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Struppie's Battle To Stay Alive A Bit Longer


gwp4me
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Our Struppie, who suffers from Lymphoma, was treated with chemotherapy from 21.05.2012 - 07.11.2012. Three weeks after ending his treatment, he has relapsed, and because he is still so active and eager to go, our dear vet will start him on a different chemo drug/treatment tomorrow. Big disappointment for me, hope my money can buy him life/time.

Just thought his story might be interesting to people with dogs suffering from cancer.

Struppie is the blonde/clipped GWP on the left in photo, Adi, on the right, is the pup who was brought up by Struppie, like only a mother could.

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Hi, thanks for all your good wishes. My vet is puzzled why only 1x lymph node in neck (not throat) and 1x above knee/hindleg have enlarged, so she did a biopsy from those lumps, a blood test, also Struppie was given a dose of IV Vinblastine, which might be repeated weekly, on top of his 2nd daily Macrolone 20mg tablet. Struppie was picked up by his mate Adi and mum, arrived home eager and tail wagging. Both dogs feasted on a nice warm roast chicken, then fell asleep. :pray:

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Monday's biopsy confirmed the cancer is back, also lumps have not shrunk after chemo. We are attempting now to rescue, with daily Macrolone tablet and weekly chemo. Struppie is still extremely happy, obese and always hungry from steroid tablets. Not looking forward to the future anymore. :cry: Thanks Bindo, already have three GWPs buried in paddock.

Latest photo of the boys, taken a day after chemo.

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Thanks for all the good wishes, Struppie very much needs them. Lumps did not go down nor did any new lumps appear. My vet says the starting dose of Vinblastine is low (might be the reason why enlarged nodes have not gone down) and will have to be build up over time, more of it next Tuesday. Ready for a long battle, as long as Struppie is feeling well and not in pain, I will keep going. Can't get my mind off this at all. :mad

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I know what you're going through gwp4me. We started Lucy's chemo 2 weeks ago, she's on Palladia 2 tablets every second night, Vinblastin injection weekly with prednisolone in between. Overall she seems to be coping with the treatment quite well, but last week one of her blood results was low, so we have to check that again this week before starting again. Already, she is a bit pudgy from the steroid, and over the weekend her panting was much worse on a (previously) normal walk. I know this is a side effect of the prednisolone.

Just that every little change, or lump and bump, sends you into a spin, wondering if this is another occurrence. I guess we have to be thankful they are well now and make the most of the time we have with them.

Good luck for Struppie, hope he continues to feel well and enjoy life! :hug:

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Thanks Bindo, hope your Lucy will live a full life and give you lots of pleasure. I am still hoping for Struppie's few lumps to go down after second IV Vinblastine, but they have not increased in size. We go for a daily walk, have to be careful not to overheat Struppie while on Macrolone tablets, which have blown him up. Otherwise he is still very happy, it seems, wants to give lots of kissies, chase calves away, points birds. Every day is a bonus. :pray:

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Well, to my horror, two doses of IV Vinblastin were not able to reduce the size of Struppie's swollen lymph nodes. Actually, now the ones under his jaw have come up again. So next Wednesday, we will try to hit them with the dreaded Doxyrubicin, and hope to see results. :cry:

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  • 2 weeks later...

DerRottweiler, he now had three doses of Vinblastine, with daily Macrolone tablets, the lymph nodes neither increased nor decreased. I asked my vet wether the cancer is spreading, she thinks it just stays put atm.

I think she is a member of Vin.com, and gets her advice from them. She probably will save Doxyrubicin as a last resort, as it is nasty stuff. Struppie is still very lively, without chemo he would now be dead. He is booked in again for this Thursday, afterwards probably only every second week. My plan is to keep going, as long he is free of pain. Thanks for asking about Struppie.

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