We are finally on the other side of the diarrhea hell and other associated side effects of the Doxorubicin. That was awful. Emily had diarrhea for 4 days to the point where it was projectile and bright red. Sadly this is not the first time in my life I have seen this and I knew it was to be expected due to the irritated state of her system. Her anal glands completely let go on the morning of day 4(Sat) again not a surprise given how hard her system had worked up to that point. Anyone who has dealt with anal glands knows how bad it is. Needless to say, every blanket and mat now needs to be washed. Emily was laying in it at one point so she's a stinky mess even though I did sponge bathe her.
Emily didn't eat for 48 hours and barely drank at all on day 3(Fri). That was the biggest panic, she wasn't drinking but she was still outputting fluid. We watched closely for dehydration and thankfully she never got there. We also watched her temp which never went outside the normal range of 99- 102F. Last night Emily ate 9 saltine crackers and 5 chicken hearts. You never saw a happier person then I was when she took that first cracker out of my hands. This was after offering her everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in the house. I said a little prayer to St. Francis Assisi, the patron saint of animals cause I thought it couldn't hurt even though I'm not Catholic. I figured he wouldn't hold that against Emily.
The biggest fright during this whole episode was when Emily went outside and try to lay down in the cold snow and did not want to come in. Dakota did that the night he died. She did this constantly for 2 days (including in the middle of the night) I kept tell her it was not her time but there was a little voice inside my head that wondering if we were fighting a losing battle. I was laid off work a couple of weeks ago and I'm sure it was so I could spend time with Emily. But was it to spend time with Emily and get her through this fight or to spend time with her as her time to go is near? These are the things that go through your head when you are sleep deprived, stressed, scared and just plain freaking out.
This episode got Mom on the internet researching things like the new med, what we could be doing and what to do in the future. I've being doing that all along but Mom is not used to accessing the internet like that. It was good to have the help. Information is power. Once we started researching and reading we added Pepto Bismal to the fight. I checked my book "Help your dog fight cancer" by Laurie Kaplan. It also recommended Pepto so I felt good about our decision to add it in. And truthfully, I really think it helped push things in the right direction.
The Mirtazapine did nothing to stimulate her appetite so I think we'll forgo that one in the future. She missed a Prednisone dose but once she ate the crackers and chicken hearts I got it into her.
The next time she gets Doxorubicin on week 9, we'll be proactive and treat the side effects before they start. I'll work this out with the vet clinic but we read that others have had better success by treating the side effects starting immediately after treatment instead of waiting to see if they happen. The chances of her having less side effects next time are slim to none.
Now we're going to celebrate St. Patty's day and be extra thankful. Currently Emily is only eating beef and chicken hearts (her desire to eat crackers has thankfully passed since they are total carbs!) but that's fine. I figure her body needs the iron and B12 that beef is full of to rebuild at this point. We'll worry about veggies and supplements later. She lying by me now and I must say... bath is high on the priorities list! Yikes! Today she rests, rebuilds and we all revel in the joy that she's feeling better (did I mention she went for her balls out in the yard, on her own like she does when she's normal?!?!). Tomorrow we fumigate!
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