Good news for our little Alki dog

[Stefrobrts]

Thanks Rhonda, I do know what you mean. People who haven't had Eskies might not understand, but they really are special dogs. Not like any dog I've ever had. Smart as a whip, always one step ahead of me, it IS like they read minds!

If you find a good pic of Jasmine, post it. I love to see other eskies too. There's a reason the national rescue for the breed is called 'heart bandits'. They sure are!

[safari57]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

Thanks! She's very photogenic

Another funny thing at the vet was Alki sat behind my chair, then eventually laid down, fell asleep, then would wake up and make these pitiful groaning sighs - aren't you people done talking yet?


Barry, your story is incredible. 17 years is a pretty good extra lease on life. Sounds like it was certainly worth the suffering.

Thanks Stephanie, I have been lucky, and I have had wonderful people in my life who have worked long and hard to make sure I'm still around to enjoy it , primarily my wife, but also great doctors and our friends.

Good luck with your drives. The quiet time there and back with Alki will be much treasured in the future when you look back. You two will be in our prayers and thoughts through the next month. With an attitude like Alki has and the love and caring you give her, she has a high probability of coming out on top of this whole thing.

Barry

[Stefrobrts]

Well, tomorrow we start our commuting for radiation treatments. Today Alki got a bath, because she won't be able to have one once treatments start. Apparently they're going to shave her sides where the treatment will be aimed, and draw lines to aim the machine at, and they don't want those lines getting washed or licked off. Luckily it sounds like that doesn't mean 'the cone' again, the vet said she could just wear a little t-shirt to cover it up. I guess we'll see how that goes

Anyway, here's Alki, fresh out of the tub and ready to play!

[juel]

Imma Chicken (Pomeranian) and I are pulling for you and your dear "friend". Go get um!

[Mel]

Alki looks to be in great spirits. Hope all goes well as you start the treatments tomorrow. Does Alki get to pick out her own t-shirts?

[Stefrobrts]

A friend said she got her mom (who's also battling cancer right now) a mug that says 'cancer sucks'. I need a shirt like that!

[Stefrobrts]

Alki is home and well, sleeping off her first radiation treatment. She had a little 'incident' where her heartbeat became irregular after they started knocking her out. Doctor said sometimes this happens to little dogs. They gave her a drug which settled it right back to normal. They said from here on out they're going to give her the drug before knocking her out to prevent that from happening again. Hopefully there will be no more 'incidents', because if they have any further trouble with her heart they will have to cancel the radiation treatments.

Otherwise, so far so good. It was sure a long drive over there though. Poor pup was so tired coming home she could barely keep her eyes open!

[Silvertwinkie]

Glad to hear the first round went well Stef!

[safari57]

Glad so far it's going well. Tired is the key word. I slept from one treatment to the next the next day it seemed and was very listless when I was awake, which was not too often. That and the only thing I could eat was cream of wheat. Nothing else seemed to want to stay down. It's one of those "this is going to hurt like heck but it will get better soon" types of things. We are rooting for alki and you guys too. This is as hard on you if not more so because you know what's going on - she just knows she's tired and not feeling very well.

Barry and Donna

[InsideOut]

but, I have to ask....with all the time you spend on the road (missing work) and gas money, can't you board Alki M-F for the treatments and bring him home on the weekends? Seems the money saved on gas and lost pay would just about cover the boarding....and it would be less stressful on you both. Or am I just being too practical?

Hope he has continued success whatever you decide to do.

Shari

[BDandTTs]

Good vibes, and restful thoughts to you and Alki from Bob, Dianne and Dahli

BDandTTs
Bandit #14576

[safari57]

Shari

It's been my experience that boarding places for pets are not really designed for an ill pup who doesn't know why this is happening to them, and leaving them at the pet hospital is very expensive, very clinical, and not conducive to the mental healing part of the equation. And you want to go see how things are going every day, pay some attention to the little furball, and get a personal sense of being a part of it.

When one of our cats (Thumper) was going through a major health crisis and had to be in the vets full time for almost a month my wife was there before work, at lunch, and after work every weekday and there for several hours twice a day on the weekend. The vets ultimately said that it was their belief that he survived because of that. We are convinced that our cat got "better care and attention" because they knew how devastating it would be for us if he did not survive.

Yeah, it gets expensive, and our co-workers would say it's just a cat, but he was ours and we loved him like he was a child and in those situations money is a piece of it, but way down the list. I suspect this is the same situation for Steph and family.

Barry

[Stefrobrts]

Shari, they do boarding for their patients, and we have considered it. The staff is very nice, and their boarding area is nice (they have rooms instead of kennels, and limited patients and lots of staff to check in on the guests), but we've had trouble boarding Alki before. Because we work at home, and she is with us all the time, she gets pretty upset when she is left with someone else. In fact the last place we borded her at for a vacation said they couldn't take her anymore because she gets too upset and makes herself sick. So now she gets to stay home and a petsitter comes to look in on her.

She's very good at riding in the car, so I think right now that going for a two hour ride every day is probably less stressful to her than staying somewhere strange without family around. However, if I change my mind about that, the boarding is always a possibility.

Luckily I work at home so I can make up for lost time in the evenings. I'm already feeling the burn, so to speak. Back to work!


Thanks for the well wishes, all. 1 down, 19 more to go!

[CanoeStream]

We're longtime dog owners/lovers. We've been through scotties and currently have an airedale & a pembroke corgi. Matter of fact I think Susie is in constant shopping mode. Otherwise we'd have a Frenchie, a pug -- anything but one of the designer dogs. Vet care is a constant decision and we tend to work with ours completely. C'mon Alki!

[InsideOut]

Don't get me wrong...I am a pet lover too! You have no idea...

I am fortunate to have never had to go through something like this, I was just curious as to whether the option was considered...or even offered.

Shari

[Stefrobrts]

Well, we could always go with the best middle ground between boarding and being at home - find a nice place for the caravel over there and just go camping for a week!

[CaddyGrn]

Steph,

Please keep us all posted on Alki and how she is doing! So sorry you have to go through this, and so sorry she has to as well. But our pets are family too and we just need to do all we can! We are thinking positive and healthy thoughts for you all!

Claudia

[Stefrobrts]

We all survived Alki's first week of radiation. Everything went smoothly except for the first day, when they knocked her out and her heart quit beating properly. Luckily there was a drug for that which got her straightened right out again. However now we have to come in 15 minutes early so she can have a shot of that drug every day before they knock her out. So far so good, no heart trouble since then, but the vet says if it happens again while she's on the drug, they'll have to stop the treatments and go another course. But since this is most effective, she wanted to continue this if we can.

Alki has been fine, but a little tired. She still wants to go to the park for her daily walk, but she's a bit more tired than she knows, and wears out quicker.

She rides in her box to the vet and rides back in the box, usually sleeping the whole way because the anesthetic wears off slowly. She's up and walking when I put her in the box to leave, then she just sort of dreamily watches it all go by, or sleeps, and by the time we get home she's awake and ready for a snack.

It has been interesting talking to the other clients at the vet. Of course they are all there for cancer of one sort or another. The first day we met a nice older lady and her Scottie who has the same cancer as Alki, and was starting his treatment the same day. We have run into each other a couple times this week. It's nice to have someone else to talk to who is going through the exact same thing.

While I was typing this Alki came back and put her paws on my lap and gave me her 'follow me' look. So I follwed her and she eagerly led me out to the dog-cookie jar So some things are just the same as always.

[azflycaster]

Thanks for the update, sounds like things are going well.

We are all pulling for Alki, give her our best!

[Sugarfoot]

One week down and all is well, that's good news. She's still on our prayer list.