Emily finished her chemo on Sept 5th. We had a few delays due to late delivery of the drugs, a couple of bouts of tummy troubles (Emily has had a sensitive tummy since she was a pup when there was ground corn in her diet) and then right before the 2nd to last chemo treatment Emily got a big 'ol UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). That UTI has been more trouble then her cancer! But I digress.
I'm going to do a separate post about Emily's post chemo care. I found when we were nearing the end of her treatment there was very little written about what to do next. Emily's amazing and wonderful vet Dr. Courtney Sherlock and I figured it out. I want to do a separate post so that if dog owners in the future are looking for this topic they may be able to find information about our experience when they do a search. I'm a geek to the end.
So now it's been 2 months. Emily is not the same girl she was before the cancer and/or the treatment. She became an old dog overnight. Her eyesight was never very good and she's been developing cataract for years. She's just gotten over an ear infection that seemed to seriously affect her hearing although I'm still quite sure half the time she's ignoring me. That hasn't changed. She's been ignoring me her whole life. She sleeps a lot and when she's asleep she's sound asleep. I vacuumed the other night right around her and she didn't move! That's new. She also doesn't run upstairs when I sear something on the stove. That used to send her running (usually because the smoke detector goes off shortly after - it's in the wrong place, it's not my cooking I swear). These days she beats herself out easily.
Okay now all the good things. Emily is so full of joy. I've never seen her little stub wag as much as it does these days. After her treatment ended it was like her body knew and suddenly she was back to being the carrot junky she always was. During treatment carrots were off the menu because they were too high in carbs and remember, cancer cells live off of sugars which carbs are. She still loves to play ball in the yard and walk her duck around the house. Her appetite is veracious. She sings, cries, howls while waiting for her supper. She is a complete and total snuggle bug, wanting to touch me all night long. She does snore more than ever and has active dreams which often result in repeated kicks during the night. Now it's just harder to wake her to get her to stop.
Emily has also changed from being a determined working dog to a social butterfly. In the past she would be more quick to react to a situation and do her job (protect/defend). Now she's sits back and assesses if there's something in it for her. She eats up attention whenever she can get it. No more aloof Bouv! At the vets, in the exam room she was all waggly stub for the vet and all the girls even though she was anxious. She never used to be anxious at the vets but after 26 chemo treatments her opinion of their establishment as changed. Luckily they are moving so maybe her negative feelings will stay with the old place.
Her biggest struggle aside from the veracious appetite is due to the UTI and some kidney issues, both of which are completely clear now. She has become somewhat incontinent. She can't hold it when left alone for longer than a couple of hours. I put puppy pads around when we go out but of course she rarely hits them. My neighbor comes out to let her out at regular intervals when we're gone for longer periods of time but it seems hit or miss. It's fine as long as Emily sleeps the whole time we're gone but if she gets up she has an accident. I was home with her for 2 full days last weekend and she didn't run for the door to go out as soon as she got up so we think it might be anxiety. She does look for someone when she wakes up and I see her more and more relying on Ollie. And Ollie is okay with that. We were at the cottage a couple of weeks ago and Emily fell off the dock. As she swam to shore Ollie walked out to meet her. It was quite cute and Emily was quite proud of herself for solving her own problem.
Total cost for this treatment was over $7000 of which the insurance covered 80%. That does not include the cost of her homemade diet and treats which is costing me about $120 a month. The treats are for both her and Ollie. Treats include veggies, cooked chicken hearts, cooked beef heart, frozen chicken wings and necks.
I take every day as a blessing knowing that some day she'll be gone. Although I don't think that day will be very soon. She just had a complete blood work up and urinalysis and she had had a ultrasound 2 months ago. All clear, everything is normal. The vet used the word 'excellent' more than once! So was this worth it. Yes it was. Yes it was indeed.
Ms Emily as a Cheerleader for Halloween.
Ollie as a Rufferee and Emily
Me and Ms Em doing selfies at the cottage.
