It's Been So Long....

Sorry about that, folks! It's been such a long time since I've posted!

Been so busy!

Logan is still chugging along! We're very glad we decided against further chemo treatments. He's had one minor issue with a stomach ulcer that we found when we tried to get him back on his Duramaxx, so he's currently not on anything for his hips (aside from Tramadol). We finally weaned him off the Prednisone and he no longer spends 20 of 24 hours a day at his water dish :)

Will post again when we get his next chest xray and lymph node check!

"All Clear!"

That's right....Logan had his follow up x-rays yesterday and his lungs and lymph nodes are still clear! No metastasis! Yayyyyyy!!

Now, if we can just take him off the damn Prednisone! Doc said we can reduce the dosage to once every other day and see if that decreases Logan's constant thirst and hunger.

We'll continue to hope and pray that the surgery got all of the cancer!

Nice Fresh Mountain Air!

Well, rainy air, that is! Yes, we took Logan and his little bud Rudy to the Blue Ridge Mountains two weekends ago (I just haven't had a chance to post an update). They had a great time even though it rained all weekend. We had a few short periods of dry weather and took the pups for short walks (Logan can't handle any real hiking).

It was a nice get-away and at least a change of scenery for the four of us.

Thankfully Uneventful

Well, I haven't posted in a little while. This is a GOOD thing, however! Logan is doing great. He seems to be pretty much back to himself. I think the Tramadol (pain med) is really helping with his joints and with his tooth situation. We still haven't decided when we plan to get the tooth issue taken care of. As long as he's not in pain, we're going to let him be for a while. We're also down to minimal meds at this point (1/2 dose of Prednisone, Tramadol, probiotics and Centrum), which is a plus! And "Chef de Logan" (yours truly) is still working hard to make sure we're sticking to a pretty strict diet for now. Now if my husband and I could just stick to the same kind of healthy diet - we'd all be good to go! :)

I'm excited as I've booked a long weekend at a cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains this month mainly for our late "legal" 5-year anniversary as well as to treat the pups after all Logan has been through. It will be great! It's a pet-friendly environment and they even provide dog beds, bowls, all-natural treats, etc. Fun!

So, thankfully, there's really not too much to report regarding Logan. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

The Creator of Ziploc Steamer Bags is a God!

Logan's new diet is so much easier because of these steamer bags!! Love 'em! I can slice up a salmon fillet, put it in a steamer bag and zap it in the microwave for 4 minutes! The fish actually tastes pretty good, too. Same with veggies! Takes 2 -4 minutes to steam Logan's veggies too!

Now if we could just get the salmon smell out of our kitchen....

Logan seems to be doing really well. He eats his new home cooked part of the diet as long as we mush the veggies in with the salmon! Then we give some of the veggies to Logan's brother Rudy too (just not the salmon.....otherwise Rudy will itch and itch and itch)!

Logan's doing really well. We continue to back off of his meds and he's been going on his little w.a.l.k.s frequently and loves it! One think he's not to crazy about that needs to happen in the next few days is a bath!!

This Restricted Diet Stuff is Tough!

So frustrating! Ok, not only is Rudy (Logan's brother) allergic to chicken, but he also seems to be allergic to duck as well (which if you think about it....really does make sense...)! The poor little thing has been itching like a crazy pup, so I know it's the duck that I've been trying to gradually switch him to so he and Logan can eat the same kibble. So, I gave seafood-based another shot today. Both pups ate Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish (salmon) today! So, if we stick to it going forward for both of them, we won't have the hassle of having to feed them separate foods. However, I feel bad messing around with Rudy's diet since he's just fine with his Solid Gold lamb-based kibble (which as I explained previously, Logan can't have)! AND....whatever protein Logan gets in the "commercial half" of his diet, is the very same protein he needs to get in the "home cooked half" as well! Meaning I would have to cook fish every day for him! Granted, this would just be short term until we're able to confirm that he doesn't have an intolerance to whatever protein we decide on. After a while, we can bring different proteins back into his diet and will be able to know right away if something is causing stomach issues by process of elimination. The thing is, we have to be sure that anything and everything that Logan eats does not contain any other protein (treats, whatever we hide his pills in, etc.). I got them all-vegetable treats today, and they seem to be a hit. But, of course, Logan hates the canned food version of the salmon food - so no hiding pills in canned food! The pill pockets we were using are beef-based, so those are out too!! ARRGGHHHH!!

For the home cooked portion of the day, Logan is supposed to get either 1/2 meat and 1/2 fresh veggies or 1/2 meat, 1/4 oatmeal and 1/4 veggies. I might mention....Logan has never liked veggies! He's never tried them steamed or doctored up, though so....guess we'll try that route.

Anyway, he's making a great come back it seems!! He's been bringing his stuffed toys to the door when I get home from work once again which is wonderful to see and just makes me smile :)

Another Meeting with the Nutritionist

Well, I just about had a breakdown last night after all of the books I've read and research I've done about what to do with Logan's diet and supplements! So confusing! It figures that after all of that, the specialist we saw today (for a 2nd time) didn't agree with much of anything that I've read. ugh. She's been doing this a long, long time - so I suppose we do trust her opinion. Anyway, we're planning to go with 1/2 holistic commercial kibble and/or canned food and 1/2 home cooked. We're still in the process of nailing down exactly what this will consist of. I think we're most likely going to go with Pinnacle Duck and Potato (as lamb-based Solid Gold hasn't agreed with Logan's stomach, and he refuses to eat anything seafood-based, and his brother can't have anything chicken-based) dry and/or canned and we're still discussing what we'll be giving him for home cooked items. So....we'll get him going on the kibble and canned for this week, then add in the rest next week!

