Copper's Last Chemo visit Made Him Ill

The vet planned for it and provided me drugs for it, and it happened. The last chemo drug (Adriamycin) made Copper very ill. He started to feel bad on Thursday, September 21st, and by Friday morning he wasn't eating anything and was very lethargic. He spent Friday and Saturday hiding in a quiet place and would not eat anything. By Saturday evening, I was able to get him to eat boiled chicken and he ate small meals of boiled chicken on Sunday and Monday. By the end of Monday, he was feeling his old self again. I'm glad that the vet gave me the meds to help him through this, but it came on a day earlier than the vet had predicted, so he became ill before I could give him the pills. So it took a little while longer for him to get better. He now feels his old self and I'm trying to put the weight he lost over that weekend back on him.

Gift For Copper

Copper's oncologist Dr. McDonald and his chemo tech Christy created a very nice graduation gift for him. It is a plaster cast of his paw. I thought it was so sweet of them to take the time to do this. Included with the paw print was this Poem:

Cancer is so Limited
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot destroy peace,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot suppress memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot steal eternal life,
It cannot conquer the spirit.

Copper Graduated From Chemo!

Today is a great day! Copper went to his last chemo appointment! Everyone at the hospital was excited to see him and to celebrate with him! They fed him lots and lots of treats!

Copper coming home from his last Chemo visit

When Copper and I arrived at the hospital, we met with Dr. McDonald and discussed how he has been doing. He will be visiting the hospital monthly for a check-up, and is the subject of a study that Dr. McDonald & Dr. Crow are doing. They are trying to see if there are any changes in the blood as a dog comes out of remission. Their hope is that if they can catch the cancer before remission ends, they can start chemo earlier and maybe get the dog back into remission sooner. So when he visits he will have blood drawn for this study.

Before Copper was given his Chemo, everyone in the hospital had to visit with him. He has them all snowed! They think he is this sweet, calm little basset hound. Little do they know he is manipulating them all... For treats! They must have worn him out though for he fell asleep during his chemo, and began to snore. Everyone thought that was very funny!

The sweetest part about today was when the Dr. and the chemo Tech Christy presented me with a plaster mould of Copper's paw print as a graduation present. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness! (as soon as I can, I'll post a picture of it)
and then as we were leaving, we ran into the radiation tech who conducted his half body radiation. She was so excited to see him and to see that he is so healthy!

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 9/19/06

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on September 19th:

Recheck.........................................$59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital........................$40.80
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee...........$ 4.23
Adriamycin (Chemo Drug).....................$43.20
Chemotherapy Infusion........................$80.00
Metoclopramide 10mg (Reglan)..............$19.37
Metronidazole 250mg (Flagyl)................$40.80
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee......$16.30

Total: .........................................$281.37

Grand Total: ................................$5556.96

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 9/06/06

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on September 6th:

Recheck.........................................$59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital........................$40.80
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee...........$ 4.23
Vincristine (Chemo Drug).....................$32.51
Chemotherapy Infusion........................$23.30
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee......$16.30

Total: .........................................$176.14

Grand Total: ................................$5275.59

Copper's visit to his regular vet

Today Copper had to go to his regular vet to get a blood test for his Thyroid. He was in such good spirits and had so much energy. The vet tech told me that when she took him into the back, he ran as fast as he could to the place they do nail trims, and then rolled on his back to get his belly rubs. He has so much energy and is feeling super good right now. Perhaps this is because the weather has been so good!