Copper's Journey with Canine Lymphoma

Video Tribute To Copper aka "Joe Friday"

2007-10-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

Please leave your thoughts about Copper in the comment section! thank you!

Copper aka "Joe Friday" 1996-2007

2007-10-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

I helped Copper make his journey to the bridge today. Last night we spent some time together saying good-bye which made today a lot easier for me. It touched my heart that some many people came to see him off on his journey. Copper had made so many friends at the vet hospital, they all wanted to see him off on his journey. Dr. McDonald and Copper's girlfriends Kristy and Sarah (his vet techs) along with several of my friends were with him as he was put to sleep. It was painless for him and he went very peacefully. Afterwards, my friend Heidi brought out a balloon with a treat attached to it. We all wrote something special about Copper and we released the balloon into the sky. As we were leaving the hospital, the balloon could be seen floating higher and higher as if it was following Copper on his way to the bridge.

I want to thank Dr. McDonald, Dr. Sfiligoi, Kristy and Sarah for the wonderful care they gave Copper over the last two years. Their love and the attention they gave Copper helped me through a very tough experience, and they will always be in my heart.

If someone were to ask me if I would make the decision that I did last March when Copper was diagnosed with cancer, I would say yes. For while the last few days have been very hard, I had the opportunity to enjoy knowing Copper for almost two additional years. If anyone ever has to go through this experience, and wants to talk to someone about it, please feel free to contact me.

While I will no longer be posting in this blog, it is here as a tribute to Copper and a resource to those whose pets are facing lymphoma.

Copper will be making his final journey tomorrow

2007-10-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

Over the last day, Copper has not been getting any better. He sleeps most of the time, and when he is awake, he seems very disorientated. I am not sure if he can see well in his good eye or not.
Today I decided that it was time for him to be put to sleep. While it was a very difficult decision, it is the best decision for him. I want him to leave this life with dignity, respect, and not in pain.
So tomorrow we will make one last journey to see his oncologists. On the way, I will be sure to stop at McDonald's and get him so Chicken McNuggets, for he has come to enjoy this treat.
I debated a long time about whether I wanted to be with him as he makes his journey to the rainbow bridge, and have decided that while it will be very difficult, I owe it to him to be with him throughout the process.

While this is a very sad time, I do not regret anything that I have done for him over the last year and 8 months for I was given the gift of his time and for the most part, the times he was healthy and happy really outweigh the time he was not.

I love you Copper! Thank you for coming into my life, and for providing me with the experience of knowing you.

Copper seizures have gotten worse

2007-10-28T13:19:00.001-07:00

Over the last day, Copper has begun to have more frequent seizures. In the past month, he would have a couple every 12 or 24 hours and then they would stop. This time they have been happening around every 8 hours. I took him to see his regular doctor (Dr. Parker), and she explained that because his cancer is behind his eye, it is probably putting pressure on his brain, causing the seizures. She also explained to me that while we could increase his seizure meds, it would take about 3-5 days for them to get to the right level, and even then they may not work for long because of what is happening with his cancer. We talked about adding Valium to the mix, and while it would probably work for the short term, her concern was for his quality of life. He wouldn't have much quality of life if he was knocked out all the time. She told me that it was time to start preparing for putting him to sleep, and in her estimation, the time would be within the next two weeks. While it is very difficult to hear that, I agree with her, and that is one reason she is a great vet. She always states what is best for the animal, rather than what we pet owners might wish to hear.

It makes me sad to know that Copper will soon be making his journey to the bridge, but I am comforted with the knowledge that I did have an extra year with him, and that he had the opportunity to touch the lives of many people.

Copper's Bug Eye

2007-10-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned before, Copper's left eye seems to be popping out of his head (it isn't). The cancer behind it is growing, putting pressure on the eye, making it big. It became red yesterday, and I was afraid that he had burst a blood vessel. My vet said that that probably didn't happen, she said it is probably just the pressure building behind the eye making it look that way. He cannot see out of the eye, and Mr. Wiggins takes advantage of that by sneaking up on him on Copper's left side. I've tried to tell Mr. Wiggins that it isn't a nice thing to do, but he ignores me. If you ever give Copper a treat, you must make sure he can see it by approaching him on his right side.

Copper's Vet Visit -- October 25, 2007

2007-10-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Copper went to see his oncologist today, and as I thought, the L-spar did not work. This means the only thing that can be done for him is to keep him on prednisone and hope that it keeps the cancer in check. Last night I noticed a lymphnode on his right side of his face had expanded, so that isn't a good sign that the prednisone is going to work for too long.

I do not regret anything that I have done for Copper, for it has given me a lot more time with him than I would have had if I had not done anything. I treasure that time, as I will treasure whatever time I have left with him.

Today during his visit, he was his silly old self, manipulating everyone in sight so that they'd give him treats or pet him. I could see that he touched their hearts as he has done mine.

2007-10-25T11:13:00.001-07:00

Come On... I Know You Have A Treat!

Copper cannot continue CCNU

2007-10-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

October 23, 2007
Last Friday (October 19th) it was confirmed that the lymphoma was back and as I wrote about in my previous post, the oncologists believe that the lymphoma is behind Copper's left eye. They found one of his lymph-nodes in his neck enlarged. Because of his low blood platelets, the oncologists took a sample of his bone marrow. Their goal was to see if he had enough blood platelets left to continue with the CCNU. The results came back and it was decided that he could not continue with that treatment. This has limited the options we have. The oncologist did try one drug that has worked in the past L-spar, but told me that if this drug does not work, the only option left was to keep him on prednisone and allow the cancer to run its course. We have another vet appointment October 25th to see how he is doing, and to discuss options.

