CHEMOTHERAPY - DAY 3

So far, so good. She’s happy, playing with toys, going potty on her own and eating.  She doesn’t act like she’s nauseous or has an upset stomach at all.  She slept really well, snuggled up to me and seems fine.

Another thing I’m concerned about is infection. My vet told me about this a few days ago but my mind has been on information overload.  The chemo can lower the white blood cell count making the risk of infection higher.  So I started giving her Beta 1-3 or Beta-Glucan.  I read about it and it sounds amazing.  It stimulates the immune system, even targeting white blood cells.  The reviews on Amazon alone made it sound like a miracle supplement, quite a few written by cancer patients/survivors.   I went to a vitamin store yesterday and bought some but noticed the same one I bought was half the price on Amazon.  So I’ll be ordering it from now on.

Healthcare providers sometimes give beta glucans by a shot under the skin (subcutaneously) for treating and reducing the size of skin tumors resulting from cancer that has spread. But a lot of the articles I read said it has the same effect in pill form.  They also use it as a prevention for infection.

And then I read you’re not supposed to combine with Piroxicam because it’s an NSAID.  I haven’t started giving her the Piroxicam yet so I have more research to do after talking with my vet. 

There’s also a supplement called Inositol Hexaphosphate (also called IP6).  So I may try that instead. I need to do a little more reading on it but so far I read the following:   

Animal and lab research has found that IP6 might be effective in preventing tumors from forming and slowing tumor growth. One small study done in humans found that IP6 might help ease the side effects of chemotherapy and improve quality of life in people with cancer. Still, more clinical trials are needed to confirm these results and to find out if it might work in preventing or treating cancer in humans.

One strange thing that’s happened though is that all of the other dogs are sneezing.  Not runny nose sneezing, just sneezing.  They started a few hours after I brought Beasley home. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence because it’s been hot and the allergens are in full force but I’ve never noticed it before. Stinky and Melinda have allergies but they are skin allergies and both take Claritin.

So much to learn! Feel free to not read all of this, I’m mostly writing it for me, not only to keep a journal but it helps me sort things out and learn more about it.