Logan's next chemo treatment (Adriamycin) is on Tuesday, and I called the oncologist to ask that a 2nd chest x-ray is taken before the treatment is given. Since this type of cancer is very aggressive and spreads very quickly, there is the chance that it may have existed in Logan's lungs back when we had the first x-rays. This can happen and not be detected at that stage even in the x-ray. The last few days I've noticed Logan's breathing is heavy and he pants all the time. Now, he could do this just due to plain old age even without the cancer, so I know it sounds like I'm paranoid. I just want to be sure it hasn't spread because if it is in his lungs now, there's no need to put him through more treatments. There really wouldn't be anything we could do other than keep him comfortable and happy for the time being. I think we'd really regret it if a few months from now we find out that the cancer had been in his lungs all this time while we've been putting him through unnecessary chemo!
Anyway, Logan went for his brother's dry dog food this evening! I was shocked. It's just too difficult for him to eat, though since his surgery. So I'm soaking some right now in water hoping that soggy dry food will be easier for him to eat and that he'll still want to give it another try later tonight! Still no interest in canned food, though. He seems to be into cottage cheese now too!
I'm also more worried about the muscle atrophy in his head. It just seems to be getting more profound each day, but not painful. He doesn't care if we touch his temples, massage them, etc. I just hope it's not going to have a negative impact in the future. It's happening symmetrically, so it's not a result of the surgery as it would be impacting just his right side if so.
There's a disorder in large dig breeds called Masticatory Muscle Mysositis (MMM). I discussed it with our general vet a few weeks ago. He said that it could be possible that's what Logan has the onset of, but if it's not causing him any discomfort - with everything else going on, we both decided not to treat it as a priority right now. Plus, I guess it's typically treated with a higher dose of Prednisone, which I'm not crazy about, and neither is our vet. MMM can eventually cause difficulty in the dog's ability to open and close their jaw effectively. So, obviously for dogs that have been through a mandibulectomy as Logan has, this is not an ideal situation! We'll keep looking into it and once we get through another round of chemo, perhaps we'll move forward in determining for sure what's going on.
Well - off to cook more pup meals!
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