I haven't posted in a very long time. I've been trialing with Kimi and Maggie; collecting MACHs and PACHs along the way. Working on Kimi's AGCH; just 3 STD Qs away.
In August, a massage therapist found a lump under Kimi's armpit. Shane -- who is 12 - is covered in lumps, so I didn't really think much about it. I was more concerned about getting some weight off Kimi, so I switched to a low-fat, low-quality food. The kibble happened to be a bit bigger than is regular food, and probably tasted like cardboard, so it seemed natural that Kimi would have difficulty eating it. I switched back to his old kibble and he picked at that as well. Gave him some canned food and that seemed to be OK, so I got curious about his teeth. Off to the vet we go and got she found a cracked molar.
Dropped Kimi off for his dental and the vet called around noon to tell me that Kimi's Calcium was elevated and they couldn't do the dental. Explained to me that it might be a parathyroid cancer and sent his specimen off to the University of Michigan. A week later, the results came back with parathyroid-related protein, which suggests cancer somewhere. We schedule an ultrasound for the next week.
After an agility weekend, Kimi stops eating and started vomiting on a Tuesday so I rush to the ER, where they do the ultrasound and find nothing. Suggested I meet with their internist. She meets with me to discuss lymphoma. By this time, I had read everything I could find on the Internet about elevated calcium and lymphoma, so I was already there with the diagnosis. She aspirated his lymph nodes, gave me some prednisone, and I made an appointment with the oncologist.
The prednisone was magic. Kimi became ravenous and ate everything I gave him. Thanks to a Facebook group, I began giving him Dr. Harvey's Paradigm food with cooked turkey. I added Hemp oil. Apparently, starches feed cancer cells, so Kimi is on a Keto diet.
Finally, something will happen after a month of waiting. Still has the cracked tooth and we start chemo. The first week was several pills, cyclophosphamide. Kimi handles it well. Second week was a low dose of Vincristine, which he handled well too. Third week was a full dose of Vincristine. All great so far. Kimi's appetite is healthy and his tooth doesn't seem to bother him with the Gabapentin he's getting. Do wish they could pull it, but vet wants to wait until chemo is over.
Next week is the first dose of Doxorubicon, which is a heavy chemo drug. Not looking forward to it as I read about the terrible side effects. I have been hoping to get his AGCH title by the end of the year, so this is such a punch in the gut. My thoughts were to get this title and then just cruise through MACHs for the next couple of years until Kimi was ready to retire - 5 years from now. Now I'm looking at months, if I'm lucky. Didn't think I would be ending agility this soon.
Friday, December 07, 2018
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Saturday in the Park
I think it was the fourth of July.
And I've been waiting such a long time
For today
Saturday we headed to Karen's for our weekly sheltie get-together. Since it was a holiday weekend, Robyn was there wither her sheltie as well. Karen set up a Master's level course from one of the April shows. I haven't had much luck with Kimi there because of the traffic noise, so I decided to do the course on leash. He did great. We tried it again on leash. Same success. So I decided to take the leash off for the third run. He was amazing! I still need someone to hold the chute open and I still need to lure him through the weaves, but he did everything else fantastic! Including a flip back to the tunnel from the dog walk.
The rest of the morning we all played together. Kimi hid for a long time until Karen let her GSD Woody out to play. Kimi came out of hiding and we managed to get this group picture.
And I've been waiting such a long time
For today
Saturday we headed to Karen's for our weekly sheltie get-together. Since it was a holiday weekend, Robyn was there wither her sheltie as well. Karen set up a Master's level course from one of the April shows. I haven't had much luck with Kimi there because of the traffic noise, so I decided to do the course on leash. He did great. We tried it again on leash. Same success. So I decided to take the leash off for the third run. He was amazing! I still need someone to hold the chute open and I still need to lure him through the weaves, but he did everything else fantastic! Including a flip back to the tunnel from the dog walk.
The rest of the morning we all played together. Kimi hid for a long time until Karen let her GSD Woody out to play. Kimi came out of hiding and we managed to get this group picture.
