Hook, Line, and Sinker

It has been one week since we added a little Chihuahua puppy named
Nacho to our family. Both the puppy and his name were chosen by my
son.

Neither my wife nor I ever thought we would own a Chihuahua. I
certainly didn't think I would become so attached to one so quickly!
But this little guy has certainly captured my heart.

We had agreed after the passing of Maddy, our beloved Dalmatian of
nine years, just three weeks ago that we were going to wait at least
until spring to get another pet.

Tonight, there is snow on the ground, and little Nacho is curling up
beside me to go to sleep. It's a testament to the powers of persuasion
of a little boy and a little puppy.

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Peace At Last

Maddy was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in June. We made the decision to have her leg amputated to make whatever time she had left quality time for her.

She learned to run and play with three legs. She was her old self again, and we all grew much closer to her than we had ever been.

The past few weeks, she has been declining rapidly. She went the last two weeks without eating. She vomited and, today, had to be picked up and carried to go outside.

We stayed home from church today to spend some time with her. My wife and I talked about it and decided that the best way to spend the day was as a family -- with all of the family, including Maddy. She followed us into the living room today. We made her a comfortable place to lie by the back door and soak up the sun. We wrapped her in a blanket where she could lie in comfort in the middle of the room.

And at 3:15 pm Eastern Time, with my wife and my six-year-old son nearby, lying in my arms, Maddy won her battle with cancer. She is now free from pain and suffering. She now has a new body, with four legs again, free from cancer, and is running in green fields and swimming in ponds.

Many ask if pets go to Heaven. There are two sides to this issue, like any other. I believe that they do, for we are told that God does not forget animals (Luke 12:6). God loves animals, and if He loves them, how can He consider them disposable beings?

Yes, I believe we will see our Maddy again some day, when she comes bounding into our arms, just like she has done for the past 9-1/2 years.

We're going to miss you, Maddy, but we are happy for you that you have finally found relief.

The Time Draws Near

Maddy, our beloved Dalmatian of 9-1/2 years, who has been fighting cancer for the past 5-1/2 months, doesn't have much time left. She hasn't eaten a bite in probably 2 weeks. Her body is surviving only by consuming itself.

Moments ago, she drank some water while we all sat with her, loving her, encouraging her to just let go, just as we did with my mother when she was fighting her own cancer several years ago. A few minutes after Maddy finished drinking, she collapsed in her own vomit. I was sure it was going to be the end.

But how do you reason with a dog, even when she is a member of the family? And how do you decide for yourself whether to help her find relief or to expire on her own? Are we selfish if we let her live it out? Or are we selfish if we put her down?

I pray that God will take her soon -- and yes, I do believe that dogs go to Heaven -- where her pain and suffering will finally be over forever.

Tree Trimming

Usually trimming the tree and putting up the Christmas decorations is something my wife and kids do on Black Friday while I'm at work. This year, we're doing things a little different.

I think we all realize that our dog Maddy probably won't be with us for Christmas this year. While we didn't actually discuss it, it's like we wanted to start Christmas a little early this year so we can still share it with Maddy.

So, today we've been putting up Christmas trees and ornaments and decorating the house, one last time, with Maddy watching. And she actually kept changing rooms with us as we moved from one room of the house to another.

She lies beside me as I write this, resting through her labored breathing, as the kids trim the tree.

Merry Christmas, very early!

Another Night

Tonight as I prepare to go to sleep, I realize that Maddy is weaker even than last night. I can't help but wonder if she'll even try to follow me up to bed, like she has for 9-1/2 years.

She's lost all her energy, lots of weight, and even seems to have lost her spirit. It's hard to watch her slowly die.

She was our first kid, and our house will be empty when she's gone. And every night I wonder if she'll get another night.

Goodnight, Maddy. We love you!

The Real Phantom Menace

Our dog of nine years was diagnosed with cancer five months ago. You may have been following along with the story here. She has begun declining quite rapidly.

This morning we awoken to several spots of vomit around the house. She won't eat and has a sad, distant look in her eyes.

Several years ago I watched my mother battle cancer. Then my grandmother. And as a child, my grandfather. Cancer is like some kind of Phantom Menace, attacking in stealth and consuming everything in its path. It's hard to keep it in mind, sometimes, that those loved ones who lost to cancer actually won the battle of life and went on to reap their final reward.

Our dog will lose to cancer soon. Is there a place for her in Heaven? I want to think so. I can't imagine anything else for her.

