On Feb. 19, we took Sadie in for her pre-chemo blood work. Since her stool was still bloody, we also had her tested for pancreatitis (came back negative). She had lost more weight, now at only 13 lbs. She was given IV fluids to replace lost electrolytes. I also was able to get a prescription for the appetite stimulant, mirtazapine. It’s not hard on the stomach like prednisone, can be given on an empty stomach, and also has anti-nausea properties. The next day she seemed a bit hungry, and ate a little bit, but threw up. By the next day, she was eating great! I had to drop Sadie off with my in-laws for a little while, and when I checked on her, they said she was eating like a little pig again! How I wished we’d been warned to ration her portion sizes! Although we were thrilled she was eating, overfeeding can be harmful, and in Sadie’s case, it was. She should have only been fed 2 tablespoons of food at a time.
The next morning, I took Sadie in for her first chemo treatment. The plan was to give her a vincristine injection every 2 weeks, and ½ pill of cytoxan every other day. But over the last couple of days, I noticed that Sadie was vomiting undigested food. Come to think of it, in the past she regularly vomited undigested kibbles hours after eating. Around midnight, she threw up 5 times in ½ hour. Although her last meal had been at 4pm, it was undigested. Her vet said it sounded like she had a motility problem, and in addition to the chemo, gave her an injection of the drug Reglan. She did well that first morning as far as the chemo went, but by early afternoon, she was still vomiting. I took her back to the vet for more shots, Cerenia and Reglan namely. I made the mistake of buying 6 unreturnable shots (at $18 a pop!), believing that it would be easier to give Sadie a shot than pop a pill, to get through the weekend. HA! I will never forget the kindness of one of the assistants at the clinic, who happened to be my neighbor, as I met her later in the evening to give Sadie a Reglan shot. Unfortunately, Sadie did not eat on this day. That could not have been good for her. I will never forget Sadie that night---here she’d had this rather awful day, but at night she would still get on the bed and try to dig up the pillows! It was comforting to know she did not really know she was sick.
One more thing: the pharmacy had made an error on the cytoxan label. Although Sadie’s vet was suspicious and was going to call, she forgot and popped the pill anyway. It was twice as much as Sadie should have had. She admitted her mistake, and said we’d forgo the next scheduled dose. The next 2 days were very, very difficult. She had gone an entire week without proper digestion and she was very weak. On Monday, Feb. 25, we knew something had to change. We had a plan of action with our vet: special nutrients were ordered and we would feed Sadie through an IV. Although it would cost us about $300 a day, we felt desperate and would do this for 3 days, leaving her there from morning til 5pm. Although Sadie was unusually subdued when we would bring her home, we were told that she would be alert during the daytime. The next day, Feb. 28, to our joy Sadie was eating again! It was a very good day, and we kept saying “Sadie’s back!” That was the only completely normal day we'd had in a long time, and little did I know, would ever have again. I cherished every moment. The next morning, I took her in for her pre-chemo blood work. The office’s machine was out of fluid and the test had to be sent off, so we waited a day. I spent the day with her and it was a very good day. She was beginning to eat again on her own. As happy as I was with her new appetite, I should not have stopped hand feeding her. I had set a plate out of heavily-drained and blotted ground beef, and although it wasn’t a huge amount, she didn’t have the self-control to not gobble it all up at once. So, she spit it out, and only ate a little more later that evening. I felt terrible that I could not foresee what would have happened.
Throughout the night she would continue to spit up the little bits of ground beef from the gorging. The next morning, I took her back to the vet so that she could get her Cytoxan dose, as I still was uncomfortable administering a chemo drug. By now, she weighed 12.2 lbs. That broke my heart. We had a rough day, and I tried giving her a Reglan shot, but she snapped at me. I administered a pill instead. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: had I known how beneficial very small syringes filled food and crushed pills were, it would have made a difference! I simply did not know. Sadie began to cough that day, and we could hear congestion. About 1am, she got up and looked like she wanted to drink, but then started moaning and groaning. This was the most awful night we ever endured. She was moaning and shivering, and we thought we were about to lose her. We are in a profession that warrants middle-of-the-night phone calls, but I was hesitant to make one myself. But this was an emergency, so I called the on-call number. The vet asked me to check Sadie’s gums. They were not pale, and I was assured this was not the end. But it felt like it. It was so difficult to see her like that. A few hours later she got up to drink, and needed to go outside. She was groaning with stomach pain. When she came back in, she fell asleep, but she had frequent stomach contractions and even moaned in her sleep. It was the saddest thing to see her in pain. My husband and I made a very difficult decision: there would be no more chemo for our girl. We tried, but it just was not for her.