Copper has a Bug Eye

2007-10-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

October 13, 2007 - October 18, 2007
Copper's left eye has bulged out. At first the doctors did not understand why. They thought that perhaps he hurt it, and the area behind the eye filled up with fluid. However, after a week, when it didn't go down, they checked it again, and they now believe that the lymphoma has started to take up the space behind the eye, making it bulge. They also informed me that he cannot see out of the eye. Not seeing out of the eye does not seem to be bothering him. However sometimes he does seem to walk closer to me than before. He also seems to have a problem grabbing his treat. I think his depth perception is a little off.

Pictures taken 10/15/07

Picture taken 10/20

It has been a crazy month

2007-10-09T22:09:00.001-07:00

Copper is still in remission. We are trying a combination of chemo and CCNU, and it seems to be working. However, that doesn't mean Copper has had it easy. He has had several medical issues during the month of September and October. He has come down with aspiration pneumonia three times, this last time has been pretty bad. I have pinpointed the cause to his seizures. He has had some small seizures over the last month, and after each time, he has gotten the pneumonia. I'm not sure how we can prevent this because it is impossible to determine if or when he will have a seizure. The best I can do is to keep an eye on him after the seizures and try to get him to the vet as early as possible. The good news is the fact that they've been able to eliminate the pneumonia very quickly each time.

Another issue that Copper has had is with his stomach. A few weeks ago he got really ill, and the vets thought it was pancreatitis, but it wasn't. They believe he has intestinal disease. They have not been able to confirm this 100% because the sample they took of his stomach did not show any sign of disease. However it did find a couple of 4 inch sticks in his tummy.... I wonder why he was eating sticks?

Anyway, they believe the disease is further in his intestines where they could not reach it with the scope. The reason they believe he has this disease is beause his protein level has been very low, a sign of the disease.

Throughout all of this, Copper has kept his spirits high! He loves going to visit his oncologists because they spoil him! He even smiles when he sees them! I'm really glad for it makes me feel a lot better knowing he is receiving extra special care at the hospital.

Copper and I have regrouped for this next battle

2007-09-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

I was in a funk for a couple of days after learning that Copper was out of remission. I mostly think that I was in the funk because Copper's doctors and vet techs were so upset about his cancer coming back. This is very hard on them too because he has all of them wrapped around his paws. They take such good care of him and look forward to his antics. I think the pain magnified itself when I saw it in their eyes.
However, Copper is a huge fighter and has beaten the odds, so I owe it to him to continue to look for ways to help him through this, rather than wallow in what might be. When I started this process, I knew that the chances of him even surviving one year was low, and he has beaten those odds, so we are going to focus on him beating these next odds as well.
He is back on Prednisone, so he is super hungry again. He hasn't gone back to being a baby bird, but I bet he will soon!
Also, A friend whose dog has liver disease gave me the recipe for a liver friendly diet. When I speak with Copper's doctor I'll find out if it is something he can have. There are some vitamins in it that they specifically asked me to make sure were not in the milk thistle, so I need to see if they can be in his diet or if I should remove them before making it. I also have to make sure that this food can be made into meatballs for his mega E.
Once I have the diet down, I'll post a copy here.

Copper's Lymphoma is Back

2007-08-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I noticed a lump underneath Copper's left eye, fearing the worst, I contacted his oncologist for a check-up. She confirmed that after 69 days in remission, his lymphoma has returned. This is very dis hearting news to say the least. I had hoped that he would stay in remission for a longer period of time.

The vet discussed the options with me today, and they are very limited. Since the current chemo drugs are not working we are turning towards the rescue treatment, using CCNU (lomustine) capsules. My biggest concern is that the treatment he is going on is hard on his liver, and since he is also taking anti-seizure medication, his liver will be taking a beating! To counteract this, he will be taking Denosyl and Milk Thistle. We will also be keeping a close watch on his liver for we do not want it to have problems.

We are also going to look into the cost of alternating the CCNU with the chemo drug adriamycin. The adriamycin helped get him in remission before, but he is at his limit with this drug becuase it affects the cardiac system. They have an antidote drug they can give him to counteract this, however it is expensive. They are going to give me an estimate when we go for our appointment on September 10th.

Our biggest concern is the amount of time he might have left. Dr. McDonald said that the rescue usually works between 60 and 80 days, and his liver issues are something we have to consider as we move forward.

Copper also has to contend with megaesophagus and low blood platelets. Hopefully neither of these two problems will progress as we work on the lymphoma.

Copper's Vet Visit -- July 28th

2007-07-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Copper's Oncologist decided that Copper wouldn't get his chemo today because his white blood count was a little high, and he was stumbling on his hind legs. She thinks he might have a little infection, and wants him to take some antibiotics to clear up anything before he gets his next treatment. So he will go back next Thursday for Chemo.

The good news is he is still in remission, and she said he looks really good.

Copper has been sick

2007-07-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

Copper's last chemo drug was Adriamycin, a drug that has made him ill in the past. Well, it made him ill again. It started off with a seizure and then he threw-up. He was under the weather for 3 days. I hate it when he is like this because I can't do anything but make him comfortable.
I think it is over now. Today he acted like his old self all day! Looking for food, and getting into trouble. He did have some head shakes today, but no seizures, so this is good!

While I don't like this drug because of what it does to him, it has really helped him fight the cancer. He won't get it again though because it can have some damaging effects to his heart, so he could only have it a few times. We wouldn't want to beat the cancer only to have heart problems!

Copper's Vet Visit -- July 13, 2007

2007-07-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Today was a great Friday the 13th! Copper had a great visit. He got a massage from a customer care person, and then after his chemo, he got petted, his nails & ears done, and ate a half a box of cookies. I think his vet techs would have loved to have kept him there all day long!

