tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58594054800351640802012-02-16T11:22:01.287-07:00A blog about Jenna "the Tank" and life with canine lymphomaCherylnoreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-8185011441616708532009-09-20T00:29:00.003-06:002009-09-20T00:46:42.722-06:00

We spread Jenna's ashes at her favourite dog park tonight. She's with Harlem now, out under the sun where she belongs. She always loved the change in the weather in the fall, so we thought this was the best time to do it.It's amazing how the hole they left is still so painful. It has been almost 5 months since we've become dogless, and sometimes we still go to the dog park just because we miss

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-25593721290199391342009-05-30T10:38:00.000-06:002009-05-30T10:39:00.997-06:00

I've been avoiding writing this post, because I just didn't know what to say. We put Jenna to sleep on April 23rd. She could no longer walk on her own, and she had lost all control of her bladder and bowels. She still felt reasonably well at the end - she was eating and drinking and she still loved to be petted - so it was a difficult decision to make. But the vet advised us that there was

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-24468753187486874502009-04-22T00:30:00.000-06:002009-05-31T10:12:47.882-06:00

I'm not sure how to even say this. It's happened so fast, and out of nowhere. On Monday Jenna went into hospital with what looked like a simple case of pancreatitis, and now she can barely walk, and she has lost control of her bowels. They think the cancer has spread to her spinal column. With the sudden rate of progression, the vet doesn't advise a rescue chemo protocol. It likely wouldn't make

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-42131602970359865472009-04-21T15:26:00.000-06:002009-05-31T10:15:17.715-06:00

Jenna is much worse. The pancreatitis started to clear up, and now she is weak and very, very painful in her hind end. X-rays revealed a mass. It doesn't look good at all.

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-57659164426951932122009-04-20T23:14:00.000-06:002009-05-31T10:14:33.773-06:00

Well, Jenna is back in the hospital with an inflamed pancreas. We don't know why. I guess the good news is that her lymph nodes don't seem to be enlarged. Now we are just waiting...

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-4154932764176240082009-03-18T21:43:00.005-06:002009-03-18T21:57:03.141-06:00

She did it!! Jenna made it through an entire 6-month chemo protocol, and she is still in full remission! Our vet says that Jenna is the only patient she has ever had who has successfully completed an entire chemo protocol. She is also very optimistic about our chances of a long remission. So here's to the Bear, and to many more lymphoma-free years!

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-25469720103624315492009-02-18T22:27:00.008-07:002009-03-21T23:03:09.535-06:00

Whew! Have I been negligent! I just changed jobs, and in all that hubbub, I ignored Jenna's blog. First thing's first: Jenna the Tank is still bashing through chemo without slowing down. Since I last blogged, she's had 2 treatments and continues to have no adverse effects. We have 2 more treatments left, and then as long as she stays in remission, we only have to go to the vet for monthly

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-54297254733484454492009-01-23T17:56:00.006-07:002009-01-26T10:24:32.404-07:00

On Wednesday Jenna was treated with doxorubicin, the drug that supposedly causes all the side effects for which chemo drugs are notorious. Jenna is totally oblivious, though, and is bouncing off the walls in the absence of her usual off-leash walks. The vet says we aren't supposed to take her to the park for 72 hours after chemo, and we really do try to be obedient. I think it's as much for other

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-64677210026118762742009-01-17T23:39:00.006-07:002009-01-18T12:36:23.184-07:00

I did something foolish today. I added up all of our vet bills from the day Jenna was diagnosed with lymphoma to the present. And I thought, well, what the hell, the blog is supposed to be about sharing information about lymphoma, so ... I'm sharing.Four months of chemo, plus accompanying medications and bloodwork = $6045.63Granted, we do still have 5 more treatments to go. The chemo treatments

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-6507689191194163562009-01-08T22:58:00.001-07:002009-01-09T10:57:59.499-07:00

Yesterday marked week #16 of Jenna's chemo protocol - vincristine this time. We have 5 more treatments to go. Jenna "the Tank" is fine, as usual, so there's not much to report (thankfully).I am carless this week, as hubby is out of town and has taken our only set of functional wheels, so we made arrangements for Jenna's grandpa to deliver her to the clinic and collect her when the chemo was done.