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Making Difficult Decisions

It was almost five months ago that our dog, Maddy, was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery to have her leg amputated. Her condition has been declining steadily over the past few weeks. Today, I believe, we made the difficult decision to discontinue her cancer medicine.

It's hard to watch her suffer. She coughs almost all the time -- in fact, last night it seemed that she was up coughing non-stop the entire night. She's enjoyed five good months that she may not have had without the surgery, and we've become so much closer to her over those five months. Her time, I fear, is drawing near.

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

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Maddy's Cancer Progresses

Our cancer dog just coughed up a piece of flesh. Lung, we think.

Maddy's Cancer Fight

Our cancer dog Maddy is coughing up blood again. It's not good.

Please Keep Praying

Fever and a cough with congestion. Treating her for a respiratory infection. Praying it's not more.

Your Prayers Please

Taking our dog to the vet. She's coughing up blood. Hope it's not the cancer progressing.

A Reader Shares A Sad Story

I received the following email today from a reader:

Hi,
Came across your blog about your dog. We are taking our lab mix into the vet today and I think she has the same thing. She started limping on her right rear leg a couple weeks ago. We just thought she hurt it as she has a few times before chasing cats or squirrels. Now it's got a big baseball sized swelling at her knee. Sad. Anyway, thanks for the info on your blog.

Please keep this dog and her family in your prayers, as they may have some tough times ahead.

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

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Maddy's Fighting Back

Our Maddy is progressing along the road of recovery, after being diagnosed with cancer, or more specifically, Canine Osteosarcoma -- otherwise known as bone cancer. Today we made another trip to the doctor to have the sutures (from her amputation surgery) removed, which meant another car ride for Maddy. She absolutely loves riding in the car, and her excitement was palpable.

She was quite a trooper as the doctor removed the sutures, and bounded up and down the stairs going into the office as well as any four-legged dog would do. When we came home from the vet, the kids and I went into the back yard so the kids could play on their slip-n-slide, and Maddy followed us out to lie on her pillow and bask in the sun. She looked so happy and peaceful.

We aren't out of the woods yet. We're hoping that there has been minimal metastases of the cancer cells, and that the piroxicam regimen she's on will help to slow down the progression of any cells. We plan to return to the doctor in a month or so for a follow-up chest x-ray.

So far, though, our Maddy seems to be doing great. It makes me happy that we made the difficult decision to amputate rather than just trying to comfort her in her final months.

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

AJA Press

Our Maddy Recovering Well

Our Maddy has been home for one week now after her leg amputation surgery, and she has been improving quite well. She spends a lot of time sleeping, but her last dose of pain medicine and antibiotics was today, so hopefully she'll bound back with more energy soon. The pain medication she's on is known to cause drowsiness, as are most pain medications.

She is quite energetic at times. We've been trying to take her on a short daily walk down to the end of our cul de sac and back, and she loves it. She even tries to pull on the leash and lead the walk, just like she has always done.

We'll be headed back to the vet on Friday (probably) for a check up and to have her stitches removed. It's amazing how quickly animals rebound after such major surgery as the loss of a limb. Could you imagine if you lost a limb? Could you bounce back so quickly as this? Share your thoughts.

Joe




Maddy's Cancer Battle

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Maddy's Recovery Continues -- With A Bit of Swelling

I had an unexpected interruption (as if there's any such thing as an expected interruption) at work today, when my wife called to tell my that our Maddy's paw (the remaining front leg) -- in fact, her entire front leg -- was swelled. My first fear, of course, was that the swelling was similar to the "swelling" that turned out to be a cancerous tumor in her (now gone) right front leg. After making several attempts to reach both our vet and the surgeon that performed the amputation on the phone, I decided to leave work and rush home to check up on our oldest "kid."

During my drive home, the surgeon called me, and we discussed the symptoms. He said that based on her attitude, her activity level, her diet, and the type of swelling she was having, he didn't think it was an emergency. He felt that we could probably wait until tomorrow when her vet is in (the surgeon's office is ninety minutes away). He thought that the swelling was probably caused by poor circulation, and he gave me some tips about what we can do to ensure that it isn't an emergency and to reduce the swelling.

I came home, and we did some hydrotherapeutic massage of the swelled paw. Getting Maddy off her feet for a while, and relaxed in a position that doesn't put all of her weight on her remaining front leg, we managed to get the swelling down to a condition that was less alarming. Right now, she's lying by my side on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, sleeping, with her leg sticking out beside her. Hopefully we'll find her to be in a bit better condition in the morning. If not, it's probably back to the vet again.

