Scooby & Lymphoma

[Spyglass Sally]

Glad things are going well. Having a pup around will probably be lots of fun for Scooby too!

Look forward to seeing the pics!

[rubyandrosie]

great to hear the new of scooby doing well. long may it continue, and what have you called ur adorable flashy bringle , im sure she'l be a right little madam....... u gotta love them thou
sue
xx

[Scooby]

Scooby is being a good role model for the pup with potty training, I think. I take them out together, and he goes potty on command, so when she sees him go, she decides it's a good idea and does the same.
I've named her Shenzi, after a hyena in the Lion King movies =)
She's definitely a laugh! Scooby is just getting used to sharing his toys. Except for his pink squeaky pig. He stole that from Victor, the white shepard, when we moved in and is madly in love with that thing. I don't understand... He walks around with it in his mouth and just squeak squeak squeaks it! I'm going mad with all the squeaky toys in this house... I can't wait till they chew through them so the toys can't squeak anymore, haha!

[Doreen]

Good for Shenzi...

[Scooby]

Update
Scooby got his chemo last week. I've been on and off with it the past couple months. I judge by how bad the side effects are before I decide to go another month or not. Two months ago, the side effects were just horrible. His blood count dropped heavily and he had no energy. I had it in my mind that I wouldn't give him the chemo again after that. But that was until this month when his tumor started getting huge (it's in his throat) and it was bothering him greatly. He was always coughing and trying to swallow. He seemed ok since his last round and my heart was just breaking for him, so I went ahead with another round of chemo last week.
Happy to say he reacted very well! The tumor is down to barely a ping pong ball size, where as before it was about a baseball. It's astounding how fast this grows... it's kind of scary to see. I'm worried about what the future holds for my buddy...
But for now he's doing great! He had a bout with pink eye two days ago which cleared up, thank god. Other than that, he's a happy boy, running around with his buddy and bullying his sister. I'm going to have to put up some pics for you guys soon!

[Doreen]

glad to know he did so well with the chemo this time... yes, post photos please!

[Ruby Red]

Aww, poor boy - sorry if this sounds silly, but can't they remove the tumour or is it too risky? I'm glad he did well with the chemo this time round, must be hard for both of you.

[Scooby]

Good question! I had the same one when this all started... They can't remove the tumor because it isn't localized in one specific place. The cancer has affected his lymph system, which is really extensive, and they can't cut his whole lymphatic system. While the largest tumor appears in his neck, there's no way that removing it will help anything, unfortunately.

[Ruby Red]

Oh I see, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise it was that extensive. Cancer is such a horrid disease, so many people and animals seem to be affected by it.

[Scooby]

Things are not going so well for Scooby. This weekend Scooby was feeling really lethargic, I'm thinking because of the chemo side effects, so I didn't think anything of it. He was also losing appetite which really worried me. I've been telling myself that the day Scooby stops eating is when I'll know he needs to be put to sleep. Food is his FAVORITE thing ever, if he turns that down, things are not good. I've been getting him to eat by cooking up some ground beef and mixing it in with his kibble, thankfully.
Wednesday he developed an edema in his throat, by last night his lips looked like water balloons, they were so swollen. Btw, an edema is fluid retention beneath the skin. This happens to Scoob because the lymph node tumors block the flow of the lymph fluid, so it just pools up where it's blocked. All day yesterday I was calling the vet around here at my school. Of course I couldn't reach anyone from the oncology unit where they insisted I had to contact. I left a message with every vet they put me through but haven't heard back. He could barely open his mouth it was so swollen! It was seriously getting worse by the hour and I felt so bad, I couldn't do anything!
Thank god for my boyfriend, his sister is a vet so I spoke with her, she said prednisone, an oral steriod, would bring down the swelling until I got an appointmet with the oncologist. It was late at night but she called a Walgreens by me and got him a prescription filled. I picked it up and gave him the first dose last night. He's feeling so much better! His face is still swollen but not to last night's extent. He was much more enthusiastic about breakfast this morning

Just figured I'd update you guys on what we're going through! He's resting comfortably at my feet at the moment, Shenzi is curled up into his side chewing at a rawhide. Somehow, I really think she keeps his spirits up, but maybe that's just me making things up, haha. Keep us in your prayers!