lymphoma-chemo-so many questions ??

[ShannonB]

Hi everyone

My Cody has just been diagnosed with lymphoma-hyper calcemeia(spelling?)He is a 7 year old male, fawn & white w/black(gray) mask-docked tail and ears that stand. Just a handsome boy! He has had his first chemo treatment and goes back on Mon for the next. I am in awe of how wonderful he has felt since getting the chemo-is this normal? He had lost about 15 pounds, wasn't eating a thing, drinking/peeing constantly, and completely lethargic. Now he is just the opposite ! Its like I have my Cody from a couple of years ago!He is eating everythign in sight, barking, playing..just a happy guy. It is very easy to forget about what is really going on. We have been emotionally devastated for the last 4 weeks dealing with the diagnosis, what would we do, we can't afford the chemo but....so I am temporarily happy to have my baby feeeling good. So how long will this last ? Will he continue to feel good on the chemo or will he eventually get sick?He is currently had the L-asparginase, and the vencristine but because of low platelets hasn't received the cytoxin yet. If his blood count is good this week he will get all 3. But he isn't on prednisone..should he be? I've heard of other dogs on the same treatment as his taking this also.SOrry this is so long. One last dreaded question. I have (as much as possible)realized that this is what is eventually going to take my Cody from me and we will not let him suffer. What heppens when they come out of remission? Does lymphoma cause pain or ....I wish I could know what my Buddy will be dealing with so I will know when it is time to let him go. They said his lymphoma is T cell lymphoma and they found it in his bone marrow, and spleen and possibly a very small amount in his liver. Thanks for bearing with this long post. Please keep my Cody in your doggie prayers - we are praying he will be in remission for a lot longer than his doctor expects. I can always hope for a miracle, right?

Sincerely
Shannon

 

[Aimee]

Hugs to you and your family. I wish that I was able to give you some information to answer your questions however I know nothing about this as I have not had this experience. All I can offer is my support. I hope that Cody outlasts all their expectations and will keep him in our prayers. I am sure someone will be able to answer your questions. Please keep us posted.

 

[PGIBSON]

lymphoma

Hi, I was reading old posts and wanted to reply to you. We have dealt with lymphoma but not the chemo. We did not find out about our sweet Breeze's cancer until it was way too late. All we could do for her was feed her everything she never could have before and hold on alot more... Everyone is different and it is hard to bear this thought, but she never seemed to be in pain until her last week. I don't want to send you sadness, but prepare yourself and make a choice about how you will help him when the time comes. Stay in tuned into your baby and think of Cody, not how much you will miss him. I have tears typing this, you will have support. I've just adopted 5 year old girl to help ease back into Boxerland. Couldn't start with a puppy yet... this one needs hugs and a few chicken scraps under the table! I sincerely wish you mucho more time with Cody, miracles do happen - he has you for his MOM!!!

 

[debbie knowles]

So Sorry!

Hi Shannon,

I am so sorry to hear about Cody and yes, we will keep all of you in our prayers. djk

 

[ShannonB]

Thanks for support!

Hi
I just wanted to thank you all for your post and the support. Cody is currently in remission and doing great ! We are enjoying every moment with him and spoiling him rotten. Our vet has been very honest with us in saying that the remission could last as long as 12 months or as little as 4 months-there is no way of knowing. We won't do a second round of chemo because of the negative impact it would have on Cody. I have been dumbfounded by Cody's reaction to the chemo. I automatically thought he would be very sick but with the regimen he has been on he hasn't had but one day of mild upset stomach. When first faced with the decision of do we do chemo or not, we said "no, we don't want to put him through it". But given the way he has reacted-I am sooo glad we did it. But I hear the second time around they have to use much stronger drugs which normally do make them very sick. This will be all we do. When he comes out of remission we will say okay-we put up the good fight and now it s time to let our buddy go . He feels so great it is very easy to let yourself "forget" that he has a terminal disease.I keep praying he will be an exception to the rule and maybe stay in remission much longer or the cancer just disappear. I will keep hoping. He has been such a joy and blessing to our lives that I can't imagine not having him here. Thanks again for all your prayers and support !

Shannon

 

[boxer4]

So sorry to hear about Cody, I have some experience with this cancer. Our Dutch had it at 10 yrs old, she went on prednisone and chemo and also went into remmision really fast, only hers only lasted 5 months. I am sorry to say I tried a second round. I`ll never regret the time the first chemo gave us but will always regret putting her through the second series. If I can answer any questions please feel free to email me. We will all keep Cody in our prayers.

 

[JillHoover1]

Hi Shannon, Happy to learn that Cody is in remission. My boxer baby lost his battle to the same type of cancer & hyper cal. as Cody. You will know when he comes out of remission because he will start to lose control of his bladder & his glands will swell. You might want to look into supplements to help build his system. A super B complex really helped my baby. Praying for a long remission. Give him lots of hugs! Jill, Koko, 6yr. fawn beauty & New arrival Rudi, flashy brindle 10 wks.

 

[dpasto]

Like many others who have posted I also lost my Bridget to lymphoma. She stopped eating and went through many tests before the diagnosis was made. They could not remove all of the cancer during her surgery and she never regained her appetite. She only lived a couple of days after the surgery and we never got the opportunity to decide on chemotherapy or not. I was very interest to hear people saying that the first round of therapy was not as disruptive to the dog. That was one of our greatest concerns.

I am glad that your baby is doing well. Just keep spoiling him and giving all the love you possibly can. Your family is in our hearts.

 

[Yellowsnow.]

We to lost our Erin to Lyphoma in May 2001. She had a problem with a Blood mange as a puppy. Then in the summer of 2000 I thought she was having trouble with the mange again. I took her to the vet and he didn't think it was the mange but it could be ringworm which made since to me because my boys are wrestlers and get ringworm and since she slept with them....but I couldn't get it cleared up. I took her to a different vet in December after she lost an alarming amount of weight and hair and smelled terrible. I took her thinking they would recommend putting her to sleep. He took one look at her and said that it was lympoma. He examined her more closely and gave me two options. One he could do the chemo or give her predinsone. She was 9 at the time. He recommended that we try the predinsone he thought it would make her comfortable and help her appitite and give her another month or up to three months. I have two boys that adored her and it was so hard on all of us to watch her go from our lovely Erin to a bag of bones. Even they were for putting her out of her misery. I sure wasn't looking forward to doing this during the Christmas season. But he was right! She gained her weight back and died peacefully in her sleep in May so we got 5 more months and didn't have to make that dreadfull descion.

 

[iluvboxers]

Can I ask how the vet came to this conclusion, what test did he do, etc? I just lose my 91l2 year old girl and two specialist could not figure out what the problem was. We were giving her dexamethasone for the pain that they thought was from a ruptured or slipped disc. The specialist said the steroids caused the secondary problems but blood work came back ok and the x-rays showed nothing but a lesion on the spine. She went down so quick and we lost her on Friday. I would just say to love and spoil your baby and cherish each and every moment. Bless you.