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-50242431975165570182009-01-01T17:02:00.000-07:002009-01-01T17:02:35.079-07:00

Happy new year everyone! We are so thankful that Jenna is still here, and still hale and hearty as we begin the new year. She did great over the holidays, and survived all the visiting and the endless goodies with energy and appetite to spare. She met the cousins' new baby, endured an entire 24 hours with my sister's crazed one-year-old Lab/Beagle, and stole and devoured an entire gingerbread

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-72761401162870873482008-12-17T22:21:00.002-07:002008-12-17T23:48:17.939-07:00

Ok, so today was the craziest, most horrific day out of all the crazy, horrific days Jenna has had in her near-death-experience-filled life. This morning she was scheduled to go in for chemo as usual. My husband took her to the clinic as usual. He started to unbuckle her collar in order to hand her over to the vet tech - as usual. In the instant that he loosened the buckle, Jenna suddenly

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-23196623087875013492008-12-12T23:50:00.003-07:002008-12-13T00:03:21.346-07:00

This post is behind schedule, mostly due to my sudden and somewhat embarrassing obsession with the Twilight books, about which most of my immediate friends and family will have already heard more than they care to. I hope to finish the stupid things this weekend so I can return to my life.Jenna is indestructible, as always. We didn't have to do chemo this week - the lymph nodes have not come up

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-90963938191356092002008-12-04T12:15:00.000-07:002008-12-04T12:15:00.913-07:00

Well, it has been exactly 3 months since Jenna was diagnosed, and she's still going strong. Yesterday was chemo day, and as usual, she did great. She got home and gobbled up her dinner and then proceeded to beg for ours.The only concern is that the vet thinks Jenna's submandibular (under the jaw) lymph nodes are a tiny bit enlarged. She isn't that worried, because none of the other nodes are at

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-1603917309770389522008-11-26T18:31:00.005-07:002008-12-04T11:48:47.034-07:00

No chemo this week!! Jenna went in today for a checkup, and all is well. Blood work normal, lymph nodes not enlarged, appetite very much intact. Vet ecstatic. Lymphoma, you should just give up now. You are no match for the Big Bad Bear. Can I get a whoop whoop?And here is the long awaited Santa picture:

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-75825254459769654822008-11-23T10:10:00.002-07:002008-11-23T10:21:52.788-07:00

Jenna hiking in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta ...... in Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia... at the Columbia Icefield, Jasper National Park, Alberta... and in the Alberta badlands, Dinosaur Provincial ParkVisiting the dinosaur museum - they wouldn't let her in, though. She's too poorly behaved (and mutty) to pass as a guide dog. ;)Having a field day on a backpacking trip in

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-85749554541421618822008-11-20T18:39:00.003-07:002008-12-04T11:48:07.747-07:00

Well, yesterday was week 10 - doxorubicin. This drug makes me a bit nervous because it can cause heart problems. Also, if it accidentally gets into her skin or muscle tissue (as opposed to into the blood vessels, where it's supposed to go), it causes tissue death. As usual, though, Jenna had no problems.In fact, the clinic was doing pet pictures with Santa in support of our vet's Rwanda charity,

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-1986766810488068402008-11-18T19:30:00.001-07:002008-11-19T14:14:12.237-07:00

Although this blog is Jenna's, I want to write a post about my Labrador, Harlem, because I've been thinking about him a lot lately. I got Har when I was 16 years old. We grew up together. I took him with me when I went to university and moved out on my own, so we were together for his whole life.Harlem was one of those dogs who you find once in a lifetime. He was a sweetheart and a gentleman, but

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-2594490858111445822008-11-13T14:30:00.003-07:002008-12-04T11:47:26.145-07:00

Yesterday morning I dropped Jenna off at the vet for chemo. While the receptionist dutifully asked me questions like "has she had any diarrhea or vomiting?", "is she eating well?", and "how is her energy level?", Jenna alternated between attempting to launch herself at an animal health technician of whom she is particularly fond, jumping up to stand at the counter so she could lick the

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-53522732889336208842008-11-11T20:10:00.000-07:002008-11-11T20:10:21.072-07:00

We almost never call Jenna by her real name. We call her the Bear. And sometimes the Bad Dog. I'm pretty sure we started calling her this because we hated her name. We adopted her from the Humane Society on October 28th, 2003. She was already 3 years old at that point and had lived in 3 homes (all of which returned her to the shelter within a year). The only thing she seemed to know was her name,

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-45524139696171402982008-11-10T10:50:00.002-07:002008-12-04T11:46:41.625-07:00

The chemo protocol that Jenna is on is a slightly altered version of something called the University of Wisconsin-Madison canine lymphoma protocol. It is what's known as a "multi-agent" chemotherapy protocol - that is, several different drugs are used in a course of treatment. This is Jenna's chemo regimen:Week 1: vincristine (brand name Oncovin) given once IV at the clinic, prednisone (pills)

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859405480035164080.post-16902761676399381202008-11-09T10:22:00.009-07:002009-03-21T23:12:13.340-06:00

I decided to write this blog for me, for all of those who are rooting for Jenna, and, hopefully, to help other people and their dogs who are faced with the same questions, worries, and decisions that we find ourselves facing.In September, we found out that our 8-year-old Humane Society mutt, Jenna, had lymphoma. We had been noticing for several days that she seemed a little lethargic and

Cherylnoreply@blogger.com0