CHEMO - WEEK ONE

You can see the tumors and lymph nodes on her belly.

 

 

We’ve almost made it through the first round of chemo.  Beasley’s white blood cell count was lower than half of what it should be but Dr. B said it should recover by the next treatment, which will be in 2 weeks. There will be a total of 5 treatments spread out every three weeks.

 I started her on the Beta Glucan but I’m going to increase the amount.  The recommended dosage for a 100 lb. person with a chronic condition is 2.3 - 500 mg. capsules a day.  I’ve been giving her 2 - 100 mg. capsules a day so I’m going to order some that are 500 mg. so I only have to give her one.  Since she weighs about 35 lbs., that’s a little more than she really needs but it’s hard to bury so many pills in food. 

The piroxicam comes in today. I had to order it from a pharmacy.  Because it’s an NSAID, one of the side-effects is liver damage so I started adding milk thistle to her regime.  Mac takes meloxicam three times a week and it has helped his liver count return to almost normal. 

Another side-effect of piroxicam is that it can upset the stomach or give her heartburn.  So I need to run out today and get some Zantac.  150 mg. twice a day with her meals.

Ordered some Vetri-Science Cell Advance 880, delivered yesterday.  More great reviews on Amazon.  It has helped with everything from cataracts, ACL tears, arthritis to tumors.  I’ll be giving them to Mac as well. 

I also added 2 - 500 mg. Krill oil capsules a day to everything else.  We all know about the benefits of fish oil and Krill comes from small crustaceans, not fatty fish, and contains more EPA. And unlike conventional fish-oil pills, Krill oil’s omega-3s are linked to an antioxidant and other potentially beneficial substances. So far, it’s been easy to give her pills.  Bury them in wet food.

Dr. B said to watch her and if she starts acting like she doesn’t feel well, give her antibiotics.  Or if she has a fever.  So I bought a thermometer and get to add taking a dog’s temperature from their butt to my already strange repertoire.  Dog’s normal temp is 102.  Anything over 103 is high.

Other than that, she seems to be feeling great.  She’s done three things in the last week that she’s never done before.  She hung out with my friend and me in the kitchen, and only left because I scared her when I tried to take her picture.  She ate dinner in front of another friend, and she laid on the floor with me while I was exercising.  So much progress in trusting.

She’s eating fine, playing with toys and this morning instead of just taking a toy out of the toy basket, she tried to take the entire basket.  She even recovered from her trip to the vet a little quicker than last time.  It really does traumatize her to go in the car.  I wish it didn’t but I’m hoping that will get easier on her.