Week 5 Update

It has now been 5 weeks since her diagnosis. We are in a routine and things are going well. She had a great visit with the Grandparents last week!

She has been off the Yunnan for several days as her paws seem to be staying warmer. She still has great energy.

Yesterday we found a Natural Dog Food Store in town. They carry some very good products. We picked up a bag of Orijen kibble for Addie in case we can't cook her a meal here or there. I don't want to start using it fulltime yet, but for the occasional meal, it is really good food. 70% meats (no by-products), 30% fruits/vegetables, 0% grains. We did get another brand for Shep (our other dog) - Canidae. That one does have grains, but he is cancer free, so not bad for him. Also, no by-products.

Next week will be tough as we have decided to go ahead and take our planned vacation. Both dogs will be going to Aunt Janet and Uncle Jeff's. It will quieter there than their typical boarding place. They will also be able to play with their cousins Lucy and little baby Mazie. In preparation for their stay, we have prepackaged Addie's cooked meals into individual baggies to make it easier to prepare. She will also be off the Neoplasene for 7 days while there as we will be cycling her off: 6 weeks on/1 week off. We will be worried about her, but know she will be in good hands.

Supplement Update

We made a trip into the holistic vet yesterday to pick up some refills. We were also able to speak to the vet for awhile in order to question him about Addie's progress. He suggested a few changes for her and answered some more of my unlimited questions:

1) We discussed Addie's upset stomach after meals. He suggested that we reduce her Neoplasene from 2.4cc - 2 times per day to 2.0cc - 2 times per day. It actually seemed to help this morning!

2) He verified that it is good to keep giving her cottage cheese 20-30 minutes prior to meals to minimize stomach irritation that might be caused by the Neoplasene.

3) Vitamin-B complex can negate the effects of Neoplasene if both are given at the same time. We will start to give her the B-complex at least 2 hours after the Neoplasene.

She is still having slightly cold paws, but the Yunnan and/or Vitamin-B do seem to help. Approximately 30 minutes after taking, she warms up.

She is in great spirits and has good energy, so all else is going well!

Iron, B-Vitamins, and Yunnan Baiyao

The holistic veterinarian called us back yesterday evening.

He told us that cold paws may not only be a sign of internal bleeding but of low iron levels or of low red blood cell production from the bone marrow - all of which cause anemia.

To counter each of these possibilities he suggested Yunnan Baiyao three times daily (for only the next three days) and adding a B-vitamin complex to her supplements.

We also decided on our own that we will start feeding her more chicken liver which is iron rich.

This morning her paws were warm and her gums were pink. We will keep a close watch and update if anything changes for the better or worse.

Over the past several days Addie has had very good energy - almost to the point where she was prior to her spleen surgery. She does seem to tire easily if she exerts herself at a high level but if she is more even-keeled she seems to have longer lasting energy.

We are in the 6th week after the initial surgery and prognosis. This is the beginning of the range we were given for probable death. If we can make it 5 more weeks we will know that all of this has had some positive effect.

Cold Paws

Recently, we have noticed Addie's paws getting cold sporadically. Since this is a sign of internal bleeding / anemia, we have given her three doses of the Yunnan Baiyao over the past two days. Early this morning her paws were good and warm but shortly after she got up we noticed they were cold again. We are going to call the vet this morning to see if he has any suggestions. Will post more after we talk with him.

Small Update

Addie has been taking neoplasene for almost 3 weeks now. So far, so good. We have made a few small changes with her diet, but otherwise, all is the same. Over the past week, she has had great energy (8/9 out of 10) and has enjoyed the Grandparent's visit. Yesterday she went on a small hike with them, Dad, and Shep and had a wonderful time!

We are now giving her cottage cheese (1/4 cup) about 10-15 minutes prior to her meal. We are hoping that this is coating her stomach and protecting it against the neoplasene. We also stopped trying to inject the neoplasene into her cooked meat, and are now just mixing it with her powdered supplements and some liquid (grease, water, or a little yogurt) to make a paste to coat her food. She loves it anyway we serve it. We are very thankful that she is not a picky eater!

We also purchased some Yunnan Baiyao online "just in case". It is a Chinese supplement that is supposed to help stop bleeding. I wanted to keep some on hand in case we notice her gums turning white or her paws getting cold both of which are signs of internal bleeding and are common with HSA. Other people have recommended this for dogs with HSA. I figured it couldn't hurt to have it handy.

Finally, after reading all of the differing opinions on feeding garlic to dogs we have decided that it's not worth the risk to continue with it. So, no more garlic in her diet.

Tucker's Site - Another Dog with Hemangiosarcoma

Tucker was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma at about the same time as Addie. Tucker's family posted a blog for him here: http://lifewithtucker.blogspot.com/. Hopefully by sharing more information, we can all learn.

Another Hemangiosarcoma Blog Site

Dozer was the inspiration for Addie's blog. When I came across his site, I too wanted to get more information out there to help others. Check out Dozer's site and what he and Jen are doing to help win the battle! http://caninecancerdatabase.blogspot.com/

Bed and Breakfast Get Away

Aunt Janet and Uncle Jeff thought it would be nice for all 4 of us to get away for the weekend, so they got us 2 nights at the Courtyard Country Inn in Westcliffe. What a wonderful gift! It was nice to relax, see some new areas, and do a couple of hikes.

We took it easy upon arrival on Friday. We did try something new with her meals. Upon several recommendations from the Neoplasene Yahoo group, we added a bit of yogurt after her meal. Although she hadn't shown signs of stomach issues, we felt better if we gave her something to help coat her stomach. She seemed slightly nauseous Friday, night, but never got sick. We tried the yogurt again with Saturday's breakfast.

After breakfast, we set out for what we thought was a short, easy hike. We figured whenever Addie showed signs of tiring, we would turn around and head back down hill. She made it all the way to the lake - 5 miles in! We did make sure there were streams along the way and shade. She lead the way and did not act tired at all. It was amazing! Not sure if she was just more recovered from the surgery, was having an extremely great day, or the yogurt gave her a bit of a pickup. She went back the 5 miles and was still doing really well.

Sunday, we did a shorter hike. Only about 4 miles. Once again, plenty of water along the way to cool off in. She didn't seem tired, but we knew we should keep it short as she had about a 3 hour ride home.

Tonight she is tired, but she always was after a long fun weekend. For Sunday night's dinner, I switched to cottage cheese vs. yogurt afterwards. I am a bit concerned with the amount of carbs in the yogurt if she is not going to burn it off right away. We will see how that goes for her.