Lily and I arrived for our 11 am appointment promptly at 10:40, and while we were waiting this magnificent lapdog came in and made his presence known:
Any port in a storm, bro. Things took A LOT longer today than I thought. I was under the impression the consult and chemo would take about 2 hours, but they had to run blood work again, etc. Her blood was good- her platelets are around 766k (they were 2k), and red blood cell is at around 30, white blood cells are good. The biopsy they sent to the lab in NY was inconclusive, so since her platelets are good they did an ultrasound and “aspirated her liver” for a sample, and they are running a “PARR” test to check things. Regardless, we went ahead with the initial chemo, and finally got finished at around 5 pm. Next week I am taking my laptop and book, but they said it should only be around 2 hours (which is what I thought today.
At any rate, Lily made the rounds of all the technicians and doctors who saw her last week, and when I got her back she was sporting a pretty bow:
This is going to be a 19 or 25 week plan, depending on how well she responds and what the liver results show. That’s all I got for now, but we both need a solid nap.
trollhattan
Thanks for the update, and continued positive thoughts. She’s such a sweetie.
And that lapdog–hilarious!
Planetpundit
So far very good. Keep goin’ sweetest Lily.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
Pretty bow for a pretty girl.
Incredible to think that not too long ago you and the vet were talking about her in terms of hours before saying goodbye, and now you get to talk in terms of weeks of treatment.
Go Lily!
(Also too: big lapdog is big.)
nicdanger
Outstanding! Very happy for both of you.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
Is it indelicate to ask what she weighed?
Elizabelle
Little sweet one. She looks good in her spring bow. Hope she retains the spring in her prancing.
Mnemosyne
The bow reminds me of the time that Keaton came back from a teeth cleaning with lipstick on his forehead. Apparently one of the vet techs was so smitten with him that she kissed him once he was done. ?
Still trying to get a good photo of Annie with her lion cut. The biggest problem is that she came back smelling like cat shampoo, so between that and the lack of fur, Charlotte is convinced that she’s a different cat and keeps hissing at her. They were never best friends, but things are definitely a little worse.
Major Major Major Major
Go Lily!
That dog in the waiting room has some long-ass legs.
Dog Mom
@ John Cole – Lily is looking good and healthy. Do you know where they are sending the aspirated liver sample? Aspirated liver samples often do not provide enough of a sample to give much information unfortunately. Have they given any diet advice for her? There are supplements and specific foods that may be better or to be avoided, especially where the liver is concerned. As much as I cringe to say that I am on Facebook, the groups that I am in have a wealth of knowledge, good administrators and a great deal of practical info for each of my three dogs’ diseases. There is at least one IMT group out there. I recommend at least joining and taking a look.
jl
@trollhattan:
” And that lapdog–hilarious! ”
Cole is tall and robust, so I can see how he would call that a lapdog.
And, it’s lap style is genteel and well mannered.
opiejeanne
I hope you continue to have good news about Lily.
That lap dog picture is hilarious.
Sab
OMG that great dane looks so much like our Lily we lost in January.
Our girl was a a St Bernard mix. She was slender but 30 inches tall. She was mostly white, but with brindle patches. She had a big brindle spot over one eye like that dane, but it was big enough to cover most of her ear.
She used to sit on the sofa like that, with her front legs straight on the floor, and her back legs gracefully crossed on the cushion.
I miss our Lily so much. I am very glad yours is doing well.
Ella in New Mexico
A pretty bow–how awesome! She’s looking so good!
By the way, what is the chemotherapy drug they us for her? Just curious to know if it’s similar to a human drug.
stinger
Lovely Lily, silly maid!
RobertDSC-iPhone 6
Happy she is ok. Keeping her in my prayers.
Ohio Mom
I am five years out, all my oncologist does during my semi-annual visits is ask a few questions and poke around a bit, and I still don’t get out in less than an hour and a half, sometimes two hours. Most of the time is waiting for her to finish up with the patients before me.
Anyway, I could have warned you, there are no quick oncology visits. I usually bring a snack.
Manyakitty
Pretty bow for a pretty girl on a pretty day. All fingers and paws crossed for more happy results.
satby
She looks great! And she obviously feels safe there. Good girl Lily!
MoxieM
wow! fantastic. Go Lily go!! Also, the Dane makes me smile, too, in addition.
Mnemosyne
@jl:
My high school boyfriend’s family had borzois (Russian wolfhounds) who never figured out that they grew too big for lap sitting. Plus they preferred to actually sit upright on your lap and refused to lay down.
Otherwise great dogs, though.
