HELP - My best friend has osteosarcoma

[Xena's Daddy]

Originally Posted by Ninasmom

Nina had a rough night.

I got home from work late yesterday, so DH had fed them dinner. Nina apparently promptly vomitted in the family room. I found out when I stepped in the wet (but clean by now) spot. So she was subdued in the evening, but no more vomitting.

Around midnight, I woke up to the sound of her heaving. Dry heaving and coughing. Got her through that episode, calmed her down and we all went back to sleep.

At 3am, we had the same scenario. But this time when I got out of bed to check on her, she immediately jumped up, moving like I haven't seen her move in months, and ran to the door to be let out. I let her out and my worst fears occurred - diarrhea. For Nina, this could be the fatal blow, as it appears her PLE is acting up. DH fed her some breakfast just to get her pills in her, but she was moving v e r y slow this morning.

Mommy is not happy.

Oh boy.........sorry to hear about Nina...
Hopefully she just has a 'bug'??? (Hey, anything's possible, right? )
Will she be seeing the Vet today? Maybe there's something they can give her that would help.............(?)

Keep us updated,
MK

P.S. Forgive my ignorance, but what is PLE?

[Marley55]

Mike....PLE is often associated with cancer. A quick summary :

Hypoproteinemia (low protein levels) caused by an excessive loss of protein into the gut. Many different disease processes can cause or are associated with PLE. The clinical signs seen are quite varied, ranging from mild non-specific intermittent signs, to profound weight loss, emaciation, and in some cases, life-threatening respiratory difficulty secondary to fluid accumulation in the chest cavity.

Ninasmom...I am very sorry to hear that Nina is having a rought time. I am hoping as the day goes on she feels better. Keep us posted on how she is doing.

Take care ...Marley

[Xena's Daddy]

Thanks for the info Marley55!!
MK

P.S. I hate learning new words/terms when they have meanings like this attached to them........

[Ninasmom]

Nina's condition is unfortunately chronic and while probably heightened by the cancer, not related to it. She was diagnosed with PLE at 18 months and in truth wasn't supposed to live past 4. But thanks to a bit of luck and a bit of skill (an AWESOME vet in Rochester who was open to ANYTHING and EVERYTHING), she is almost 10.

DH went home during lunch and she was her usual self. So maybe we can stablize her one more time. The last episode was so bad though... it took us 6 months to get her stable... we don't have 6 months this time and I won't have her suffer.

[caseygina]

ninasmom-
i hope everything works out okay for nina-and you. this is soooo hard to watch. two words-cancer sucks!!

[lucasmom]

Ninasmom-
I am so sorry to hear about Nina. Sounds like she is a fighter and has been conquering medical problems since she was just a pup. I pray that she overcomes this event as well. Our dogs are strong little warriors and they are very resilient. By the way...can you tell me WHO the AWESOME vet is in Rochester? I need a new vet as I have been very dissappointed in my vet. He is just waiting for Lucas to die and doesn't even want to see him back until he is ready to be PTS. He said that he sees "No point" in seeing him for follow up visits. He does continue to prescribe his medications though, so I guess I have to be thankful for that. I will keep Nina in my prayers.

Marley...I pray that Jaxx makes it to all of your family vacations. I know exactly what you mean about wanting to share our special summer moments with our buddies one more time. Lucas comes to our cottage on the Lake and he jumps in the water looking for fish. It is so funny when he actually catches a sunfish!! He bites the water for hours while chasing the waves. I can just sit on the dock for hours and watch him. Aren't wet Rottweilers just the most AWESOME sight????? Our next milestone will be my son's birthday at the end of June.

On July 4th we have a big party at our cottage with fireworks and an all day picnic. Lucas just sits there and watches the fireworks in the sky. He actually watches them and appears to really enjoy them. We watch is head go up and down following the trails of the fireworks. Gosh...I am going to miss all of these special times without him. It is so hard for me to even "go there" without him by my side.

God bless to all. Nina....sleep well tonight, little princess. Laurie

[Ninasmom]

Laurie - it's Walworth Animal Hospital; Marcia Campbell & Luba Druin. They BOTH are amazing vets; open-minded and so kind hearted. They have both lived with large breed dogs and truly understand what treatments they ned. They also have a kennel on site and will take the dogs. It was the only place I would leave my chow, as he is a moody beast (typical chow) when away from me. They 'got him'; they would put him and Nina in the same run, leash Nina, say, "C'mon Rogan" and know he would follow Nina anywhere. Luba specifically saved Nina's life on more than one occasion. She once told me, when Nina's PLE was under control, "You know - other people would have put her down. I'm glad you kept fighting." She also said that Nina was one or her favorite patients ever. (And no, she didn't say that about Rogue.) Every dog person on the South East side of Rochester goes to them or Fairport Animal Hospital. But I think the lead vet at Fairport has retired since we moved.