The powdered supplement that he was refusing to take no matter what - is no longer necessary as it was focused on his GI issues after chemo, which he no longer has. The liquid, however - we still need to figure out a way to get him to take this. The vet suggested to mix it with some canned EVO 95% duck and see if that works! So - we'll see. We'll be adding in other supplements as soon as we get the diet in place. At least we're getting somewhere! I'm just so frustrated and bummed out about all of the hours of reading and research I did already :(

Logan's appetite is back, and then some!! I almost lost a hand....and a refrigerator (ok, not really) today! The vet gave us the ok to stop the Mirtazapine and lower the dose of Prednisone...yayyy!

I also took Logan for a little w.a.l.k (we have to spell it at our house or chaos ensues) - very slowly, and just a few house down the street, but he was happy as a clam!!

Information Overload!

Well, first of all - Logan began to do a real turn around since I last posted, thank god! The few rounds of fluids at the vet and the antibiotics helped him so much. Now, he's an eating machine!! It's mainly the Mirtazapine and Prednisone he's on. He still won't touch canned dog food, but has been scarfing down dry dog kibble. I just don't want him to get too used to it because it's really hard on his bad tooth and the roof of his mouth due to the surgery.

So, I purchased a few books over the weekend to begin researching holistic treatments for Logan on my own. My head is spinning!! I'm learning so much, though. All of the info also applies to humans if you really think about it, so it sort of makes me take a second (third, forth and fifth) look at the way I've been eating for so long too....ugh. So, I'm first trying to nail down Logan's meals and how we want to proceed with his diet before we look into herbs and supplements any further. I have another appointment with the specialist/nutritionist tomorrow to talk about everything. I have tons of notes and questions so I'm sure she'll just love me! I'm just extremely overwhelmed by all of the information I'm taking in!

Bottom line, Logan should be eating a low protein, high fiber diet! Will let you know what I find out tomorrow!

Forget the Pot Pie....Arby's is the Ticket!

Yes, Logan's new lunch of choice is a warm Arby's roast beef sandwich! Yummmm! He scarfed this down after our vet visit this morning!

As I mentioned yesterday, we had to go back to the vet this morning to determine if Logan needed more fluids (3rd day in a row), or if we could get the cath out of his leg. I'm happy to report that Logan's wbc is almost back to normal, his kidney numbers looked great, and no fluids needed today! He's still been drinking a lot and has been eating some deli meats, cheese and bread for me here and there. But then...the smell of that juicy roast beef sandwich could not be ignored! The vet would be so proud as he suggested taking Logan to the Crystal Burger drive-thru on the way home, but Arby's is much better :)

The vet tweaked his meds a bit. We'd like to get him off of the metronidazole asap (used as anti-diarrhea med, but can have neurological effects, etc.) and added tramadol (light pain med) . Why the tramadol you ask? Well, we can't have a blog entry without some drama, right? Logan is experiencing what's called "drift" due to his partial mandibulectomy. His bottom jaw slides back and forth at will since there's a lack of support now on his right side. As a result, the bottom canine tooth that's left has started to dig into the soft tissue in the roof of his mouth. There is also an issue inside the tooth with the pulp (can't remember the big fancy med term for it), and the vet said it's probably very sore :( Our options are to either get it pulled or have a root canal done and get it capped. The 2nd option is safest because if we opted to get the tooth removed, there's a chance his jaw could fracture during the procedure. So, we'll keep him on light pain meds for now until he bounces back and stabilizes. Then at some point in the near future, we'll need to proceed with all of this. At least it's minor compared to everything else he's going through! I just feel like we can never just stop putting the guy through hell! Jeez!

Well, thanks for all of the positive thoughts and well-wishes. Hopefully Logan will continue to improve over the weekend.

Back to the Vet

Well, as discussed with the vet yesterday - I just took Logan back to either get his catheter out or get more fluids. Turns out he hasn't improved all that much since the fluids and antibiotic yesterday. I gave him the Cerenia (anti-nausea meds) and antibiotics that the vet sent us home with last night before we headed out this morning.
I have to pick him up around 1:00 this afternoon, so hopefully he'll feel a bit better.
He did eat a little deli meat, bread and cheese this morning and held it down - so that's good.
Just can't wait for him to bounce back.

Oh yeah....I'm tired!

Please Keep Your Arms and Hands Inside the Ride at All Times!

What a roller coaster ride!! I ended up going into the office yesterday morning as opposed to working from home. Logan was a little out of it, but I figured he'd be ok - at least for a few hours. I came back home for a late lunch to try to feed him, and found him alone in the office lying in a pool of drool, wouldn't lift his head and barely opened his eyes. He was also burning up and panting. Took his temp and it was above the max we're supposed to allow it to get to before we take him to the emergency vet (103.5 - Logan's was 103.9). I couldn't get him to stand up and walk. I had to use a beach towel under his back end to get him out to the car. He was in some sad, sad shape. I took him to our regular vet because he's closest. They checked him quick in the waiting room to make sure it wasn't a real bad emergency, and we waited for 2 hours.

