARF diet but changed over to home cooked food for her. I think Staffyluv and I had our dogs on much the same diet. Adequate pain relief was of utmost importance to me with Sophie. Please keep us updated on Diesal and know that we are here to offer you our support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbesotted Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 That is a lot to deal with.. Take your time and take care of yourself too...If he does not like to be away from Paige how about holistic treatment - supplements, herbs and diet (personally I believe this is why Ollie is still alive today, I know the chemo helped but it is the diet and all the other stuff like keeping him happy and as healthy - apart from the cancer - that keeps him going so well for so long)... Like I said before, just breathe and take care of yourself too - you have been through an awful lot emotionally... i second these words of advice.. sorry that you are having such a rough time.. Hugs helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugmum Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 I am so sorry for what you are going through with Diesal - it seems like you have had a very rough trot recently I would weigh in on the diet argument - even though I did end up losing my girl to cancer (which had been a foregone conculsion that I hoped to be able to defer as long as possible) the cancer diet of low or no carb and sugar, and high proein and fat, I think made a huge difference. A also made sure she had organic chicken, veggies, budwig prepared flax oil, fish oil etc. Her spcialist was always surprised at just how well she looked - we actively tried to ensure we fed her not the cancer. Its difficult to make any other treatment decisions until you know exactly what you are dealing with - the treatments and prognosis between cancers ca be so different. Ollie is an inspiration, and shows what is possible. best wishes to you and Diesal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 Thanks guys. Diesal's diet is going to be changed to a prescription hills diet to help him get by, my boss thinks this will be the best thing for him as he is an active working dog breed. We've had major discussions this last couple of days and we have decided to do more bloods this friday and start him on some tablets once we get these back. I've decided against chemotherapy as my heart and head both tell me that he wont be happy.... my main concern for now is to keep him happy until we have to make the decision of Euthanasia.... not a track I wanted to go down with him. It's heartbreaking to watch him atm, he looks so lost himself, almost as if he know's something is wrong with him. I'm also concerned with Paige, she has been with him for so long, I believe once Diesal goes, she wont be long behind him - they've been inseparable for 5 and a half years now, she wasn't happy when I took him to the vets for a few hours last Friday for his tests. One of the vets suggested getting another dog for Paige to bond with, I'm leaning against getting another dog as I already have 3. Paige loves the youngest dog Serena, but not even Serena could keep Paige happy the other day. I think i'm dealing a little better with this whole situation, my vet sat me down at work today and spoke to me about what was going on, he realised how much this is killing me atm, especially after everything that's happened lately, and with me not being 100% well either myself... They are going to support both D and I as best as they can. Hopefully Friday gives some good results, maybe even a full diagnosis! Thanks again guys, having this little thread to vent is keeping me sane atm I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 BRILLIANT NEWS! Diesal's blood results have come back CLEAR! I don't know what's going on but he may be in the clear yet.... going to do another blood test in a weeks time to sort this out. But fingers crossed my boy might be alright! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugmum Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 Thats great ! My fingers are crossed for his next lot of tests. Its good to hear that sometimes things are not as bad as they at first seem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythings Shiny Posted September 3, 2010 Author Share Posted September 3, 2010 Last set of tests back finally! He's okay, they still don't know what was causing his lymphocytes to react so badly, but he now has a clean bill of health and is doing better. He's now on a premium food (much to the jealousy of my two other kids) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbesotted Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 woohoo happy dance here. what GREAT GREAT news!!! I am delighted Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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