Left to right: Kimi, Rudy, Sophie, Dory, Woody, Siri, Chaos
Kimi's confidence grows daily. He is doing well in class. Once he figures something out, it's on to the next thing. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted from me and I am filled with nothing but joy.
Friday, June 28, 2013
One Second
This past weekend, we made the trek to Wichita Falls, TX for the first time. We drove and drove and drove up a country road for hours. We passed though several small towns that didn't even have a place to stop and pee. I was never so happy to get to a destination in all my life.
I set up my stuff and drove to the motel, which was another shocker. I still have difficulty with spending my weekends in crappy motels and dirty livestock arenas, but I got over myself by the second day. I kept picturing the 4 star Vegas hotel we stayed in last month and that didn't help at all.
On Friday, Maggie Q'd in both runs. She was doing so well. We barely made time in jumpers though. On Saturday, Maggie flew through the standard run. I've never seen her so fast in off-side weaves EVER. We managed to get 15 seconds under time. She Q'd in jumpers as well but it was a squeaker. On Sunday, she Q'd again in standard and I was getting shakey. Got a photo-shoot before jumpers and I think that may have spooked her. We missed our last Q by one second. ONE SECOND!
Still 5 out of 6 is pretty good for Miss Maggie. I tried my new trick of giving her some wheat treats prior to her run to get the sugar rush going. I also teased her with her favorite treat - string cheese. She didn't sniff in the ring once.
The other part of our weekend was socializing Kimi, which went just OK. He is still deathly afraid of traffic, although it is getting better, and these flea-bag motels always seem to be right by the expressway. With Maggie pulling me one way to sniff garbage and Kimi fleeing the other way from the traffic, I about lost my mind. I resorted to walking them separately, which worked much better.
By Sunday, Kimi was much bolder and we all managed to take a walk outside the arena. Saturday evening, I took Kimi over the practice jump after everyone was gone and he was great. Very excited to begin competing with him this fall.
Wish Miss Maggie enjoyed getting her picture taken. I've never been able to get her in the same frame as her ribbons. I'm trying not to be greedy, but I wonder if I had skipped the photo shoot if we would have Q'd. Oh well. The picture is beautiful and we had a wonderful weekend.
I set up my stuff and drove to the motel, which was another shocker. I still have difficulty with spending my weekends in crappy motels and dirty livestock arenas, but I got over myself by the second day. I kept picturing the 4 star Vegas hotel we stayed in last month and that didn't help at all.
On Friday, Maggie Q'd in both runs. She was doing so well. We barely made time in jumpers though. On Saturday, Maggie flew through the standard run. I've never seen her so fast in off-side weaves EVER. We managed to get 15 seconds under time. She Q'd in jumpers as well but it was a squeaker. On Sunday, she Q'd again in standard and I was getting shakey. Got a photo-shoot before jumpers and I think that may have spooked her. We missed our last Q by one second. ONE SECOND!
Still 5 out of 6 is pretty good for Miss Maggie. I tried my new trick of giving her some wheat treats prior to her run to get the sugar rush going. I also teased her with her favorite treat - string cheese. She didn't sniff in the ring once.
The other part of our weekend was socializing Kimi, which went just OK. He is still deathly afraid of traffic, although it is getting better, and these flea-bag motels always seem to be right by the expressway. With Maggie pulling me one way to sniff garbage and Kimi fleeing the other way from the traffic, I about lost my mind. I resorted to walking them separately, which worked much better.
By Sunday, Kimi was much bolder and we all managed to take a walk outside the arena. Saturday evening, I took Kimi over the practice jump after everyone was gone and he was great. Very excited to begin competing with him this fall.
Maggie's Photo Shoot
Two Double Q's
Wish Miss Maggie enjoyed getting her picture taken. I've never been able to get her in the same frame as her ribbons. I'm trying not to be greedy, but I wonder if I had skipped the photo shoot if we would have Q'd. Oh well. The picture is beautiful and we had a wonderful weekend.
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