Basically, Logan's white blood cell count has been completely knocked out by the chemo. The vet said it was the lowest count he's ever seen in his career! So, as you know - this opens his system up to infection. Well, that's what the high fever was for.....his body was fighting some sort of infection (not exactly sure where - could be anything, even just the general bacteria that's always in his stomach - just like humans). They also did an x-ray of his lungs (doc said they sounded very "harsh"). They're still clear - at least in the area he x-rayed. They kept him for another 2 hours for the x-ray and another fluid IV and added an antibiotic fluid this time. I came home in the meantime, and had myself pretty convinced the cancer had spread to his lungs, etc. I was 99% sure I'd have to call my husband and prepare him for the "decision". But...nope...clear lungs. My husband was able to skip his work dinner with clients and met me back home to help me get the pup out of the car and into the house.

The drugs started to kick in, and he had to keep the catheter in in case they needed it again today. Thank god we're not doing anymore chemo!! He was a total mess this time and much worse than round 1. Our vet says they call Adriamycin the "red devil"..... I can see why!!

It's been a week since round 2, so hopefully by the weekend, he'll be more like his old self.

Neurology Appointment Today

Well, we finally had a not-so-bad appt for once! I took Logan to see the neurologist today about his cranial muscle atrophy, twitching eye and tremoring jaw! Of course I had myself convinced that it was probably a nerve or brain tumor by the time we got to the appointment! I really liked the doc and her assistant. She's affiliated with the hospital we've been going to (and I was trying to sort of avoid that), but I was pleased. So, nerve damage from the surgery is not the issue. Actually, it's not anything nerve-related at all. It's strictly muscle related and has been singled out as an auto-immune issue. Basically Logan's immune system has decided to attack his own muscle fiber. Luckily, because the masticulatory muslces are such a specific type of muscle, the issue should not be seen in any other muscle group. This isn't necessarily related specifically to the cancer, and we really don't know for sure why Logan has this and why now. There are lots of tests we could get done to find out exactly why (muscle biopsies, etc.), but we see no need. The doc thought perhaps (in her words) "the cancer pissed off Logan's immune system and now it's lashing out"! lol. So - doc assured us that she is confident Logan is in no pain or experiencing any discomfort due to the atrophy. She feels the jaw tremor is simply weakness since his mandibulectomy, and the eye rolling/twitching is because he no longer has a sufficient muscle structure behind the eye. She told us to keep an eye on his jaw movement (if it becomes difficult for him to open or close his mouth, it could evolve into something more serious). She suggested that we go for two blood tests at some point to rule out toxoplasmosis and one other thing that I wrote down but don't have in front of me. If Logan tests negative for both of these, then prednisone long term should not be an issue as long as it remains a very low dose.

Well - that's it for now!
Good night!

Dog Food?! HUH??

So, I just got done blogging about Logan going back to the old standby of ground beef and rice like he did after the first round of chemo, and as I was typing, his head is pushing the chair away next to me at the kitchen table. I thought he was telling me he needed to go out. Nope - not it. Ummmm....the cat is on your bed again isn't she?? Nope. Your water dish is empty? Nope, full. Well, what the???
I finally figured it out - it was right there in front of me. Logan's brother's food dish with a little DOG FOOD left in it. HUH? Could Logan possibly be after the left over DOG FOOD??
Yes my friends - Logan just downed two bowls of dry dog food! He mainly "inhaled" it, as I think actually chewing it is a bit difficult for him. But - wow!! Not getting my hopes up that this will continue but.......a bright ending to a crappy day, I must say!

Anyway, we have an appointment for him to go to a neurologist tomorrow morning for the cranial atrophy. His eye on the opposite side of the surgery has been really twitching, especially when he chews. It's sort of freaky to watch, actually. His eye sort of pulls back in his head and rolls to the center. Very weird. You can tell it's totally related to whatever muscular issue he has going on. The doc we're seeing tomorrow isn't really my first choice, but I want him to go somewhere asap, and our general vet hasn't called back yet with any other referral. As I mentioned previously - no more surgeries or treatments for anything....we just need to ensure there's nothing causing him any pain that we're unaware of. I really do feel like the muscle / eye / jaw tremor thing is related to nerve damage during the mandibulectomy surgery, but hey....I'm no vet!

There's a really nice lady on one of my yahoo forums about canine cancer who is going to ask her canine holistic specialist in New York if he knows of anyone in our area that we may be able to take Logan to. It sounds like he is really, really good and focuses on herbal meds related specifically to the problem or disease. He's had a lot of success. If that doesn't work out, then I feel like we're basically just playing "close your eyes and point" as far as finding a good specialist in this area who isn't affiliated with the hospital we've been going to.

Well, off to cook up some more doggie meals. Ummmm...I'm a little tired :)

Relaxing

Logan is resting today. He ate a little bit of bacon and a few laps of a frosty paw so far today. He drank a little water on his own....whew! Right now he's sawing logs! Obviously he hasn't had much sleep over the weekend. We started him on his prednisone yesterday so hopefully that will help. His brother, Rudy, is at day care playing with all his buddies today so the house is nice and quiet and we can focus on getting Logan to eat w/out making Rudy think we're ignoring him, or that big brother is getting more and better treats than he is!

We have made the definitive decision that we will not be continuing with chemo treatments or acupuncture, etc. We are going to find a very good specialist who can help us with Logan's supplements and diet, and go from there.

