Say a prayer for my boxer he has Leukemia

[sinbad'smom]

i just came across this thread. sending healing vibes to riggo... hope the treatments he is getting work. i can imagine what you are going through but there is really no way to express how we know you are feeling...my heart goes out to you. please keep us posted on him.. dora

 

[Cindy Creel]

I was glad to hear that you did get some positive news along with some bad. We will keep the prayers and the positive vibes coming.

 

[MaryNJ]

I'm so sorry to hear about Riggo's diagnosis. You must have felt devastated.

My Trixie just started on chemo for a grade II/III (borderline) mast cell tumor. She's only had one IV dose of the cancer drug, and Prednisone every day since then (Wednesday). She drinks a lot of water because of the Prednisone (and therefore pees a lot, sometimes not making it outside in time), but otherwise is okay other than being a little tired. I know that things could get worse since we're looking at a four-month process, by the oncologist said the same thing as a previous poster--that it's not as hard on dogs as it is on humans.

You might find this article on chemotherapy interesting: http://www.oncolink.org/types/article.cfm?c=22&s=69&ss=548&id=5997

My thoughts are with you.

Mary

 

[riggodunick]

MaryNJ,

Sorry to hear about Trixie. Any kind of cancer is devastating. I do have a question for you though. I thought with mast cell tumors that they usually remove them surgically. Is the tumor in a tough to get to place?

I do wish you and Trixie the best and I'll be thinking about you both. What kind of prognosis did the oncologist give you?

PS. Your Trixie is a beautiful boxer. Kind of reminds me of Riggo but he has more white on his legs. Check him out I put up a few pics in a gallery.

DJDunick

 

[riggodunick]

Riggo seems to be doing pretty well. He had an IV treatment of Adriamyacin on Friday and then 4 days of Cytoxin along with prednisone. Surprisingly he is not showing bad side effects. He has seen Adriamyacin before and was lethargic for 2 days along with some bad diarhea but so far so good this time around.

His white blood cell count was much better Sunday. My vet checked it before giving him the Cytoxan.

We will be getting another blood count Monday from my local vet and then the oncologist wants to do a bone marrow aspirate next Friday 10-29.

Once again I'ld like to express my appreciation for all the kind words from everyone on this board. This community has been great. I'll keep you posted.

 

[LuVsHeRBoXeR]

I will pray for you both=)

I lost my baby to lymphoma..and I don't wish it upon anyone. I hope all works out for you both

 

[momstaxi]

I'm glad Riggo is doing better! Hope many sunny, happy days are ahead
Michele

 

[lafsalot]

As always, thanks for the update. Still in my thoughts and prayers - Cathy

 

[riggodunick]

Riggo update,

I've been wanting to post for a while but for some reason the board won't accept my password from work. Really strange, anyway my last visit with Riggo to the oncologist went really well. She ran some blood work and an aspirate and reported that his bone marrow looked very good. In fact she would call his bone marrow in remission and he has started to manufacture healthy white blood cells. We aren't out of the woods yet however as his lymph nodes are being stubborn and still slightly swollen. The oncologist said however that now that his bone marrow is cleaned out the next scheduled round of chemo will start working direclty on his lymph nodes. He has been a bundle of energy and has had a great appetite.

One thing I have noticed though is that he is seeing some of the same drugs for a 2nd time the last week or 2 during his chemo and he isn't having any of the side effects. While that sounds good I was wondering if that meant his body was getting immune to them or does his body have less work to do because he is getting rid of the cancer and therefore not having the bad reactions. Any thoughts?

DJDunick

 

[LuvBxrs]

I'm sorry that Riggo & you are going through such a trying time right now. Research as the others have suggested might give you a better understanding which will make your already difficult decision a teeny teeny bit easier as far as which way you should go & what is best for Riggo. Please know Riggo & your family will be in our thoughts.