Visit with the Oncologist

Sorry for the delay, we had to change Lexy's oncology visit to this morning at 9am.  The visit went great and it was very informative!  This is what I got from the visit.

When dogs have cancer there are three ways to deal with it from a traditional standpoint: surgery, chemo & radiation.  When dealing with nasal adenocarcinoma, surgery has been shown to be vastly ineffective.  Since nasal cancer is limited to one area of the body, chemo also is not a good choice.  With Lexy's type of cancer radiation is the ticket!  With the right treatment, radiation can not only shrink the tumor but can make the cancer go into remission.

Of course with all things, there are many variables to consider and the outcome of the treatment strongly depends on those variable.  The dogs age, size of the tumor, cancer cell rate, number of treatments, strength of the treatments, and side effects all play a major role in how effective the treatment is.  From what the doctor explained Lexy is in very good health, her tumor is big but growing at a very slow rate, and she has a very low grade version of this cancer.  She was very confident that if we did the treatments we're looking at at least another 1.5 years with Lexy, maybe even more!

The doctor gave us three package options, and I'm not going to lie, they were all very very pricey (2-7k).  I discussed with a friend of mine that has done radiation\chemo with his dog to see what his experience was.  He put it to me this way, the dog does suffer a little, but if it gives then back a good amount of time and maybe some relief within that time, it's totally worth it.  Think about it, Lexy is 10, if she gets 2 more years that's 20% of her life, would you suffer for a few weeks and a few thousand dollars to get 20 years back on your own life?  If the answer is yes then maybe you should just figure it out and do the treatments, your dog has loved you unconditionally and they deserve everything you can do for them.

The doctor gave us three package options: Aggressive 20 treatments (5times\week for 4 weeks), Not Aggressive (1time\week for 4 weeks), and a nice happy medium included in a clinical trial.  The happy medium is the one we are leaning towards, it's 5times\week for 2 weeks, plus a drug trial.  The drug is a FDA approved cancer drug already being used, its just never been used for this type of nasal cancer.  For radiation the side effects are irritated skin & hair loss on the area being treated, dry eyes, lethargy, nausea, and loss of appetite, all depending on the dog and the amount and strength of the treatments.  For the drug, the doc said the worst she's seen is diarrhea. 

We haven't made a definite decision, but we know we want to do something, just not something that may cause her too much discomfort.  I want to give her some relief and do whatever I can to extend her life, while simultaneously keeping in mind her mental well being.  Lexy is a tough cookie though, and I think she can deal with 2 weeks of some irritation to get back 2 years of her life. 

Here's more info on the trial:
http://www.rbvh.net/trialdetails.php?Nasal-Carcinoma-2

We're going to a holistic vet tomorrow to get their take on radiation and see what options they have for us.  Thanks for the support, check back soon!


http://www.dogcancerblog.com/radiation-therapy-and-dog-cancer/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2643460/

http://www.veterinarycancer.com/nasal_tumors.html

Is your Kibble Crap?

*Waving my Magic 8-Ball*..... "Signs point to YES!"

There are many things that can cause your dog to get cancer including but not limited to: genetics, infection, inflammation, hormones, environment, oral care etc etc.  Being a very over analytical person (female), I can't help but try to figure out where I went wrong and how I can help.  Sure there are things that are completely out of our control, but there are a few that are in your control and diet is definitely one of them.

Interestingly enough, cancer in both people and pets has risen in tandem with the rise in processed foods eaten by both.  Now while you have the ability to make your own decisions and put whatever you want in your own body, your dog doesn't have that luxury.  Try to make an informed decision for him\her and do a little research.  Read the ingredients and look them up if you dare, chances are if the word is too big for you to pronounce there's a chance it's not good for them.

This was a fun article to read:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

My favorites are:
Propylene Glycol - used in antifreeze solutions, in hydraulic fluids, and as a solvent (Yum!)

Blue 2 (artificial color) - The largest study suggested, but did not prove, that this dye caused brain tumors in male mice. The FDA concluded that there is "reasonable certainty of no harm". (Sign me up!)

Cellulose - Dried wood is the most common source for cellulose. It is cleaned, processed into a fine powder and used to add bulk and consistency to cheap pet foods. (The store is closed, feed your dog wood!)

Chicken Byproduct Meal - Chicken byproducts are much less expensive and less digestible than the chicken muscle meat.The ingredients of each batch can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent. Don't forget that byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. (Seriously?)

I know that buying dog food from the supermarket is cheap and extremely convenient, but SPAM is also cheap and convenient and you wouldn't eat that everyday!

This is a good website to rate your dog's food:
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

Dry dog foods I've read that are really great are: Blue Buffalo, Evo, Innova, Orijen, and Taste of the Wild.  Most dog food companies are coming out with a no-grain line, I can't help but feel that trend has something to do with overall animal health.

I recently switched Lexy to Evo Weight Management Formula because it's very high in protein and that is suppose to be good for dogs with cancer. (more on dog cancer diets to come)

I understand that some of these food may be out of your price range, but you know, animals are not cheap... and honestly if you can't afford at least a good kibble for your dog... maybe you shouldn't have one.  Just my opinion, take it or leave it.

If you want them to be healthy when they are old, you should try to start when they are little. Yes, this is little Lexy!

Lexy goes for her Oncology visit tomorrow, wish her luck!

Stop the Bloody Snot Rockets!

The one thing that we wanted more than anything was to give our poor pup some relief from the discharge!