I've also decided that as soon as Logan pulls through this rough patch, we're going to go to the woods somewhere for a long weekend to a dog-friendly cabin! Logan will LOVE it, as this is what he used to do with my father on weekends (he used to be my dad's dog until my dad became ill). So we can let the pooches romp in the woods all weekend and we'll be getting a little break, too!

Stay tuned...

Rough Night

Logan had a rough night last night. Constant diarrhea, nausea and drooling. He just couldn't get comfy for more than a minute it seemed. When we'd let him outside during the night, all he wanted to do was dig himself a hole under our shrubs and curl up in it. He stopped eating and drinking yesterday afternoon, so we took him to the vet first thing this morning. They had to keep him and put him on an IV to get some fluids in him. We're also going to start him back on prednisone when we get him back home.
My husband and I have pretty much decided that we're not going to put poor11-year-old Logan through this anymore. We want the last bit of his life to be happy and relaxed. So, we're going to stop chemo treatments, keep him on supplements/herbs and good homemade doggie meals and hope for the best.
Hopefully the fluids will help him at least for the rest of today.

Herbal Supplements & Other Meds

I've received quite a few emails asking about what herbal supplements the specialist has given us for Logan. So - here they are!

Mega Probiotic -ND (for GI upset - not specific to cancer or chemo)
Athritis Formula liquid (33% devils claw, 33% corydalis, 10% panax ginseng, 23% ashwaganda - again, not specific to cancer or chemo)
GI Formula powder (80% Huo Xiang Zheng Qi, 20% Bone Stasis)

The other medications Logan is currently given are:

Mertazapine - appetite stimulant
Cerenia - anti-nausea for chemo patients
Metronidazole - anti-diarrhea
Pepcid AC - stomach upset / acid reduction
Deramaxx - joint / hip / bone issues due to ostearthritis (not on this currently, though - had to take him off of it because we gave him Prednisone after the last round of chemo - can't mix pred and Deramaxx)
Prednisone - for GI upset due to chemo - was only on this with first round of chemo, not currently

Hope this helps!!

Never Underestimate the Power of a Pot Pie!

Logan stopped eating this morning and has bad diarrhea. I ended up taking him back to the hospital. They analyzed his meds, told me to start him on the appetite stimulant again, and gave him an acupuncture treatment (stop laughing)! The treatment is supposed to stimulate appetite and he has to go back for another one on Monday. Hopefully it will help. I've heard lots of people say that it works. Who knows.

So, I stressed out all day about the possibility of Logan turning anorexic again. However - never doubt the power of a beef pot pie! ha! He finally caved and ate a pot pie and some deli meat tonight. So, hopefully he will continue to eat more and more.

The patient pulled one over on me this morning which added a little humor to it all! I was rushing through the living room this afternoon to answer the phone and stepped on something small and hard and it hurt my foot! Turns out, it was a pill! Hmmmmm......a pill covered in hot dog meat...hmmmmm. Gee.....looks like the pill I gave Logan this morning at 6:00am! The one that was SO easy to give to him and that earned him tons of praise :) Too funny. The big guy pretended to swallow the pill, plopped down and also "pretended" to start to take a nap. Then wonders on into another room and spits out the pill on the floor! Too funny. Lucky the cats didn't eat it!

Oh, and don't forget about Rudy!!

He's slipping!! Help him out! He really appreciates it! WOOF!!

Zzzzzzzz

Yes, that's pretty much all Logan did today, which is good actually. He snoozed like a champ! Snored so loudly all afternoon! His brother, Rudy, was even getting a little anxious and wanted him to be awake so he could harass him - just for a little bit!

What a good boy! Logan ate this morning, a little in the afternoon, and then a big dinner! All the normal (ground beef / pork and rice), but at least he's eating with this round! He still won't go outside the comfort zone of the ground meat, rice, beef hot dogs and deli roast beef! I've been trying all different types of things again, but no luck :( Two of the herbal supplements the specialist gave us are powder and liquid form and we're supposed to "mix it in with something tasty". Yeah...right! Not working too well! At least he's taking his post-treatment meds, though. Those are in capsule/pill form, so we're able to hide those in a hot dog and violla!
I'll post the exact herbal supplements and post-treatment meds we were given on tomorrow's blog post in case you're reading this from more of a learning or informational perspective! I'm exhausted and am too lazy to go to the kitchen to get the list right now! Some of you have also been asking for recent pics of Logan related to my concerns with possible MMM / atrophy, so I'll try to post those tomorrow as well.

Until tomorrow...

Round Two Down

Well, Logan had his second round of chemo today (Adriamycin). He received a pre-treatment injection this time, and we were also sent home with meds for his GI issues and lack of appetite. So far, he's just been sleeping off his day. He actually ate a pretty good dinner, but this is how he was the night of his first treatment too, so.....we'll see how tomorrow goes. Keeping our fingers crossed.

