Everyone has been asking about Otto. I’ve been going with Otto to all of his appointments, so Hank asked me to prepare an update on his chemotherapy adventure.
On Thursday, January 29th, Otto underwent a second chemotherapy treatment at the Hope Advanced Veterinary Center in Vienna. He was scheduled for a chemotherapy treatment last week but had some discomfort in his lungs, so it got postponed. He’s had the discomfort in his lungs for about 2 weeks. The chemotherapy treatment weakens his immune system to fight off these ailments. When you have cancer and a weakened immune system, it leads you to wonder if the problem is due to the cancer or something more common like bronchitis. We’ve been playing inside to avoid running around in these very cold weather conditions.
The day of the chemotherapy treatment is a long one. He needs to check in by 9:30 AM, and he’s usually not released until 5 PM. As we all know, Otto has a lot of energy, so sitting around while the Hope Center doctors monitor his reaction to the treatment is not his favorite thing. He’d rather be running around with us, but the doctors insist on watching him for a few hours to confirm he’s ok. I can imagine this is torture for him, but you can’t argue with someone that has a medical degree.
His chemotherapy treatments are about 3 weeks apart. He has a CBC blood test at weekly intervals. Great Falls Animal Hospital does a CBC blood test 1 and 2 weeks before the chemotherapy treatment. The Hope Center does a third and final blood test prior to administering the doxorubicin. Dr Beck examines him and reviews his blood work and determines if he’s healthy enough for the treatment.
Doctor Beck reported that his platelet count was still lower than normal. For Otto, the normal platelet count is about 300,000, but on the day of the treatment it was only 65,000. On December 31st, his platelet count was 71,000, and a week later it jumped to 250,000, which is much closer to the normal. Looking at these numbers, his platelet count bounces around as much as Otto does. Normal values for dogs can vary.
Some of the common side effects of doxorubicin are nausea and diarrhea, but Otto didn’t experience any of those. Following his first treatment, he had lots of energy and was chasing me around the yard, so the doctor increased the doxorubicin from 9.6 mg to 10 mg. The second treatment was a more powerful dose, and he was a little bit slower the first week. Some days he had lots of energy, and other days he wanted to watch me run around. I can only wonder if his lack of energy is due to the changes in his blood counts, but I am a dog and not an oncologist. So I probably wouldn’t be figuring this out.
The one constant in the whole process has been his healthy appetite. He has put on 1 pound since he started with chemotherapy. Hank wanted me to break it to Otto that he’d now be the fat one in the photos now. But that’s not going to matter to Otto, because Hank is the vain one of the group.
It didn’t take Otto long to find the Petco Store near the Hope Center. It’s in the old Safeway location on Maple Avenue. He told me to make sure to put on the cute and cuddly act or the cashier might give us nothing. We went in last week and spent forty bucks, and got zilch from the guy behind the counter. We felt short changed but plan on going back. Maybe.
Following the Super Bowl, Otto seems more itchy on his underside and in a little discomfort at times. Other times he seems out of it, and we’re not sure of what to make of it. Some days he does with me and Hank on 2 good walks but is sluggish the following day. Maybe the walks empty his fuel tank. My repeated efforts to play with him have produced few results. I’m anxious to get the old Otto back and look forward to him chasing me around and beating me up in the very near future.
Does that make me a pain junkie?
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