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

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Our Maddy: Home Again

Our nine year old Dalmatian, Maddy, is finally home again, one week after being diagnosed with Canine Osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, and one day after having her right front leg amputated to remove the tumor.

You can follow the story here, and stay tuned for updates as she continues her battle with any metastasis of the cancer cells that may have occurred (even though they don't show up on X-rays). As she lies on her favorite pillow in the family room, resting and recovering from what has certainly been the most difficult week of her life so far, I thank God that there was a means to relieve her pain, improve her quality of life, and (hopefully) prolong the time she has left with us.

When I first received the diagnosis from Maddy's doctor, I wasn't surprised. In fact, I had told my wife before making the appointment to see the vet that I thought the lump on her leg was probably a cancerous tumor. My wife, in denial, disagreed. I returned home from the vet and called my wife outside without the kids to deliver the bad news to her. After we coped with anger, denial, shock, confusion -- every emotion you can think of -- we were faced with the dilemma of how to treat our beloved pet, who has been our child since before our kids were born.

We were given options such as doing nothing -- in which case she had maybe two to six months left to live -- to amputation alone, or amputation with chemotherapy. I think at first, my wife and I both were so depressed that we thought she would die soon no matter what we did, and we resigned ourselves to trying to make Maddy as comfortable as possible for what time she had left. Learning that amputation surgery in Indianapolis would cost us $2400 -- a nearly cost-prohibitive sum -- made that unfortunate decision almost the only choice for us.

But having lost my mother, grandmother, and grandfather (and others) to The Big C, I had a hard time accepting defeat, and convinced my wife that we had to do more -- that we had to at least see how much the cancer had spread through her body. I returned to the vet and learned that there was no visible sign of metastasis on the X-rays, which doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't there, but even the vet appeared optimistic. It was then that I decided that we had to find some way to save our beloved Maddy. The vet had recommended a local specialist that gave us an initial pre-consultation phone estimate of $2100 to $2400. OUCH! My wife being from Terre Haute, I got a brainstorm (or, if you wish, an epiphany, or a message from God -- I honestly think the latter is closer to the truth) that the process had to be cheaper in a small town like my wife's home town of Terre Haute.

I got online and did a quick search and called Honey Creek Animal Hospital. I explained the situation, told them about my wife being a Terre Hautean (sp?), and asked them what they thought. I was told that Doctor Staub would have to make a final determination, but that we could expect the surgery to run between $700 and $1000 and that we could come in the next day for a consultation.

The rest is history. We picked up our Maddy today, and while she is exhausted and experiencing some post-surgery pain, I believe that she will soon be back to her pre-diagnosis energetic self, and pray to God to give us as much time with her as His Grace will allow. Oh, and the total bill for the surgery was $868.40 -- roughly one-third of what we would have paid in Indianapolis. So far, I see no reason to think that the Indy specialist would have done a better job. Only time will tell.

For now, my Punkin is home with us, and we're happy to have her back. We missed her.

Direct video link.

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

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Maddy Pulls Through Surgery Beautifully!

Our Maddy went through surgery today to have her right front leg -- the leg with the large tumor -- removed, after being diagnosed a week ago with Canine Osteosarcoma. {This picture is the last picture taken of her before her surgery.}

She pulled through the surgery like a champ -- no real surprise, as she has always been a very spirited dog -- and will be coming home tomorrow. Of course, her absence these past three days has made the house very quite and almost empty feeling -- even with our three and five year old kids running around.

The wife has been on a mission to prepare the house for her, and to make a drastic change to her diet, gathering up vitamins and foods that many owner's of dogs diagnosed with cancer have found to be effective in their fight to beat the disease. It's going to be a whole new world for our Maddy when she returns home -- but hopefully a world that she will be around to enjoy for some time longer than we initially thought when she was diagnosed.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for pictures (and maybe even video) of our Maddy coming home from the hospital. Can't wait to get her back home!

Your comments?

Joe


Maddy's Cancer Battle

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Maddy's Chest X-rays Look Promising

I took our Dalmatian, Maddy, back to the veterinarian today for some chest X-rays. After spending two days in extreme sadness over what appeared to be a gloomy prognosis, we decided to find out just how much metastasis of the cancerous cells has already occurred. As I understand it, cancerous cells would appear as white popcorn in this chest X-ray. Surprisingly enough, our Maddy has a seemingly clean bill of health, other than the tumor in her leg.

The vet was cautiously optimistic -- which is more optimistic than he has been so far. He said that it is more likely that there is some metastasis that is so small that it doesn't show up on the X-ray than that her thorax is cancer-free. But he did say that this is a case where we would want to consider amputating the leg, and that he has seen dogs in such a state that have had two to three good years after amputation.