We met with the nutritionist (YES, the "doggie nutritionist") to talk about the way he's been eating since he refuses dog food, and his diet ongoing (we've researched the infamous "cancer diet", etc. and wanted feedback). For right now - Logan needs to eat whatever he'll eat, which is what we expected we'd hear. But once he gets back to eating more normally, we now have a good plan of attack as to what we're going to try to feed him. The downer is, we got to the bottom of some things and found out that the premium food we've been feeding him for 2 + years (Solid Gold dry) has most likely been causing him stomach and intestinal issues this whole time!! So, we need to switch him off of lamb-based food and also try to wean him away from beef. WHAT? Ground beef is just about the only main source of protein he will go near at this point! Tomorrow we're going to go back to ground pork, per suggestion from the nutritionist. So, I was feeling pretty bummed out today. I spent about 2 weeks researching all sorts of foods for Logan and Rudy years back, and we went with Solid Gold, thinking we were doing the best thing for them. UGH. Well, now we know! For those of you who are reading this from more of a "learning experience", Logan showed us signs that the Solid Gold was not working for him - we just didn't realize it.
Logan passed gas a LOT! But he always had for years, even when he lived with my dad, so....we didn't think it was the food necessarily. His stomach always made noises while vegging in the evenings, and this one's the strange one.....ever since Logan was a pup (from what I remember when visiting my father in PA) he would constantly, and I mean constantly lick the air!! No joke! Not licking himself, the carpet, the furniture, the other animals...nope...just lapping at the air! The noise drove us nuts! Vets have told us that it's behavioral (like an OCD issue) or that it was just "quirky". One vet mentioned that sometimes it's a sign of nausea. But we blew that off because he always ate. We figured if he was sick in his stomach - he wouldn't feel like eating, right? Wrong! Turns out - this licking was most likely a sign all along that poor Logan's tummy was completely rejecting his food! And what's worse is my dad was not all that concerned about what he fed Logan for 9 years! Anything from table scraps to whatever was on sale at the grocery store. No offense to anyone and their dog food choices, but...obviously this contributed to Logan's issues long term :(

Well, moving on...we also got some supplements and Chinese herbs to start him on that should help with his tendency for anorexia after chemo, his nausea, as well as with fighting return of cancer long term. These include mixtures of; devils claw, coryalis, panax ginseng, ashwaganda, Hue Xiang Zheng Qi and Bone Stasis. I'm still in the process of researching and asking lots of questions - so I really can't tell you much more detail about each of these at this point, aside from the fact that the things I'm reading and hearing thus far are very positive.

Wish luck to Logan, we'll keep you posted and thanks again for your interest. I truly hope all of this will help someone down the road!

Probably Just Paranoid

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!

Don't forget to VOTE FOR RUDY!!
http://www.cutestdogcompetition.com/vote.cfm?h=2F9E819837004EBA2F3D8525174C8A92

Cutest Dog Competition

Just Call Me "Chef de Logan"

Logan is really starting to crack me up when it comes to his food choices! For example, he will not touch deli roast beef freshly sliced from our local grocery store, however - pre-packaged, super cheap, really small and thinly-sliced, processed roast beef......now that's a winner! We bought him a steak...."yuck"! But ground lean meat....you betcha! We've been going grocery shopping for him just about every day.

Well, bottom line - still no dog food. That's ok, though - as long as our boy is eating!! The meds the oncologist gave us last week seem to be working pretty well. I've taken him off the anti-diarrhea meds as well as the appetite stimulant as the prednisone seems to be helping with both of those areas. Logan actually follows us to the kitchen now to see what we're making, which is a change!

I'm hoping to be home from work in time tomorrow to take him up to our general vet to get him weighed and see where we are. Gotta get him fattened up before his next treatment (August 11th). We also made an appointment that same day to talk to a specialist about Logan's nutrition (since he may not go back to dog food for a while).

Well - off to cook up some beef and rice for the boy's breakfast!

Your Saturday Chuckle...

Frosty Paws - Yummmm!

Yes, Logan actually ate and enjoyed a Frosty Paws frozen treat! I've been offering these for about a week with no luck. Logan and his brother (Rudy) LOVE these! Logan finally didn't turn his nose up this time. Still no luck with actual dog food, but we'll get there.

I belong to two Yahoo Groups related to canine bone cancer, and I've seen posts on both of them about dogs that don't go back to dog food until after their chemo treatments are totally over. The chemo meds actually modify the way the food tastes. So, we might just have to stay stocked up on other things for a while.

So....still chugging along.....

(side note: if you're interested in either of the Yahoo Groups I referred to, you can find them at:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/bonecancerdogs/ and http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineCancer/?yguid=407592281)

Recheck Appointment and No Feeding Tube!

We took Logan back to the hospital to see the oncologist for his recheck appointment.
The doc took a blood panel to make sure the Cisplatin did not negatively effect Logan's kidneys and then talked with us briefly because he was in such a hurry and "late for a meeting". I wasn't too happy! So, we got a low dose of Prednisone to help with intestinal and appetite issues as well as an anti-diarrhea medicine (Logan had this issue the morning we went to the appointment). The doc didn't think that a feeding tube was needed at this time, but that we'd monitor him over the next few days to be sure. We then made it very clear that if we proceed with the next treatment that Logan must receive pre-treatment as well as meds directly afterward to prevent these effects from happening again. The doc said this wouldn't be a problem. He also stated that he only sees cases like Logan's (immediate and prolonged side effects of Cisplatin treatment) about once a year. Interesting...

So, Logan has been eating deli meats, hot dogs, lean beef and bread since the appointment. The vet and the specialist told us to basically feed him anything and everything that he'll eat (aside from dangerous foods like chocolate and grapes, obviously). I went on another shopping spree and grabbed some frozen BilJack dog food that we'll try tomorrow when it's thawed. Also switched the hot dogs to beef instead of pork because of the sodium content. Logan has been eating deli ham like a champ, and he's getting bogged down with salt! Not good.

