Oncologist (link to todays chemo update)

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Re: Oncologist

I've been working the past few days and unable to post, but have been thinking about you and Jeddie and glad to see the appointment has moved to sooner!!!

I have no idea if this is relevant for the type of cancer Jeddie has. I told you about my big dog with Chondrosarcoma that was treated with surgery. Well....we had another rescue that had Lymphoma (her name was Dak). Lymphoma in dogs is always terminal, so the treatments are geared towards extending quality of life vs. cure.

After diagnosis, we too went to see an oncologist, and they told us that the best outcomes were with IV chemotherapy and if we moved forward, we could expect a mean survival of 9-12 months For this type of cancer, it would involve going to the center 3x/week for 4-6 weeks. They would sedate her each visit and infuse the chemo drug over 2-3 hours. They reassured us that animals don't really react like humans do to chemo, meaning no hair loss, no nausea and vomiting, and no fatigue. This was really important to us because we didn't want to affect her quality of life in the short time we had left.

But we had some different concerns at play. Dak got car sick every time she rode in the car. The oncology office was an hour away, which meant she'd be sick for 2x/day for 3 days/week for 4-6weeks. Also, when we rescued her, it was because she was left locked in a kennel in an apartment that was abandoned by the owners. She was in pretty rough shape and needless to say, scared of cages and also of being alone. The thought of leaving her alone at the clinic, where they have to use kennels for safety reasons, was just too much.

So....we looked for other options and talked to the oncologist about what that could mean. In the end, we chose an oral chemo drug that was dosed 1x/month. We were told that the mean survival of the oral vs. the IV for Lymphoma was 4-6 months. After considering everything, we decided that with Lymphoma being a terminal cancer, it was more important to ensure that the quality of life left was more important than the quantity of life left. Dak died 6 months later at our home without spending one day feeling sick, alone or afraid.

My thoughts are with you this week.
 
Re: Oncologist

Thanks, Jessica, for sharing your experience. I think you made the right decision. No question.

I do not know how much time chemo can give Jeddie - of even if chemo is an option. I won't know until the oncologist tells me on Thursday.

I look at him now and I just want it to all go away - to reverse back to where he was before. He has slipped down hill in the past two weeks as it is harder to keep clean. That is the main thing that is noticeable now.

It's hard, but I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other at this point.
 
Re: Oncologist

I am leaving in a few minutes to take him to the oncologist. Paws crossed that there is something that can be done for him.

I will post an update on Health when I get back and let you all know what the oncologist says.
 
Re: Oncologist

Me too, I'm hoping and praying that they can give guidance on treatment options, or if they can't, at least if they could give options for making him comfortable and preserve his "Jeddie-ness" which is most important above all.

:YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Sheila,
I was just reading your update over on Health. I was surprised to read about the side effects in cats, this was a non issue for us in dogs.
In any event, I was thinking about the costs your faced with and had a few ideas to share that we did when Dak was going through chemo - to help lower the cost. Not sure if any of these will apply to you, but I sure hope so; I hate to think you have any more on your plate to deal with than you already do.

We had to do blood work before each treatment (you mentioned wondering about the effect on other organs....). Our drug was particularly rough on the liver, so Liver Function became important before each administration. Blood work at the Oncologists office was $150 per pull. We talked to our regular vet and she did the panel the day before at her cost of $35 and we brought the results with us.
I think I told you our chemo was oral. We found a local pharmacy that we could buy the pill from. They had to special order it, but instead of $200 per pill at the Oncologists office, we paid $95 at the pharmacy. Our Oncologists wrote the script and was completely fine with us finding other options. We did the same thing for the steroid she needed and have continued to do that with almost all drugs we get for our pets. Sometimes you have to ask the Vet if there's a human version of the drug to get one you can fill. For example, Cerenia is an injection for Dogs but used in cats...Ondansetron is used for humans and is excellent in cats. It's a pill, but doable if he's not truly vomiting and much less expensive.

We declined having extra testing down the line like Ultrasounds and more X-rays that would have identified if the cancer had spread. Once we knew we were dealing with Lymphoma; we knew it didn't matter and although knowing may be a human priority, it would have done absolutely nothing to change Dak's treatment or quality of life.

I'll ask my husband if he can remember anything else we did. Being able to save some $$$$ for the important treatments can really help you to extend what you can do.

My thoughts continue to be with you both :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Those are good ideas. Not sure if right now I can apply any of them.

Meds are "cheaper" for a cat because they are dosed by weight. And his chemo right now is the IV kind, so I can't get that anywhere else :roll: The blood panel at this vet is $44. I think my vet is $40, or even higher - plus it means another car ride for him. Not worth the few bucks it might save. I do see that they give him sub-Q fluids at $27. I don't know if I could give them at home beforehand. It takes me an hour to get there, so that might not work.

Other meds that I get for my cats, I get scripts and fill at a regular pharmacy using my AAA discount card, so I can save a little money there. I get both of Beau's meds that way, his diltiazem and his methimazole. I had Jeddie's flouxetine there too, but I just weened him off that because it is contraindicated with the pain meds he will get Rx'd when the time comes to do that. Plus, he seems to be OK without it now and I'd rather he didn't have another drug for his liver to work on right now.
 
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