He also got great news! His blood platelet level is higher, and he now starts Chemo every other week instead of every week! So his next vet visit is not until the end of July!

And... HE IS STILL IN REMISSION! Yeah! Go Copper Go!

Copper's Vet Visit -- July 6th

2007-07-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

(Copper taking a nap)

Copper had another good vet visit this week for he is still in remission.

However, his blood platelets are still low and he is slightly anemic. He has been pretty tired the last couple of weeks. I think it is because he is anemic. Even his girlfriends at the hospital noticed that he wasn't himself.
The vets say to keep an eye on him and if I get worried, I am to call them. He has spent most of his weekend sleeping, although he still gets into trouble from time to time. Even tired, he is a little trouble maker!

2007-06-22T19:47:00.001-07:00

Copper's Vet Visit -- June 22, 2007

2007-06-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Copper had a very good chemo visit today. We were informed that he is back in remission! This is very good. He will continue his chemo visits, and we hope he stays in remission for a long time! Our goal is 9 months!

Copper's Vet Visit -- June 15, 2007

2007-06-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Today Copper had an appointment to get checked over. They gave him a rest between chemo treatments because he had not been responding to the medications. However, the one he had last week did work, and the bump on his nose is a lot smaller, as is the lymphnode on the side of his jaw.

However, Copper has a very low blood platelet count. platelets are responsible for sealing any leaks in the blood vessels. When platelet counts are low, spontaneous bleeding can occur. Low platelet counts indicate bleeding or excessive destruction of platelets caused by parasites or immune diseases. The vet is very concerned about this for if he hurts himself, he spontaneous bleeding could occur. He is not allowed to go to the dog park and must watch what he does. The vet doesn't want him doing anything that could hurt him. Good thing I have ramps around the house. She said we'd look at them again next week. Hopefully the platelet count will fix itself on its own. She told me that they cannot add platelets to his blood.

Other than that, Copper is doing very well. He got to eat some chicken McNuggets on the way home from the vet visit, and as always, while he was at the hospital, he charmed everyone in the waiting room.

Copper might have been ill today

2007-06-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

I think it is sad that bassets cannot speak English. This morning about 3:30 am he got up and started roaming around the house. He'd come get on the bed and bug me. He did this all morning. He finally took a nap around 8am. Tonight he is back to normal. the chemo drug he had this week was one that has made him ill in the past, so perhaps he had a little tummy upset today. Hopefully he will sleep well tonight and feel better tomorrow.
On the positive side, the lymphnode on the side of his jaw has gone way down. This is very good news!

Need to start updating the blog

2007-06-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

I've been very bad at not updating Copper's blog. I'll be better from now on! I have to gather his current medical bills, so I can't post them yet, but I can give a very good update of his progress.
Copper started Chemo again 3 weeks ago. He went through two weeks of chemo and seemed to be doing well on it. Then on Thursday night, the lymphnode on the right side of his jaw grew, as did the bump on his nose. The oncologist said that it appears the treatment was not working. She told me that it is common for dogs to become resistant to certain Chemo drugs. She gave me 2 options:
1. try the Chemo drug that made him ill last time -- it is a very good drug, but he did have a reaction to it. The hope would be that this drug would throw him into remission (or close to it)
2. Start a rescue treatment with oral Chemo drugs -- this would control the spread of cancer, not reduce it.

I chose to take the more aggressive approach. I felt that I'd be able to handle it if he became ill, and the vets gave me some anti-nausea drugs. These drugs did work last time, but I don't think we got started on them soon enough. Hopefully he won't become ill.

So far this drug is working though. The lymphnode by his jaw has gone way down, and the bump on his head looks smaller. Of course, now I think that that bump bassets have at the back of their head is growing, but that could be my imagination. I'm going to take a picture of his head and compare it to other pictures I have of him.
He has also not become ill yet. He received the drug 2 days ago. If he does not become ill by tomorrow, the chances are he will not. This would be wonderful!

The oncologist also took Copper off of the prednisone. That drug makes him so hungry he cannot think of anything else. he just follows everyone around with his nose up in the air and his mouth open (like a baby bird). We decided it was best to stop this drug because while it was helping, it was just bothering him too much.

This next week Copper will go back to the oncologist for a check up. He won't get another Chemo drug until next week.

Copper's Cancer is Back

2007-05-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Picture of the lump on Coppers Nose
It is sad to report that Copper's cancer has returned. Last weekend, a bump appeared between his eyes. It grew pretty big over a small period of time so I took him to the vet to have it checked out. While the vet was examining him, she found that his lymphnode on the left side of his head had grown a little bit. She aspirated both and the culture came back cancerous. I took Copper to his oncologist the next day, and she confirmed the findings. The oncologist is very positive that we can get Copper back in remission again through the use of Chemo. She believes that because of his history, he should stay in remission for 9 months or more. The other options would be to use a rescue measure (CCNU), which means he'd be in remission for 3 months or so, or just use prednisone to keep him comfortable. I am still weighing the 3 options.

Also, before preceeding, the oncologist wants to make sure that Copper is healthy enough to go through the treatments. He has been getting better after a kidney infection (e-coli) and still have 4 weeks on his meds for that.

I'll be updating his blog again weekly as he goes through this. Please feel free to add comments to the blog -- If you have experiences those are most welcome for it helps to know how others have dealt with this disease.

Copper has been in remission for one year!

2007-03-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

Copper has hit a very big milestone this week in that he has been in remission for one year! I never thought we'd make it to this point! When he was first diagnosed with lymphoma, I thought for sure I would only have him for a very short time based on the conversations I had with many people as well as based on some of the stuff I had read about the disease. I was very lucky in that the oncologists I was sent to were progressive in their approach to medicine. Rather than just trying to make him live a good quality life for the next year, they talked to me about trying to kill the cancer cells.