Well, knock-on-wood things seem to be doing a turn around. I just think back to how things were on Tuesday and how I was second guessing all of our decisions and wondering if we were close to having to make a hard decision. ugh. Logan is such a trooper...and all the while...with tail wagging!

First Chemotherapy Treatment

The day after we discussed the chemo plan with the oncologist, we took Logan in for his first treatment. He had 6 - 8 hours in the hospital to look forward to..ugh. The first 4 to 5 hours I believe, they pump lots of fluids into a dog receiving this type of chemo drug (Cisplatin). They also administer fluids after the drug is given as well. This is done to protect the kidneys during treatment. I picked Logan up early evening from the hospital and he seemed so-so. Really lethargic and sort of out of it. And of course peeing every 2 minutes! I took the "back way" home as opposed to the highway in case I had to pull over to let him go pee.

It took us a long time to get home due to traffic and I kept glancing at Logan in my rear view mirror. For some reason, Logan has never wanted to lie down in the backseat of the car! He refuses to ever since we brought him to live with us. So, it broke my heart to see that he was trying with all his might to stay sitting up, but finally he just couldn't anymore and ended up plopping down on the seat with a huff and a sigh. He just looked plain miserable! Wouldn't look at me when I talked to him or sang silly stupid songs to him. Wouldn't wag his tail when I said his name. I cried the rest of the way home. Are we doing the right thing?

When we got home that evening, Logan passed out on the floor and slept the rest of the night. I'm sure he needed it.

It was explained to us that with Logan's first treatment, he would most likely experience "delayed side effects" that would begin 4 - 6 days after treatment and would consist of loss of appetite, diarrhea, nausea and lethargy. This would last for a day or two and then he should snap back to normal. Well.....definitely not the case! Logan wouldn't eat at all. Nothing. He turned his nose up to everything and anything...even his favorite treats..."Happy Hips"!
This lasted most of day one after treatment when finally he ate a few bites of canned dog food for my husband.

Day two after chemo....still no appetite. Thankfully no vomiting, though. We tried so many combos; baby food, cat food, all flavors of canned dog food, etc. Nothing.
I finally got him to agree to boiled chicken and rice! So for days, that was the only thing he would eat! Not good.

As the days went on we noticed even more and more the muscle atrophy developing on Logan's head. The top of his head was now pointed, and his temples were totally sunken. This really started to concern us, so I took him to the vet on the fifth day after treatment. I also wanted to talk to our vet about the appetite issue as we were now becoming very worried.

The vet took one look at Logan and became very concerned. He told us that the atrophy was not his primary concern and that Logan needed nutrition - stat! We weighed him, and he was down to 89.4 lbs. Logan weighed 102 lbs. prior to all of this mess. The vet felt around, did some food reaction observation, listened to Logan's lungs, etc. Everything seemed from that perspective. Finally the vet decided to give Logan an injection of Cerenia (an anti-nausea drug) hoping that the root problem was that Logan was just really sick in his stomach. He became very serious and explained that if we couldn't get the stomach and appetite issues under control in 48 hours or so, we needed to think about getting a feeding tube put in as Logan was now considered to be anorexic (which happens a lot in dogs as a result of chemo side effects).

That night I tried to feed Logan everything under the sun. After sobbing for about an hour, I was finally able to get him to eat some lean ground beef! My husband then gave him a few pieces of chicken / dark meat that he ate, but that was it for the night. You could just tell Logan was disgusted by anything we were holding under his nose.

And this brings us to today - the 7th day after the treatment. This is the day I really had my breakdown wondering if we're truly doing the right thing for Logan. At least my husband and I were on the same page and agreed that we would NOT put Logan through this 5 more times for the treatments! We were also still unsure about the feeding tube option. Today was the worst I've seen Logan thus far.

I worked from home again today so I could attempt to feed Logan every hour or so (and had luck only with bacon). I took him back the our general vet in the afternoon for his 2nd Cerenia injection and another weigh-in. Down another pound, just in a day. UGH! We talked about some other food combos to try. The vet then explained that the esophageal feeding tube (in the throat with the feed tube coming out the neck) is no longer an option because of Logan's size (we wouldn't be able to get enough calories in him via that method), so if we did go with a feeding tube, it would have to be gastric (directly into his stomach and out his side), which is more involved. Another bump in the road! We wrapped up with the doc and headed home once again.

Logan and I sat on the kitchen floor pondering what I could go buy for him at the grocery store. After another big sobbing party - I headed out.

So, after the shopping trip I had success with deli meat and hot dogs! So, things are looking up again. It's like a roller coaster! My husband was also able to get Logan to eat quite a bit of protein tonight with all of the different things I bought at the store. So, we're hopeful that Logan will show more improvement by tomorrow. We're taking him for a "recheck" appointment tomorrow with his oncologist to discuss this whole ordeal. I'm also finding out through research and talking to different people that most dogs receiving chemo are also given pre-treatment of anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea meds as well as pills to take home directly after the treatment. This wasn't even offered to us. If Logan continues to improve over the next few days, the only way we will go through with the next chemo treatment is if the doctor can help us figure out a way to NOT put him through these side effects again. We plan to stand pretty firm on this tomorrow. We have also decided that we will not go down the path of a gastric feeding tube.

Wish us luck!

Recovery from Mandibulectomy & The Chemo Treatment Plan

So Logan recovered very well from his surgery. He was such a good boy with the e-collar on all the time even though the healing was starting to make him itch like crazy. All he wanted to do was plunge his face onto our kitchen rug to scratch (like he used to do).