The next morning, I took Sadie in for her first chemo treatment. The plan was to give her a vincristine injection every 2 weeks, and ½ pill of cytoxan every other day. But over the last couple of days, I noticed that Sadie was vomiting undigested food. Come to think of it, in the past she regularly vomited undigested kibbles hours after eating. Around midnight, she threw up 5 times in ½ hour. Although her last meal had been at 4pm, it was undigested. Her vet said it sounded like she had a motility problem, and in addition to the chemo, gave her an injection of the drug Reglan. She did well that first morning as far as the chemo went, but by early afternoon, she was still vomiting. I took her back to the vet for more shots, Cerenia and Reglan namely. I made the mistake of buying 6 unreturnable shots (at $18 a pop!), believing that it would be easier to give Sadie a shot than pop a pill, to get through the weekend. HA! I will never forget the kindness of one of the assistants at the clinic, who happened to be my neighbor, as I met her later in the evening to give Sadie a Reglan shot. Unfortunately, Sadie did not eat on this day. That could not have been good for her. I will never forget Sadie that night---here she’d had this rather awful day, but at night she would still get on the bed and try to dig up the pillows! It was comforting to know she did not really know she was sick.
One more thing: the pharmacy had made an error on the cytoxan label. Although Sadie’s vet was suspicious and was going to call, she forgot and popped the pill anyway. It was twice as much as Sadie should have had. She admitted her mistake, and said we’d forgo the next scheduled dose. The next 2 days were very, very difficult. She had gone an entire week without proper digestion and she was very weak. On Monday, Feb. 25, we knew something had to change. We had a plan of action with our vet: special nutrients were ordered and we would feed Sadie through an IV. Although it would cost us about $300 a day, we felt desperate and would do this for 3 days, leaving her there from morning til 5pm. Although Sadie was unusually subdued when we would bring her home, we were told that she would be alert during the daytime. The next day, Feb. 28, to our joy Sadie was eating again! It was a very good day, and we kept saying “Sadie’s back!” That was the only completely normal day we'd had in a long time, and little did I know, would ever have again. I cherished every moment. The next morning, I took her in for her pre-chemo blood work. The office’s machine was out of fluid and the test had to be sent off, so we waited a day. I spent the day with her and it was a very good day. She was beginning to eat again on her own. As happy as I was with her new appetite, I should not have stopped hand feeding her. I had set a plate out of heavily-drained and blotted ground beef, and although it wasn’t a huge amount, she didn’t have the self-control to not gobble it all up at once. So, she spit it out, and only ate a little more later that evening. I felt terrible that I could not foresee what would have happened.
Throughout the night she would continue to spit up the little bits of ground beef from the gorging. The next morning, I took her back to the vet so that she could get her Cytoxan dose, as I still was uncomfortable administering a chemo drug. By now, she weighed 12.2 lbs. That broke my heart. We had a rough day, and I tried giving her a Reglan shot, but she snapped at me. I administered a pill instead. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: had I known how beneficial very small syringes filled food and crushed pills were, it would have made a difference! I simply did not know. Sadie began to cough that day, and we could hear congestion. About 1am, she got up and looked like she wanted to drink, but then started moaning and groaning. This was the most awful night we ever endured. She was moaning and shivering, and we thought we were about to lose her. We are in a profession that warrants middle-of-the-night phone calls, but I was hesitant to make one myself. But this was an emergency, so I called the on-call number. The vet asked me to check Sadie’s gums. They were not pale, and I was assured this was not the end. But it felt like it. It was so difficult to see her like that. A few hours later she got up to drink, and needed to go outside. She was groaning with stomach pain. When she came back in, she fell asleep, but she had frequent stomach contractions and even moaned in her sleep. It was the saddest thing to see her in pain. My husband and I made a very difficult decision: there would be no more chemo for our girl. We tried, but it just was not for her.