The bad news is, the place that he recommends here in Indianapolis would charge us between $2100 and $2400 to perform the procedure. My wife being from Terre Haute, I got the idea to call some animal hospitals there to get an idea of what the charges would be there. It appears that we can expect to spend half as much (maybe less) by making the ninety minute drive west to have the procedure performed.

So tomorrow afternoon, the whole family -- Maddy included -- will be loading up in the car and heading to Terre Haute to consult with the doctor that will (hopefully) be performing the procedure for much less than we can get it done here in Indianapolis. We're all very hopeful that our Maddy will be pain-free, running around like her old self, and with us for a little longer than we expected just a couple of days ago.

Stay tuned for updates, and thanks to all my Twitter friends who offered their support.

Your comments?

Joe


Maddy's Cancer Battle

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Our Maddy Has Cancer

Earlier this week, I took our beloved eight-year-old (she just turned nine yesterday) Dalmatian, Maddy, to the veterinarian. She has a swelling on her right front leg that would rise and fall, and suddenly quit falling, swelling up more than ever. I posted the bad news on Twitter after delivering it to my wife: the dog who was our first child has cancer.

Canine Osteosarcoma, to be exact. From Wikipedia:

Osteosarcoma is the most common bone tumor in dogs and typically afflicts middle-age large and giant breed dogs such as Irish Wolfhounds, Greyhounds, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers and Great Danes. It has a ten times greater incidence in dogs than humans. A hereditary base has been shown in St. Bernard dogs. Spayed/neutered dogs have twice the risk of intact ones to develop osteosarcoma.

The picture above is an X-ray of a healthy dog leg. The picture to the right is our Maddy's X-ray. In the far right of the picture of the healthy dog leg, you can see the large bone that is missing in Maddy's leg -- literally eaten away from the inside out by the cancer cells. The two bones in the healthy X-ray are the ulna and radius, though I couldn't tell you which is which. In Maddy's leg, one is completely eaten away and the other is very, very deteriorated. The large swelling, I understand, is a result of her body trying to fight the cancer.

The vet, who we have used for the first time but who came highly recommended, prescribed prednisone for her, to fight the inflammation and help relieve the pain. I'm not convinced yet that it is doing either, though all that I have read about it says that it takes several days of continuous use to have the desired effect. So far, it seems to have only succeeded in causing her to be more thirsty and urinate more.

We haven't yet decided what course of treatment to take. The doctor mentioned three options: amputation of the leg plus chemotherapy; amputation alone; pain management only. He seemed to believe that her case was too far progressed for amputation and chemotherapy to do much to prolong her life or improve the quality of what time she has left, which he says may be as little as three months or as many as six.

Again, studying the situation seems to suggest that amputation would greatly relieve her pain and improve the quality of the time she has remaining. It also seems that amputation plus chemotherapy might give her as many as four to ten months more life. However, all of the studying in the world doesn't necessarily apply to Maddy's case.

My wife and I are currently struggling with watching our Maddy. We keep hoping that she will just get better. It's hard not to do that. And we struggle with whether to try to just help her manage the pain, amputate the leg, or amputate and treat with chemotherapy. The struggle for me is that my own mother lost her fight with cancer several years ago. She started chemotherapy and ended it shortly thereafter, convinced that the treatment only made her feel worse and wouldn't prolong her life or add any quality to it. Reports suggest that chemotherapy in dogs does not have the same dramatic side effects as it has in people. I just don't know.

What I do know is that we love our dog, and we don't want to lose her. But we also have faith in God, and know that everything that happens is for His purpose. Sometimes, though, it's hard to accept that His purpose might mean taking away a loved one, like our Maddy.

Yesterday was her ninth birthday. She's been with us since she was six weeks old, long before either of our children were born. We had a birthday party for her today, and pampered and spoiled her. She had a hot dog to eat, plus two new hot dog squeaky toys. She had several doggie cookies, and one real cupcake, which she absolutely loved.

Tomorrow, I'll be speaking with the vet again about his thoughts on amputation, chemotherapy, or just pain management. I just need to make sure that whatever decision we make, we are making as informed a decision as possible. I need to make sure that we aren't making a selfish decision. I don't want to prolong her life just to keep her with us longer if it will be a miserable life for her. But I don't want to just manage the pain if more aggressive treatment might add some quality months or years to her life. It won't be an easy decision to make, whatever we decide. I just wish Maddy could tell us what she would choose.

Your comments?

Joe


Maddy's Cancer Battle

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