The one issue we ran into though was getting his medication in him! Not good considering one of them was his pain medication! Since he wasn't eating solids, there was no using cheese or deli meat or pill pockets! We tried crushing it into a powder and hiding it in his "flurry", etc. No go! We tried pilling him, and that was a nightmare since we had to be so careful not to tear his stitches and he fought us like a champ!! Finally, our general vet came to the rescue and suggested a pain patch and an injection for the antibiotic! Whew!! This took a huge weight off our shoulders - I can't even explain!


So, when they said "pain patch", I'm thinking...."hmmmm....patch....like a nicotine patch....they'll stick it on his belly where he can't reach it, or up under his front leg or something". Ummmmm....NO! Apparently it's necessary to shave an area the size of Texas right on his back to accommodate the patch! And they staple it to him!! Crazy. But hey...it worked! So, while we were there for the patch and shot, the vet went ahead and removed Logan's drain too (very minor 1 minute procedure).

Two weeks after op day we took him back to the hospital to get his stitches removed and he got to ditch the satellite dish (collar) too!! The surgeon said he looked great and that he could "graduate" to canned food for the next 2 - 3 weeks!

We went back a few days later to discuss next steps with the oncologist. It was explained that with Logan's type of cancer, the best option would be 6 rounds of treatment (3 cisplatin and 3 adriamycin). We were scheduled to drop Logan off the very next morning for his first treatment.

The Surgery

In mid-June our tough guy was taken to the "hospital" and dropped off one Thursday morning to stay for a few days. The procedure was done by a surgeon specialist that afternoon. The surgeon ended up having to do exactly what they predicted, and take the right half of Logan's lower jaw from the hinge up to the front/center - teeth, tissue and all. This sounds just horrifying, I realize. But our research told us, as well as the vet and specialists, that this surgery is fairly common and that dogs fair very well afterward. They adapt incredibly, as we're seeing with Logan.


The surgeon sent the removed portion of Logan's jaw to the lab to get input on whether or not she "got everything" related to the cancer. The lab confirmed that she indeed had, but again - there's no guarantee.


Of course we were on the phone off and on all evening with the hospital getting statuses on our boy, and thankfully he was pretty groggy and on heavy pain medication as well as a morphine drip, so he was resting comfortably.


We went to see him during "visiting hours" the next afternoon, and tried to prepare ourselves for seeing him post-op. I didn't even know if I wanted to go at that point. I didn't know if I could handle it. But the doctors told us Logan wasn't eating for them yet, and sometimes if the owners come in and give it a try, the dog will eat. So, we had to go!

Seeing Logan for the first time really wasn't as bad as what we had pictured. In fact, what bothered us the most wasn't even his jaw, or the appearance of him being in any kind of pain, but rather the fact that the poor guy couldn't walk!! He just has major jaw surgery, but couldn't walk?? He was unable to lift his hind end off the floor at all! The nurses were literally dragging him into the visiting room. We took him outside to try to get him to go to the bathroom, and it was heartbreaking to watch him try to get even to the door. The staff told us it was because of the hospital's "slippery floors". Ummmm....whatever! Yes, it's difficult for dogs to maneuver on shiny, tile floors, especially a dog with arthritis and joint issues, like Logan, but...this was ridiculous!


The staff mixed up some "dog flurries" in the blender and we got Logan to eat two bowls for us, which was great! We then had to leave him behind for another night. This was actually fine, though and would've been requested by us anyway because we felt more comfortable having him monitored one more night in a place where they can react quickly if anything should go wrong. We worried the whole way home about the walking issue. Then of course once again, I got online and read about how this type of sudden lameness can be signs of all sorts of horrible problems! We called a few times during the night, but the staff couldn't tell us much related to the lameness.


The next morning we talked to a helpful surgeon on call, and he explained that he sees this lameness a lot with larger dogs that have to stay in the kennels there at the hospital and do not get very much exercise or stretching throughout their stay. This made us feel a little better about things. He told us that if we can show him we can get Logan to eat that day, then we can bring him home! So, off to the hospital we went!


When we got there - Logan was walking upright! Yayyy!! Wobbly, but not dragging his back end! We were also able to get Logan to eat - and then some! So we got our discharge instructions and brought Logan home to start his recovery. He was wearing an e-collar, had stitches the entire way down the side of his cheek (inside and out), and a drain in the bottom of his jaw/neck. All things that we would have to monitor very closely. His tongue also now hangs out of his mouth from the right side of his mouth, and we were told that it always will. Kind of cute, actually! ;)


Luckily I was able to work from home the entire first week Logan was at home. We also boarded our other dog at the doggie "hotel" for a few days to make sure Logan has some peace and quiet. He didn't seem to mind the e-collar much, and the drain didn't bother him either. They were both kind of tedious to keep up with, but that's ok. It was very important to keep everything as dry as possible, which was difficult with all of his drooling.


Meal time was interesting. Logan was required to stay on "dog flurries" from the blender for two weeks (mainly canned food and water or broth). Our house smelled so bad (like nasty canned dog food) for those two weeks, and so did Logan (no offense buddy)!! We also had everything covered in sheets and towels. Even though we'd clean him up after every meal, he'd still be "leaking flurry" for a while after he ate. We were told it would take him a little while to teach himself how to use his "new mouth". This surgery causes "drift", which means - Logan's bottom jaw swivels back and forth left to right and is very difficult for him to control (considering there's now no hinge on the right side to hold anything in place). So, obviously this impacts his eating, drinking, the way he holds his tongue, etc.