If you have a dog that has been diagnosed with lymphoma, I highly recommend you read Copper's entire blog (started in March of 2006) to find out what methods we used for his treatment. I wrote about research that I had found on this subject, and I discussed Copper's treatment as well as the cost for that treatment. I knew that it was a gamble to seek treatment for Copper, but I also believed that it was based on research that I found. My hope was to keep Copper in remission for 411 days (he has 45 days to go) and to prolong his life for a minimum of 3 years (which would put him at the age most basset hounds life expectancy).

Copper has made it past the first milestone

2007-01-27T22:45:00.000-08:00

Well, Copper has made it past the first milestone. Today he has been in remission for 320 days! This is wonderful news! Hopefully he will continue to do well. He was diagnosed with Cancer on March 8th, that will be the next milestone we shoot for!

Wish him luck!

Vet visit -- 1/2/07

2007-01-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

Today Copper had another check-up with his oncology. It went really well. He is still in great health, his weight is at 52 lbs, and the vet was pleased by his appearance. He received lots of pets and treats during this visit, and he had to take the time to visit with the customer service staff up front. He loves to visit with all these girls! They pet him and they love to give him treats!

He has the staff at the hospital so snowed! They think he is the sweetest dog in the world... Little do they know he is manipulating them into giving him pets and treats!

The really great news is that he graduated from monthly visits to visits every 3 months. This is wonderful! Hopefully this is a great sign and he will continue to do well!

Update -- 12/20/06

2006-12-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Copper has been doing really, really well. He is still in remission and has been acting his old nosey self! His nose is into everything! When I wrap presents, he thinks he needs to be involved! I'd like to think that he wants to help me wrap the presents, but in fact, he really just wants to see what the presents are, and determine if it is worth his time stealing and opening them.

I scared myself the other day. Each day I massage him and make sure his lympnodes are the way they are supose to be. Well, I was rubbing his head, and I felt a bump. I about freaked out! Oh no, has the cancer come back? Should I rush him to the vet? Yikes! So I rubbed again, and it turned out to be his jaw bone. He was holding his mouth in a way that it felt like a bump. Leave it to Copper to find a way to freak his mom out!

His Next visit with his oncologist is January 2nd. and my plan is for it to be another good visit. He is currently at 283 days in remission, and only has 28 days before he beats the first group of dogs in the research I conducted. The research said that 37% of the dogs stayed in remission for 311 days. He is going to beat that! His next milestone is 400 days, for 17% of the dogs beat that point!

Another Great Vet Visit

2006-12-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Copper had another follow-up visit with his Oncologist. It went very well. He is in great health, and so far, they do not see any return of cancer. Hopefully he will continue to stay healthy. He will go back and see the vet again at the beginning of January.

Is That a Treat I See?

2006-11-25T20:57:00.000-08:00

Remember to Check Out the Archives!

2006-11-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

Be sure to check out the archives because there is a lot of information about lymphoma and how Copper has dealt with it.

Copper's One Month Follow-up visit

2006-11-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

On October 27th, Copper went in for his one month follow-up visit. His vet was very pleased with his progress. She said that he was in great health! He will be going back again at the beginning of December for another check-up. She also took some blood because they are using hims in a study that hopes to find out if there is any changes in the blood when a dog comes out of remission. The hope is to catch the cancer early and get the dog back into remission fast. While I'm glad he is participating in the study, I hope it fails because that means he stays in remission.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes! I appreciate the wishes and know Copper does too.

HI... Do you have a treat?

2006-10-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

Copper is doing well

2006-10-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Copper is doing really well. He has been very happy and healthy and has not had any problems since he was ill a couple of weeks ago.
He is still a little thin though. I'm going to continue to give him all the food he wants, and then discuss this with his vet when he goes in for his monthly check-up (October 27th).

I'm hoping his vet is super happy with his progress!!! I know I am!

Keep slinging drool his way!

Copper's Last Chemo visit Made Him Ill

2006-09-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-09-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

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!

Copper is feeling extra good today

2006-08-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Copper is so frisky today. He has been running around the backyard enjoying life. Then this evening after I came back from the store, he wanted to play. It has been a long time since he has felt like playing with me. While he has had good energy, he just has not wanted to play.

Tonight he did the basset 500 around the room and jumped on his dog bed, growling at me. I'd then growl back and stalk him. He'd wag his tail and growl, and then pretend to bite me when I grabbed him. he then would do the basset 500 around the room again and the whole thing would start again.
While he was doing this, Max was barking at us... Woof, Woof, Woof... as if he was saying, "Stop screwing around!"

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 8/22/06

2006-08-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

Copper had a good visit this week. His vet said he is in excellent health, and I'm very glad that he is still in remission. Hopefully this is a great sign. This week, his Chemo consisted of me giving him the drug in pill form. It is pretty easy to do. 1 pill every 24 hours. However, you have to wear gloves so that you don't come in contact with the medication.

The vet and her staff love Copper so much. They tell me that when he goes in for his appointment, he is the star of the hour. He gets lots of treats, and everyone has to go and pet him. They tell me that he never spends much time alone when he is at the vets for he makes sure people cannot get enough of him! Even when we leave, he has to greet every person in the lobby.

Recheck.........................................$59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital........................$40.80
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee...........$ 4.23
Cytoxan (4 pills) (Chemo Drug)...............$56.46
Total: ..........................................$160.49

Grand Total: ................................$5099.45

Update on Copper

2006-08-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

Copper is doing really well again. The Chemo this week went well, and he did not become ill. I think whatever happened after his last chemo visit has passed. In fact, yesterday, he stole and ate a peach. He really enjoyed it!

