Great Chemo Visit This Week

Good morning friends,

I am happy to report that Sophie is doing well after yesterday's chemo visit. The medication she had yesterday is called vincristine (there is a rotation of 3 medications). It has become our routine for me to monitor her closely for 24 to 48 hours following chemo, but this week I am being particularly vigilant.

The last time Sophie took vincristine, her side effects were quite severe. What began with some nausea and lethargy became serious vomiting and bloody diarrhea within two days. I wound up rushing her back to the hospital, where I learned that her white blood cells were very low as a result of the vincristine. She stayed overnight in the ICU to receive fluids, stabilize her white blood cells and receive strong antibiotics to guard against infection. She recovered very well, but of course I had been dreading her next dose of the "v." That one overnight hospital stay depleted our grant by over a thousand dollars.

The oncology team at New York Veterinary Specialists reassured me that they would lower Sophie's next vincristine dose and administer strong anti-nausea medication, and it worked - here I am this morning with a happy healthy pup with a great appetite, and up to her usual antics. So far, so good!

Sophie has now received at least one dose of each of the medications in the chemo rotation, which means that the results going forward should be reasonably predictable. That is exactly the kind of peace of mind that this hyper-planner needs right now!