There are many causes of nasal discharge in dogs, but discharge with blood is usually call for alarm.  In Lexy's case the cause is a tumor growth in her nasal passage.  From what I've read surgery to remove the mass causes more harm than good.  Radiation can be a way to shrink the tumor, but it's expensive and has it's side effects.  (Not that we are ruling that out, we just haven't seen the oncologist yet)

What the vet at Northstar was able to do immediately was try to remove as much as she safely could while performing her last biopsy.  This reduced the size of the tumor and in turn reduced the amount of pressure and bleeding.

As soon as I found out Lexy's diagnosis I started researching the best practices for dogs with nasal cancer. Throughout my research I found a Chinese herb that if taken orally can act as a coagulant and help with the bleeding.  I found it on amazon for very cheap!  The herb is called Yunnan Baiyao.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunnan_Baiyao

http://www.modernherbshop.com/Yunnan_Baiyao_Yunnan_Paiyao_s/147.htm

http://dogcanceradvice.com/839/yunnan-baiyao-for-bleeding-in-dogs-with-cancer/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VSUBUI/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00

Now... I am not a Veterinarian, and I am not telling you to give your dog Chinese herbs... I'm simply just conveying what I did for Lexy and regurgitating the results.  Please keep in mind that combining this coagulant with anti-coagulants would be counter productive, duh! 

As of yesterday the bleeding has stopped after 4 days of the herb.  Could the bleeding have stopped because of what the vet did for her?  Sure it could have.  All I can say is after her first biopsy the bleeding continued, and this is the first time in 7 months that the sneezing and snot rockets have ceased to exist.  She stopped snoring at night and is finally getting a good nights rest.

Thank you for supporting Lexy! She sends big fat licks!

Sexy Lexy Licky Loverface - That's One Tough Cookie

Anyone who has ever met Lexy will tell you the same, she is a smart, loving, tough, courageous wonder pup!  I try to warn people when they want to babysit her, taking care of this dog will make you want a dog, but unfortunately there is only one Lexy and you will not be able to replicate her.  I know of four people who got dogs after babysitting Lexy!!!

Lexy is a Stafforshire Bull Terrier.  Everything you read about the breed is true in Lexy.  She's a very big dog in a small package.  She loves every person she meets and love love loves babies and kids.  If she could she would lick your skin off, and she tries at all costs.

Besides Sexy Lexy Licky Loverface, she's also been know as the walking muscle, meat head, meat ball, pumpkin head and the bullet.  She loves to play fetch and would die doing it if you let her.  She's fearless and walks with a confidence you cannot deny.  Besides the cancer in her nose, she is in very good shape.  This is my drive to do everything I can to help her battle this!

This was taken just now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEs8Msrn3ic&feature=g-upl

Other Staffie links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odi0XlI-4_g

http://www.akc.org/breeds/staffordshire_bull_terrier/index.cfm

The Diagnosis

For about a year now, my 10 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier has been suffering from Rhinitis, or that was what we were told at the time.

It started out as just sneezing, minor discharge and what seemed to be a big annoyance to Lexy.  In the beginning we just went to our regular vet and tried out different types of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and antihistamines.  When none of this worked over 3 months, and not one but two vets in that office shrugged their shoulders and said Rhinitis, we decided to try a different vet.

The next vet understood our frustration and offered a way to get down to the problem.  A CT\Rhinoscopy\Biopsy ($$$$) would tell us what we need to know.  At this point the discharge had become bloody, the sneezing more often, and we didn't care how much it costs as long as she could stop suffering.  Imagine having SEVERE allergies, but every time you sneezed a big bloody snot rocket shot out of your nose... GROSS!  This is how I imagined she was feeling and we felt really bad for her.

So we went to one of the largest vet facilities in NJ to get the tests done.  We were told there was a number of things this could be, bacterial, fungal, allergic or cancer.  After the tests we got good news!  The doctor saw a small mass on the CT, but she chalked it up to inflammation.  All the tests were clean including the biopsy "that had great samples".  So here we go with the same diagnosis... Rhinitis.  This doctor tried every medicine she could including: Doxycycline, Zithromax, Piroxicam, Prednizone, Zyrtec, Claritan, Benadryl... and still a whole lot of NOTHING!  Even another vet in the facility reviewed her case and told us the same thing.  This new doctor basically said, it is what it is, it sucks, and you just have to deal.  So that's what we did.

We were beyond frustrated and after spending massive amounts of money, we just cleaned the snot rockets and tried to keep her comfortable.  This went on for seven months, yes seven months of snot rockets and frustration.  What do you do at this point?  I had 5 vets tell me its *shrug* Rhinitis and there's minimal things they could do for me.

Until last week, Lexy took a turn for the worst and began hemorrhaging out of both nostrils.  We rushed her to Northstar, knowing that obviously something had gotten worse.  You feel helpless at this point, you knew something was wrong, maybe you could have stopped it, why couldn't they do anything!  Northstar advised us to redo all the tests, that there was no way to tell until they test, so of course we did.  These results were not as happy, Lexy was finally diagnosed with nasal cancer or adenocarcinoma.  We were relieved but crushed at the same time.  My poor lover pup was going through something awful and there was nothing I could do about it... or is there?

For those that know me, know I don't go down without a fight.  After the diagnosis I've been aggressively researching things that can help either cure or slow down the tumor growth.  I'm writing this blog to share the things that I've found and hopefully help someone else looking for answers.  There's another blog out there (Lucy's blog) that I found very helpful, so I'd like to pay it forward.