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 8/08/06

2006-08-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

Copper's chemo visit went really well. The vet said that he was in excellent health and that he is still in remission. Copper did have some problems entering into the vets office though. He was very nervous. I think he was afraid he would be left there again. He doesn't like being away from home.

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on August 8th:

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: ................................$4938.96

Copper's Stay at the Hospital

2006-08-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

I went away to Arizona the weekend of July 28th. It was the first time I was going to have a dog sitter come in and take care of the 3 bassets. On Friday when I was in Arizona, I received a call from my friend Stan, telling me that Copper was ill. He wasn't sure what to do, for he was going to catch a flight to Arizona that evening. It took me awhile to contact Copper's oncologist, but I was finally able to. She said that several dogs that had been given the Chemo drug Adriamycin this week had become ill. She told me that they would give him some drugs that would help him. She also told me that he would probably feel better in 2 hours. However, because I wasn't going to be home, nor was my friend Stan, I decided that Copper should stay with the vet over the weekend. This way I could make sure he would be taken care of properly and if he became ill again or the drugs didn't work, he'd be at the vet. So he stayed at the hospital from Friday, July 28th to Monday, July 31st.

Here are the costs for Copper's hospital stay:

Regulatory Agency Compliance Fee..........$4.23
Office Exam -- Recheck No Charge ..........$0.00
Reglan 5mg/ml (Metoclopramide)...........$32.16
3 Medical Board................................$74.60
4 Medication Admin For Boarded Animals...$24.00
4 Metoclopramide 10 mg (Reglan).............$ .60
21 Metronidazole 250 mg (Flagyl)...........$21.18
Total..........................................$152.77

Grand Total: ................................$4762.82

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 7/25/06

2006-08-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on July 25th:

Recheck.........................................$59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital........................$40.80
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee...........$ 4.23
Adriamycin (Chemo Drug).....................$45.00
Chemotherapy Infusion........................$80.00
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee......$16.30

Total: .........................................$245.33

Grand Total: ................................$4610.05

Copper's Chemo visit -- 7/10/06

2006-08-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on July 10th:

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: ................................$4364.72

Life With Copper

2006-06-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

Create your own video at One True Media

Copper Sleeping

2006-06-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

Copper loves to lay in strange positions. Here, he decided to lay against the front door. Perhaps he was trying to keep the robbers out! I used Photoshop Elements to give the picture the appearance it has.

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 6/27/06

2006-06-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

Copper had a Tuesday visit instead of Monday because his regular oncologyst is out of town and the Head of Oncology, Dr. Crow was not working yesterday. Because things are out of wack at the hospital, they are having me give Copper oral chemo this week rather than having an IV. So for the next 4 days, I will be giving him a Cytoxan pill. 30 minutes before I give him the Cytoxan, I am to give him a Lasix pill. This will make him urinate more frequently so that after he takes the Cytoxan, his bladder will wash the drug out of his system faster. If he does not do this, the drug could become toxic.

The Dr. Crow did give Copper a full exam today and did not find anything wrong with him. In fact, he said that Copper looks really good. He said that it is possible that the heat is just sapping his energy out of him. It is cooler today than it has been, and Copper has been more active than over the weekend, so perhaps he just had an off weekend.

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on June 27th:

Recheck.........................................$59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital........................$40.80
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee...........$ 4.23
Cytoxan (4 pills) (Chemo Drug)...............$56.46
Lasix (Furosemide).............................$16.90

Total: ..........................................$177.39

Grand Total: ................................$4188.58

Copper's next visit is Monday, July 10, 2006

Copper Not Feeling Well?

2006-06-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, Copper did not appear to be feeling well. He was sick to his stomach twice and seemed to sleep a lot more than he normally did. His physical condition looks good though. None of his nodes were enlarged, and his appetite was normal.

Update on Copper

2006-06-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Copper with his shaved ears

I haven't been around to work on Copper's blog in the month of May because I took a 3 week vacation. However, all of the costs have now been updated.
Copper is doing very well. The vets are very pleased with his progress and are very optimistic about his future!
He has maintained his weight (he is now at 54.50 lbs), and his fur looks really good (except for the shaved spots). He is also back to his old trouble making self! Always looking for trouble.

The best news of all is that he has finished with the induction phase of his treatment, and will now be getting treatments every other week. This is wonderful! I'm sure he will be very happy about this as well!

Copper is suppose to go into the vet for his lepto vaccination, however the vets do not want him to have this vaccination. They do not feel like he needs it at his age, and they do not want anything that might interact with his immune system put into him right now.

Another thing that the vets have started doing is to put his IV in the veins in his ears rather than his legs. His legs have been abused enough, and it is really easy to find the veins in the ears. However, he now has two shaved patches on his ears. He looks pretty goofy!

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 6/12/06

2006-06-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on June 12th:

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

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

Grand Total: ................................$4011.19

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 5/30/06

2006-06-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on May 30th:

Recheck.........................................$59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital........................$40.80
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee...........$ 4.23
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee......$16.30
Adriamycin (Chemo Drug)......................$45.90
Adriamycin Infusion.........................$80.00

Total: ..........................................$246.53

Grand Total: ................................$3835.05

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 5/22/06

2006-06-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on May 22th:

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

Total: ..........................................$176.74

Grand Total: ................................$3588.52

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 5/15/06

2006-06-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here are the costs for Copper's Chemo Visit on May 15nd:

Recheck.........................................$59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital........................$40.80
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee...........$ 4.23
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee......$16.30
Cytoxan (Chemo Drug)..........................$60.00
Lasix (Furosemide)..............................$16.90
Chemotherapy Infusion.........................$23.30

Total: ..........................................$220.53

Grand Total: ................................$3411.78

Coppers Chemo Visit --5/08/06

2006-05-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Copper had another good Chemo visit today. The blood work looked really good, and the oncologyst was very pleased with his progress. In fact, they gave him a reduced amount of the Chemo drug because of this. She is very encouraging about him staying in remission for a long time! Sometimes visiting this vet is sad though because there are so many dogs there for Chemo treatment or other cancer related problems. Not all are doing as well as Copper is.