DanR2
@Ella in New Mexico: If Lily is doing the CHOP protocol, it’s pretty much the same as human drugs for lymphoma:
Cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin (hydroxydaunomycin), Vincristine (Oncovin), prednisone. Only one of the chemo drugs each week.
We went through this twice with our dog over 2 and a half years. Fortunately for us, the vet was only a couple miles away and we could drop her off and pick her up rather than stay the entire time… which would not be fun.
$150-$250 per week, depending on the bloodwork and drug. If she goes into remission after the first two months, the trips will be every other week for the third (or fourth?) round.
Matt Smith
Thanks for the update. I know HeleninEire offered to contribute more money if the treatment exceeded what was raised. But when you say 17 – 25 weeks, I wonder how expensive this might get. If it’s beyond what’s covered by Tamara’s call to arms, plus Helen’s generous offer, how will you let us know?
Ruckus
John, good luck on the chemo front.
That dane is not huge, that’s normal sized. Huge would be tall enough that she would have had someplace to set the magazine, not have to hold it in her hands. Huge is when we’re both standing and they gaze down at my stomach.
jl
@Mnemosyne: In the interest of animal species equality, I must mention that on the farm, when I was a lad, we had the same problem with piglets who were treated like pets when they were young. No matter how big they got, they always wanted to sit in your lap.
And, I forgot to say that Lily looks good. Hope the good news continues. Thanks to Cole for stream of petpix.
JPL
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): That made me laugh, but I’m sure if the vets notice a problem they will let him know.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA):
It’s pretty miraculous, isn’t it?
Counting very roughly on my fingers (haven’t looked at a calendar), and 25 weeks would put us sometime into November. My new mission is to celebrate both (a) a Dem takeover of at least the House, AND (b) Lily’s complete recovery. Looking forward to a good Thanksgiving.
Joy in FL
I’m glad your long day went ok. Thank you for the update. Lily is so perfect : )
rikyrah
Thanks for the update, Cole.
Sending positive thoughts to the beautiful Liky??
Ruckus
@Ohio Mom:
I do a test and my oncologist calls me with the results. I’m counting myself as very lucky. His office is all the was across LA so time is involved just getting there. And it’s always during the day of course so it’s always min 2 hr in at least one direction.
Emma
My best friend had a half-timber wolf that she rescued from 3 weeks or so. Small thing, loved to sit on my shoulder and “hide” under my long hair. Fast forward four years. He was the size of a donkey and I had a short bob. Didn’t matter. He would plop half on half off my lap and press his nose against my neck.
I miss him to this day.
(added) And Lily is a movie star.
eclare
Hope you and Lily have a good snuggly nap, you both deserve it!
zhena gogolia
We love you, Lily! She does look good.
Sab
Big dog thinks owner will protect him from the vet. Not gonna happen. Dogs are SO trusting.
CaseyL
Big dogs all seem to believe they’re lap dogs. I’ve had Danes do the same thing as that fellow in the photo.
Lily looks wonderful. 766K platelets is amazing! That’s why she’s eating so much: not just regaining weight, but her body is busy shoring up its biological infrastructure!
Geeno
She is going to have some huge fans at the vets after 25 weeks of visits.
Precious Lily is precious.
Roger Moore
@Emma:
It’s odd how pets can have such very specific behaviors. The one that gets me about my cat, Jake, is the way he sits in my lap. When I first got to meet him at the shelter, he came from my right side, jumped into my lap, and shoved his head into my left armpit. 7 years later, he still does the same thing. He only wants to jump into my lap from my right side, never from my left, and he still loves to stick his head into my left armpit. I have no idea why he likes doing that so much, but it’s obviously a deeply ingrained behavior.
SiubhanDuinne
@John, up top:
This is so you. So German.
pdxjmk
Yay Lily! Growing up, our dog Lady was 125 pounds of lapdog. She’d sit next to you on the couch and sort of trust-fall backwards until she was sprawled across your lap tummy side up with most of her hanging off the sides. I’m sure if you asked her, it wasn’t that she was too big, only that laps were too small.
WaterGirl
Sweet Lily, I was worried about you all day. Your dad made us wait and wonder, but that’s okay because you both had a very long day.
I am still leaving this tab open in my browser because I love the close-ups of Lily’s face. That sweet face and those eyes reach out and grab my heart.
TaMara (HFG)
I’m impressed that she doesn’t look to have a halti-lead on this beast…I’m not really seeing her lead anywhere. That’s impressive. He is almost as big as Bixby. Who btw, insists that not only is he a lap dog, but gives the best hugs ever.