I told my friends that although we didn't have any "human children"to know from experience, I was convinced that this must be what it's like to bring home a newborn baby! I was doing nothing but prepping food, washing dishes and dog bowls, doing dog laundry, shopping for the dog, and keeping a constant eye on the dog for days on end. Crazy. He's totally worth it all, though...don't get me wrong.


Not much more left to bring this up-to-date. Will post more later.

Get Up To Speed - From Diagnoses to Where We Are Today...

Ok, so - as requested, let me bring you up to speed with Logan's situation.
Back in June, my husband found a large lump (looked kind of like a balloon-like growth) along his lower gum line. We took him to the vet a day or so later and just by watching the vet's face when she first looked at the lump, I knew it wasn't good news. Logan had a dental scheduled for the end of the month, but we moved it up and during the dental, the vet did a biopsy (Logan was "knocked out" for the dental, so this procedure was not painful for him - he was just a little sore afterward and was on some mild pain meds and canned food for a few days). The vet also took x-rays of Logan's jaw, and from just the x-rays, was able to make a pretty good assumption that the outcome didn't look good. The biopsy results came back a few days later, and just as we all suspected - cancer. Our vet explained to us that it was "osteosarcoma" which is bone cancer. He said that during the dental, there was so much jaw bone deterioration, that one of Logan's teeth actually just fell right out when the vet touched it! There are different forms of osteosarcoma, and I have many links and much more detail. Please let me know if you'd like me to go into more detail about the disease in one of my entries, or contact me directly and I can give you the info. Otherwise, I'll compile the info and post it here sometime this week.

Our vet also explained that Logan had most likely been at a minimum, "uncomfortable" for quite some time, and perhaps even in some pain due to the cancer in his jaw bone. He noticed during the dental that there was much more tartar build-up on Logan's left side compared to the right. This indicates that Logan had been chewing his food on only the left side of his mouth (the side w/out the tumor) for quite a while. This is just what is so amazing about dogs, especially labs. No whining, no lethargy, no refusal to go do things, still eating, etc. These dogs just want to please you and they live to do so!! They'll push through the pain just so they can be there for you, and you'll never ever know there's anything wrong.

So my husband and I started doing a lot of researching, mainly on the internet of course. That can be good and bad. I eventually had to force myself not to look online anymore just because I started thinking the worst which doesn't help the situation. Osteosarcoma is the most common cancer among dogs. It typically begins in the limbs, though - whereas Logan's began in his jaw(which is also common, but not as much as beginning in the legs). It is a fast-spreading, aggressive form of cancer and needs to be addressed quickly. Obviously, the earlier the detection of the disease, the better. Our vet referred us to an oncologist (at Georgia Vet Specialists in Sandy Springs, GA, http://www.gvsvet.com - if you want to know any info about this place - let me know).

A few days later we took Logan to see the oncologist. We had tried to prep ourselves for what he would tell us our next steps were (our general vet sort of already explained what the typical process is). The oncologist told us that one of Logan's lymph nodes was swollen, and that concerned him a bit, but "not to be alarmed" (gotta love hearing that 100 times throughout this whole ordeal). So, the doc took x-rays of Logan's lungs (this is typically the first place the cancer will metastasize/ spread to) - and thankfully, he didn't see any cancer in the area. However, it's prudent of us to keep in the back of our minds that it's possible that the cancer could already be in Logan's lungs, but just not showing up on the x-rays yet. But...so far, so good.
Then the doc took cells from Logan's lymph nodes to be tested. These results came back clear as well. There are many reasons the lymph nodes can become swollen, so there was no further concern at this point.

Next steps?? Aggressive surgery. We were told that Logan would need to receive a partial axial mandibulectomy (removal of the 1/2 of his lower jaw where the cancer has stemmed from).

Must go feed the "kids". Will post the "next chapter" later today!
Stay tuned...

Greetings!

Hi all! Everyone has been suggesting that I start a blog about Logan (our labrador retriever), so I can post updates in one place instead of having to keep up with emails and vmails :) All of the questions, interest, well wishes and support are so appreciated, that I don't want to leave anyone out who has been curious about the latest and greatest.
For those of you who haven't been following the story.....
Logan is our 11-year-old yellow lab. He came to live with us about 3 years ago here in Atlanta and has been nothing but a happy, well-behaved, smart-as-hell, super sweet pup! We adore him and he seems to love us too ;) He has become especially close to my husband.
In May we found a tumor on Logan's gums and to summarize, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Time moved so quickly at that point and Logan has had a partial mandibulectomy (removal of 1/2 of his lower jaw) and has been through his first chemo treatment. I have received so many questions and concerns about this whole process from friends and family, as well as people I don't even know (who have found me online either from my website or from online forums I belong to about dogs with cancer). I'm learning so much and would've loved to have come across a full, detailed blow-by-blow of someone's experience with canine osteosarcoma at the beginning of this whole ordeal. Maybe I would've had something to relate to and perhaps something to help us know what questions to ask, etc. at the very beginning. So - I've decided to take my friends' suggestions, and post a blog! If for no other reason, maybe someday some other animal lover going through this same thing will come across these posts and find them helpful. I'll post the story up to this point later this evening! Thanks again to everyone for your support!