Here are the costs for today's visit:

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

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

Grand Total: ................................$3191.25

Copper the Thief

2006-05-07T22:46:00.000-07:00

Copper got up at 3am the other night so he could sneak outside and steal a rawhide stick that Max had buried. Here is a picture of him after he snuck back in with his treat! He has it hidden in his mouth so the other bassets cannot see it.

Copper is Doing Well

2006-05-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

If you look close at the photo above, you can see where they shaved Copper's belly, and spray painted a green line. They did this on his back as well, and they also spray painted some X's on his legs. Copper has been tagged!

Copper is doing very well. He did not have any side effects from the last radiation session. Not being a professional, I cannot be sure, but I think two things helped prevent the side effects. First, I let Copper sleep all that he wanted. I put him on the dog bed, and left him alone. This way, he could gain his strength back. Second, I only gave him a couple of tablespoons of wet food when he came home from the vet (so he could take his pills), and I gave him a light breakfast the next day. This allowed his digestive system a chance to recover from the radiation. Did it help? I don't know, but it sure didn't hurt.

Copper was tired for a couple of days, and then returned to his old self.

Second Radiation 5/1/06

2006-05-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

Today, Copper had the back half of his body radiated. I dropped him off at the vet at 3:30 pm, and I was able to take him home around 6:30 pm. I had to wait for him to wake up because they couldn't start the procedure right at 3:30 pm, and then they wanted to wait until he wanted to wait up. I finally told the vet that he is a basset hound, and given the choice, he'd want to sleep all day. They then made him get up.

They told me that he might have some side effects after this session because his digestive system was directly in the radiation field. Nausea, diarrhea, and not being hungry were the side-effects I was told to look for. He did not have any of these effects. He slept all night, waking when I gave him his seizure medication. he has been a little tired over the last couple of days, wanting to sleep more, but he did not have any digestive problems. He ate his breakfast the next day, and was begging for treats like always.

Here is the breakdown of today's session. I should mention that I got a good deal on the treatment. Because they are trying to get people to use this treatment, they charged me 1/3 of what it would have normally cost. Dr. Crow is hoping that if they can get more people to try it, they can gather more data on the treatment. He said that they have gone as far as they can with chemo, and would like to try and get more dogs in remission for longer than 1 year.

CTC Propofol/Isoflurane 1st 30...........$249.40
CTC Treatment Plan/Simulation.........$225.00
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee........ $ 4.23
CTC Treatment FX (Linac) 1-5 Per........ $21.37

Total: ............................................$500.00

Grand Total: .......................................$3015.11

If Looks Could Kill!

2006-04-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Even though Copper is ill, he still needs to take his bath. Something he apparently doesn't agree with... Wouldn't you agree?

Coppers Chemo Visit -- 4/24/06

2006-04-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Copper had another good Chemo visit today. His blood work came back great, so they decided that he would get a Chemo treatment today. Then next Monday, he will go in for the lower half body radiation.

Here are the costs for today's visit:

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

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

Grand Total: ................................$2515.11

Radiation -- the Next Day

2006-04-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last night when I brought Copper home, he was very doppy and slept all night long. I did wake him up so he could take his seizure medication. He ate the piece of dog food I had put it in without any problem, and then went back to sleep. He woke up around 3 am, and I gave him a little dog food. he then went right back to sleep and did not get up until I woke him up at 6am. He then had a real breakfast and a treat.

I wasn't home today, but it appears he slept most of the day (in my chair mind you).

Tonight he is very alert, and almost back to his normal self. He is still tired, and is sleeping right now. The vet did tell me that he might be tired for a couple of days, so I'm not worried about this. Other than being tired, I don't see any other side effects of the treatment.

Of course, with all the green X's all over his body, he looks like he has been tagged!

Half Body Radiation Visit -- 4/17/06

2006-04-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today, Copper had the top half of his body radiated (sounds bad doesn't it?). The session took place at 2:30 pm, and I was able to take him home around 5:30 pm.

To do radiation, he did need to be put under anesthesia because they needed him to stay very still while they did the radiation session. The oncologyst that did the session told me that it takes about 15 minutes to set up the session & put him under anesthesia, the session lasts 10 minutes, and then the rest of the time is waiting for the drugs to wear off enough for him to come home.

When I went to pick him up, he was pretty mellow.... and the vet said he will probably sleep well tonight. They also had to shave a little strip on his back, and on his tummy, and then spray paint the strip. This was so they knew what part of his body they did. So he has a green strip on his back, tummy and head. Poor guy he is looking pretty funny right now.

Because they did the top half of his body, they don't expect any side effects (other than being doped up). I'll write about any that I notice.

Here is the breakdown of today's session. I should mention that I got a good deal on the treatment. Because they are trying to get people to use this treatment, they charged me 1/3 of what it would have normally cost. Dr. Crow is hoping that if they can get more people to try it, they can gather more data on the treatment. He said that they have gone as far as they can with chemo, and would like to try and get more dogs in remission for longer than 1 year.