Nicole
Thank you for the update!
Yarrow
Lily girl! So glad her numbers are improving and it sounds like you have a good plan going forward. She’s such a sweetie and looks good in her spring bow. I bet they all love her at the hospital.
That lap dog is hilarious. After a long day helping my dad that photo made me laugh out loud.
Sm*t Cl*de
@Roger Moore:
You should be asking yourself what’s wrong about your right armpit.
Mary G
Happy to see Lily with good test results and looking pretty. The Dane’s owner looks like that position is SOP.
Ruviana
With regard to the lapDane, I once saw a picture of an orphan baby elephant “sitting” in its keeper’s lap, very much in the style of the Dane in the pic here.
MelissaM
Thanks for the pupdate, good to hear. She’s looking good!
MelissaM
@TaMara (HFG): I’ll take a Bixby hug any day!
Skepticat
Looking good, Lily. You go, girl.
Long ago, I had a Great Dane that used to sit in my lap–especially when I sat in the Boston rocker, and he’d rock us both. Good times, even when I sometimes considered him a Mediocre Dane.
rikyrah
Does she take her treatments at the hospital in Pittsburgh, or at your local animal hospital?
Shell
Awww, Big lapdog looks pretty anxious; he probably just needed someone to have his back.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: In case Cole doesn’t see your question, I’ll chime in. I am pretty sure they are at the hospital in Pittsburgh, which must be a long way away, but I’m not sure of the miles.
MoxieM
@Mnemosyne: I had a dog trainer who had a Borzoi. Not the, uh, brightest bulbs in the doggy box, and she did a great job with that dog, so I figured she was a good trainer…and she was! I had adopted a psycho Newfie from rescue who was so strong and fast she was waaay beyond my abilities and seriously needed a pro. Sadly, in the end she went back to rescue–I was terrified she jump from a 2nd story window to get after the bike riders. That girl needed the country life with hard-core fencing.)
Aleta
@Shell: : )
geg6
Lap Dane is hilarious.
Lily looks fabulous, Cole. That spring bow, representing new life just like spring does, is perfect.
sacrablue
John, be prepared for the aspiration evaluation to come back inconclusive as well. They will probably run a clonality test using the same sample. Those results take a little over a week to complete. Be prepared to do lots of waiting. They always wait for the blood results before they start an infusion. We’ve delayed a couple of infusions because the cat had a vomitting episode, even though his blood work was fine. If Lily is doing the CHOP protocol, the doxorubicin day will be longer because the infusion is lengthier. I’ve been doing lots of long walks by checking out all of the parks within a fifteen minute drive of the animal hospital. I’ve also been shopping at a large Asian super market and we’ve been enjoying some veggies I’ve never used before. Good luck and much love to Lily.
Kristine
Good Lily news is a great way to start the week. May it continue.
Also would contribute if we start another fundraiser.
Ian G.
Just hoping everything continues to go well.
dexwood
Lily. What a dog. How can one not love that face. Are the medical funds holding up? This crowd will go deeper, I’m sure.
J R in WV
@WaterGirl:
From Bethany to the Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center is about an hour, around 55 miles. There are several other Vet hospitals, but none of them would be much longer than 80 or 90 minutes. John isn’t far from P’burgh.
Yutsano
@WaterGirl: Per previous conversations, Pittsburgh is about a 2 hour drive away from him. If that helps.
Brickley Paiste
CHOP worked with our sitter, Millie. Gave us a wonderful year and a half more with her than we would have had otherwise.
I would not hesitate to go the same route again if one of other dogs needs it.
rikyrah
@J R in WV:
Thanks to you and WaterGirl for the answers about travel.
workworkwork
@jl: My late mother-in-law had a standard poodle. While my wife and I were dating, I noticed that Nanny (the poodle) would put the front half of her body on people’s laps in turn.
I figured that she wanted to be one of those lap dogs but was too big. So when she came by me, I scooped her up and got her completely up on my lap (I have a sizeable lap). She was clearly delighted, submitted to tummy rubs and became my forever friend.
I think I won general approval from my future in-laws that day.
lowtechcyclist
@Matt Smith:
Same question here. That many chemo treatments can’t be cheap. Let us know, John, OK?
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: I’m guessing we’re looking at 1,000 a month, plus cost of tests. Plus we have to help keep Lily in enough food for a great dane! :-)
Maybe TaMara can run another special thread?
Sis
Little gestures like the bow mean so much and are so reassuring when you’re trusting people with your pet’s life and comfort. Lap dog pic is great!