The Last Day of Chemo

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!

Chemo Week #22

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 checkups. Going to the vet once a month feels like an outlandish fantasy right now, but with things going the way they are, it just might come true.

I guess we must be starting to look tattered and gaunt, because the vet charged us $12 for chemo this week. Thus, hubby took our car to a mechanic today, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it doesn't need as much work as we thought it did. (Well, he thought it did. I don't fix cars. I just drive them until the wheels fall off. But still, yay!)

February 4th was the 1-year anniversary of Harlem's death. I can't believe a year has gone by already. I don't think I miss him any less; I guess it's just that the edges aren't as jagged and raw anymore. Mostly I can think of him without crying, as long as I don't think too hard. But I miss him all the time. I think about him every day, and I still talk about him a lot. I can't remember the smell on the side of his nose exactly, but I remember the exact feeling of his silky ears and the weight of him leaning on my legs, and the way he would hop on the spot with his toes spread out when you asked him if he wanted to go for a walk.

I think I will always miss him, but I'm glad to know that my memories of him won't fade with time. And as silly as it probably is, I do feel like he's out there, at the dog park where I spread his ashes - in the grass that will come up in spring, and the trees that will bud, and the wildflowers that will grow by the riverbank. We're all made of the same recycled, billion year old carbon, right?

Chemo Week #18

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 dogs' protection as her own - apparently her saliva, urine and feces are, like, radioactive or something. We're not even supposed to let her lick us, but we do. I figure if she can have this stuff in her veins, it's not gonna kill me to have it on my hands for a few seconds.

So until tomorrow night, Jenna will just have to chill in the house. She lives a life of extreme deprivation, as you can see.

Always Get Insurance

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 = $6045.63

Granted, we do still have 5 more treatments to go. The chemo treatments average about $400-$500 a pop. Sometimes it's better (about $100 for the cyclophosphamide weeks) and sometimes it's worse (about $700 for the doxorubicin weeks). Bloodwork-only weeks run up just a painless $90. Sometimes after these weeks we start getting wild ideas about purchasing groceries or getting our car's shrieking brakes fixed.

We do not have veterinary insurance, because we are idiots. By the time it crossed our minds that coverage might be a good idea, both of our dogs were already churning out lamenesses and rare diseases as fast as veterinary medicine could cure them. No insurance company in their right mind would have us. As it is, I have this irrational fear that any future dogs we have will be refused insurance based on the medical records of our previous dogs.

But this is what money is for, n'est pas? For about $1500/month, we are keeping our dog alive - healthily, happily, and energetically alive. Will this delay some of our financial plans? Yeah. In 30 years, when I look back at this, am I going to say to myself "jeez, I wish I'd just put the dog down and saved that money for a mortgage down payment"? No, I most assuredly will not.

Just the same, I advise all new owners to take out insurance the instant puppy comes home. We're extraordinarily lucky that we are in a position to pay for this. If this had happened a year ago, I really don't know what we'd have done. Imagine having to euthanize a beloved family member only because you didn't have the money to save her?

Chemo Week #16

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. He managed the whole process like a seasoned dog owner, and is, I think, well on the way to getting a furry friend of his own. We just have to convince grandma that this is a good idea. I think grandpa and I have decided that a nice yellow Labrador would be just the thing. Isn't that right, Mom-in-law? ;)

Week #13 Checkup

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 at all, so it was a false alarm! Hooray! And in the spirit of Christmas, the vet gave us a freebie this week. I think we owe that largely to Jenna, who is a model patient and seems to be a huge favourite with the vets and clinic staff.

Chemo Week #12

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 all enlarged, not even the original chest lymph node that was huge back in September. However, when Jenna goes in for her checkup next week, if the jaw nodes are still a little weird, we will just go ahead with chemo, instead of giving her the week off. This is fine, because Jenna tolerates the drugs so well, but we were looking forward to a bit of a financial break over Christmas. Oh well. Our Christmas present to each other this year is Jenna!

Week #11 Checkup

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:

Chemo Week #10

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, and the vet insisted that Jenna stay after her treatment to have her picture taken. I wish to stress that we are not normally the sort of people who pretend our dog is a child or that she enjoys the same things that children do. (I once saw a young woman pushing a Shih-Tzu, which was wearing a fussy little dress, in a stroller. I was vaguely disturbed by this.) But anyway, when the vet who is giving you huge dicounts on your chemo wants you to stay for Santa pictures, you stay for Santa pictures. Therefore, I will soon be posting a ridiculous picture of my dog wearing reindeer antlers and sitting beside Santa. I don't think Jenna minded anyway - as long as she gets a cookie, she doesn't care what you do to her.

Chemo Week # 9

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 receptionist, and making sorties towards the cookie jar. I was unable to sign the treatment authorization form until someone came out to take her from me. When we got her home at the end of the day, she went straight for her bowl, as usual. She's doing so well that most of the time, I forget she even has cancer.

The Chemo Regimen

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) given daily at home
Week 2: asparaginase (brand name Elspar) given as a single subQ injection at the clinic, prednisone given daily at home
Week 3: cyclophosphamide (brand name Cytoxan) pills given for 4 days at home, prednisone daily at home
Week 4: vincristine IV at clinic, prednisone daily at home
Week 5: doxorubicin (brand name Adriamycin) given IV for a full day at clinic
Week 6: no chemo - blood work and recheck only (yay! This is a cheap week!)
Week 7: vincristine once IV at clinic
Week 8: cyclophosphamide pills for 4 days
Week 9: vincristine IV at clinic
Week 10: doxorubicin IV at clinic

If in complete remission at this point, treatments continue every other week:

Week 12: vincristine
Week 14: cyclophosphamide
Week 16: vincristine
Week 18: doxorubicin
Week 20: vincristine
Week 22: cyclophosphamide
Week 24: vincristine
Week 26: doxorubicin

If in complete remission at this point, all therapy stops and monthly rechecks are done. (Keep your fingers crossed!)

It sounds intense, but it isn't so bad. We only go to the clinic once a week. For the vincristine, asparaginase, and doxorubicin, we drop her off in the morning and pick her up at end of the day. Our vet likes to keep her there for the day so that she can monitor her for several hours after treatment, to make sure that Jenna isn't going to have any serious reactions. For the Cytoxan, we just take her in for a checkup and blood work, and then we take her home and give her the chemo at home. Our vet does an exam, including blood work, every week. Jenna also gets Sulcrate pills every day, to protect her stomach from the potential side effects of chemo. Right now, we're starting week 9. So far, so good!