CTC Propofol/Isoflurane 1st 30...........$249.40
CTC Treatment Plan/Simulation.........$225.00
Regulatory Agency Compliance fee........ $ 4.23
CTC Treatment FX (Linac) 1-5 Per........ $21.37

Total: ............................................$500.00

Grand Total: .......................................$2338.97

Copper's Vet Visit -- 4/10/2006

2006-04-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

Copper went to the vet last Monday and had some blood drawn. The blood test came back very good. Everything is normal. He is still in remission, and all of his organs are functioning well.
The blood work was for his up-coming radiation treatment. This treatment takes place this coming Monday - 4/17/2006. I'm a little nervous about it, for he can has some radiation sickness. I was told that there isn't too much sickness with the top half of the body (which is what he is getting). Most of the sickness comes when they do the bottom half. in a couple of weeks.

Here is a breakdown of the costs this week:

Bloodwork: $59.00

Total: $59.00

Grand Total: $1838.97

Copper's Sweater

2006-04-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Can you believe what she put me in?

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 4/03/2006

2006-04-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

Copper had another good week! He is still in remission and so far, the Chemo has not had a negative affect on him. The oncology did say that when he went back for his treatment, he seemed a little scared, but then when she came in, he became very social and happy to see her.

His weight was 55 lbs. He gained. .60 of a lb. This is good, but he has been wanting a lot of treats, and I have been spoiling him a bit!

Here is a breakdown of the costs this week:

Recheck: $59.00
QBC or CBC In Hospital: $40.80
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee: $16.30
Adriamycin (Chemo drug): $37.80
Chemotherapy Infusion: $80.00
Regulatory Agency Compliance Fee: $4.23
Total: $238.13

Grand Total: $1779.97

Next week Copper will go in for some blood work because when he goes in for his half-body radiation, he must have anesthesia, so I need to make sure he can handle that OK. He will then go in for his first half-body treatment on April 17, 2006.

Half-Body Radiation Decision

2006-04-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well,
After all of the research I conducted, I decided to have half-body radiation done on Copper. I found two positive studies on the subject, and I received two emails from people who have had it done. One person who emailed me had very positive results from half-body radiation and would have it done again. The other person was not sure if the half-body made any difference.

In my previous post, I wrote about the most current study done on half-body, but here is the data that I found on the other study that was done. The study took place in 1999:
29 dogs were treated with half-body radiation
31 dogs were treated with chemotherapy alone

The one, two, three year remission percentages were as follows:

Chemo Alone
One Year: 27%
Two Years: 0%
Three Years: 0%

Half-Body Radiation
One Year: 36%
Two Years: 27%
Three Years: 27%

Most importantly, side effects post-radiation were mild and self-limiting. ] More than 15 patients treated at the clinic have resulted in no cases of radiation serum sickness, tumor lysis syndrome, or pneumonitis.

Encouraging Article on half-body radiation treatment

2006-04-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

I found the following article on half-body radiation:

J Vet Intern Med. 2004 Sep-Oct;18(5):703-9.

Chemotherapy followed by half-body radiation therapy for canine lymphoma.

Williams LE, Johnson JL, Hauck ML, Ruslander DM, Price GS, Thrall DE.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA. laurel_williams@ncsu.edu

A protocol of induction chemotherapy followed by half-body radiation therapy for treatment of lymphoma was used in 94 dogs. Seventy-three (78%) dogs achieved complete remission. Substage (P = .011) and phenotype (P = .015) were identified as predictors of complete remission rate. Of these, 52 dogs received half-body irradiation. Cranial and caudal halves received a total dose of 8.0 Gy, given in 2 fractions of 4.0 Gy on consecutive days with cobalt-60 photons and a 3-week interval between halves. Median 1st remission for these dogs was 311 days. Anemia was identified as the only predictor for length of 1st remission (P = .024). Toxicoses after half-body irradiation generally were mild and infrequent and included myelosuppression and gastrointestinal signs. Thirty-one dogs relapsed and 20 resumed treatment with induction followed by maintenance chemotherapy. Seventeen (85%) dogs achieved a 2nd complete remission. Median overall remission for all 52 dogs was 486 days. Results of this study suggest that half-body radiation therapy after induction chemotherapy is well tolerated and might increase remission duration compared with conventional protocols that use chemotherapy alone, but this increase might not be long enough to be clinically relevant or to justify application of the method described herein.

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 3/27/2006

2006-03-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

Copper had another great Chemo visit today! His blood cell count is normal, and he is still in remission!!
The Oncologyst wants me to consider Half-body radiation therapy because he is doing so well, and they believe that it will help put him into remission for up to 3 years. I have to do some research on this process before I decide if it is something we will do. The cost is $500 a half, or a total of $1000 for the treatment. He would continue to do his chemo schedule on top of this, so it would add an extra $1000 to the bill.

So if anyone has ever had this treatment or heard of this treatment, I'd appreciate your comments on the subject.

Here are the costs so far:
Recheck: $59.00
QBC or CBC In Hospital: $40.80
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee: $16.30
Vincristine (Chemo drug): $32.50
Chemotherapy Infusion: $21.30
Regulatory Agency Compliance Fee: $4.23
Total: $174.13

Grand Total: $1541.84

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 3/19/2006

2006-03-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

Today, Copper went in for his Chemotherapy visit and is still in remission! This is wonderful news! He did lose a little weight (about 1/2 lb). I'm going to give him a little bit more food at dinner time and see if that helps.

Here is an update on the costs:

Recheck by oncologist -- $59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital -- $40.80
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee -- $16.30
Cytoxan (Chemo drug) -- $50.00
Chemotherapy Infusion -- $23.30

Total for visit: $189.40

Grand Total So Far: $1367.71

Update on Copper

2006-03-20T21:49:00.000-08:00

Besides reducing the size of Copper's lymph nodes, the Prednison has had some side effects on Copper. First, and the side effect that bothers him the most, is the fact that he is always hungry. He walks around looking for all kinds of food. He also has started eating poo... a behavior that I'm trying to stop.