[lucasmom]

Ninasmom-
Thank you so much for the referral. I looked Walworth Animal Hospital up on the web and the vets are rated as top-notch. Apparently many other pet owners also feel the same way you do. I will call them in the morning and see if I can get an appointment for Lucas. I really appreciate this....thank you.

Laurie

[caseygina]

Hi Everyone,
Hope this finds you all well. Riley is not doing to good. She had a great day on Wednesday, her "grandparents" came up and she actually ran to see them!! Thursday she was okay, but she didn't eat her food yesterday, we ended up cooking her plain hamburger, she did eat that, but she is drinking an awful lot of water. She did eat a little bit this morning, but not the same. I am still managing to give Riley her meds, but I am so concerned by this quick turn of events. I fear the worst is close, and we are going to need to make that dreadful decision a lot sooner that I had imagined. Please keep Riley in your thoughts.
Thanks,
Gina

[BeauandShan]

Caseygina My thoughts are with you and Riley xx

[Ninasmom]

I know how you feel, Gina. Nina had another rough night - alot of coughing, which leads me to believe we may have finally metasticized to the lungs. She's fine now (and has been all day) but at 3am things don't look so great.

I hate the fact that the rough days seem to be coming faster and faster...

Laurie - did you ever call Walworth Animal Hospital?

[Marley55]

Ninasmom and Gina, I am so sorry to hear Riley and Nina are not doing well. I will keep you in my thoughts. I check this thread every day to see how all of our "kids" are doing.

Jaxx had a fair week, a rough night on Tuesday but then he snapped right back. His OS is located in the proximal humerus and this is the first time I have actually been able to see an increase in the size. I could feel a difference but now that I can actually see it I am just so pained by it. I think I was using the "out of sight out of mind" rational. Today he was up and playing, acting totally silly flinging his stuffed monkey up in the air and I am just watching him bawling my eyes out. I took so many pictures today trying to capture every detail of the silly goofy big lug that I just love so much.

Keeping everyone in my thoughts and prayers.

Take care.....Marley

[lucasmom]

Gina...I am so sorry to hear about Riley. The whole "not eating" thing is so scary. At least the hamburger is working. I worry when Lucas doesn't want to drink water sometimes. I can see that he is losing weight now and his collar is getting too big for him. I am so afraid to take him to the vet because I am afraid he will tell me that Lucas' tumor is too big and that he has lost too much weight. Gina, I feel your pain and how we are almost "supervising" every salient change in our dogs' condition. It is very exhausting. I will continue to pray for Riley.

Ninasmom...Oh how I hope that Nina doesn't have the cancer in her lungs. I remember when I thought that Lucas had mets to his lungs because he was coughing. Fortunately, it was a false alarm and his CXR was clear. I will be praying for Nina as well. Thanks again for the referral to Walworth Animal Hospital. We are going to see Marcia Campbell in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know how I make out.

Marley...Isn't amazing how these dogs bounce back? They can have a lousey day and you are sure that they will not make it to the next week, and then, like magic, they are fine the next day. Sometimes Lucas is so bad that I have to pull him up by his collar because he can't get up. Then the next day he is running 60 mph chasing squirrels. I will also continue to keep Jaxx in my prayers.

As hard as this is for all of us, I am so glad that we have each other to uphold and support through this darkness. Being able to follow along with you guys and share our common struggles really helps me. I hope that you are being helped as well. Good night my rottie friends. I hope and pray that we have a restful night. Laurie

[Anne]

Gina I am thinking of you and Riley and of Ninasmom. I hope Riley and Nina rally round and it was just one bad day with many more good ones to come.

Sophie is still doing well but the tumour is growing so quickly. Her appetite is good and she's not having bad days as yet though she is quieter some days than others. We see the oncologist again in 8 days.

Laurie, you and Lucas are always in my thoughts and wishing the best to Marley and Jaxx too. You are right Laurie, caring for a cancer dog is exhausting. We watch every movement and want so much to help them. I think knowing Sophie has cancer and caring for her is the most heartbreaking thing I've ever been through.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

[caseygina]

Hi everyone,
I wanted to give you an update. We are taking Riley to the vet today at 5:45-the hardest decision we will ever have to make. She has barely eaten since Friday, although she is drinking a lot of water. It is a struggle for her to get up, go to the bathroom, or even shift positions on the bed. Her breathing is labored, and her eyes just don't look the same. She is also dragging her bad leg, and I fear one misstep or loss of balance will break her already fragile leg. My husband and I debated about this all weekend and made the decision this morning. It is the absolute most heart wrenching call I have ever had to make. We are questioning if it is the "right" time, but we realize it never will be.