He is also panting a lot, and he has been having a lot of gas.

The vet says that all of these are normal and not to worry about them.

Starvin' Copper

2006-03-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Copper has been feeling very good over the last couple of days, but boy is he hungry. He is following me around the house hoping for some food. I've never seen him so hungry! I'd give him a treat, and then he'd look at me with basset eyes, asking for another one.
The Prednison is the reason he is hungry. The drug tends to make him this way. I feel sorry for him, however, this drug is also helping him out as well, so I just have to watch what I feed him so he doesn't gain a whole bunch of weight.

Copper's Chemo Visit -- 3/13/06

2006-03-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

I dropped Copper off for his first real Chemo visit today, and received good news...
Copper is in remission! This is great news! Hopefully this will continue! He is acting more like himself, but a lot more hungry due to the prednisone. I baked him some small little treats so that he can eat a few every now and then and I don't have to worry about him gaining too much weight.

Today, the visit was not as expensive as expected because of his remission. Here is a breakdown:
Recheck by oncologist -- $59.00
QBC or CBC in Hospital -- $40.80
Chemotherapy handling fee -- $16.30
Vincristine Injection -- $32.50 (Chemo drug)
Total: $152.83

Grand Total So Far: $1178.31

Copper is feeling better

2006-03-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

Today, Copper is feeling more like himself than he has since I noticed he was ill last Saturday. He has been running around with the other bassets, and has even barked at the neighbor. However, I have noticed some changes in him that kind of worry me.

Because of the prednisone, he is drinking a lot more water than he usually does — which is not a problem — however, he has become very messy when drinking. Half of the water he drinks ends up on the floor rather than inside him. He will drain one bowl, and then drink out of the other bowl. I have put cloth place mats under the water bowls because the floor gets drenched!
He doesn’t have the energy to jump up on the furniture like he used to. He will put his front paws up on the couch or chair, and try to climb up using his hind legs. However, because he is so short, it doesn’t work, so he spends all of his time trying to get the leg up.
he seems to have lost some coordination. He will step over something on the floor, and end up falling over. For example, he will walk across the memory foam dog bed, and when he tries to walk off of it, he will fall over instead of walking.

I’m not sure if the loss of coordination stems from lack of energy, or from something in his brain that isn’t telling his legs to do things right. At this point, I think it is lack of energy for other than the problems listed above, he appears to be understanding things quite well. I plan to bring these things up with the oncologist when I take him for his appointment on Monday.

Copper pushing down the couch pillows so he can lay on them. First time he has done this in over a week.

Costs so far

2006-03-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Copper's treatment is not going to be cheap, so I felt it important to include the costs in his blog.
Here is what I have spent so far:
March 6th:
On March 6th, I took Copper to the vet because he was not feeling well.

Cytology - IDEXX -- $95.75
General Chem Panel -- $98.05
Urinalysis -- $37.50
Vet Visit -- $48.00
Collection fees -- $34.50
Total: $313.80

March 8th:
The vet confirmed that he had lymphoma and said that we needed to take x-rays so that we could see what was going on inside him

X-rays -- $261.90

March 9th:
This was my first visit to the oncologist

Oncology Consultation -- $138.00 (at least she spent a good hour with me)
Immunophenotyping -- $120.00 (to find out if it is B cell or T cell)
Chemotherapy injectable handling fee -- $16.30
Elspar -- $136.00 (Chemo drug)
Dex Sod Phos 4mg/ml -- $30.25 (Chemo Drug)
Prednisone -- $19.23
Total: $449.78

Total so far: $1025.48

Signs that Copper had lymphoma

2006-03-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

While Copper's lymphoma came on quite sudden, there were some signs that he had a problem. The lymph nodes throughout his body were enlarged. While the graphic I made of the basset is not to scale, it should help anyone who wants to feel their bassets lymph nodes. If you feel the areas where I have put the pale blue dots, and feel any bumps, you probably should have your vet take a look at the basset hound. With Copper, all of the nodes throughout his whole body were enlarged, had I known what to look for, I might have been concerned sooner. But then again, the vet said that it can come on very quickly, so I might not have felt anything.

The reason I took Copper to the vet in the first place was because he was panting, breathing heavily and was lethargic. I knew something was wrong, but what it was I could not tell.

Copper's Story

2006-03-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

I rescued Copper the basset hound several years ago when his family gave him up due to a divorce. I rescued Copper the basset hound several years ago when his family gave him up due to a divorce. Copper came with some medical baggage. He has epilepsy, and from the minute he came into my house, I could tell that he had been over medicated. He tended to lay round the house and sleep a lot, which is not really typical for a basset hound.
I had some blood tests done and got his medication regulated, and found that Copper had a very silly and calculating personality.
In future posts, I'll share some of Copper's antics. I'm sure they will make you chuckle.

On March 8, 2006, Copper was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. He had not been feeling well over the weekend, so I took him to the vet on Monday March 7th. The vet felt his lymph nodes and found that the majority of them were enlarged. So tests were run. The tests came back confirming her suspicions, so x-rays were taken, and an appointment was made for him to see an oncologist. The oncologist reviewed all of the paper work and recommended that he start chemo-therapy. He was given his first treatment during the visit. He goes back on Monday, March 13th.
While Chemo is very expensive, after talking to the Doctor, I felt that he deserved to be given the chance to live for another year which is the doctors best guess at his life span. I plan to conduct lots of research on lymphoma in animals and see if there are other things that can be done to prolong his life. The one thing I will not do is to try and prolong his life if he cannot have a good quality life.