We euthanized Hero, may he rest in peace.
Author: hero
I'm 40, a lawyer and I live in Los Angeles, CA. My wife's name is Yoojin. We have a 3 year old daughter Hannah and our two rotties, Hero and Hope both born in October 2004, round out our family.
Photos taken 2-6-10
Chemotherapy (Carboplatin) Starts 2-9-10
Carboplatin Chemotherapy
Hello, after checking around, we decided to go to a local vet instead of a cancer treatment facility for Hero’s chemo. We took x-rays and a blood test on 2-6-10 and his lungs still looked clear. Hero will start on Carboplatin administered ever 3 weeks for five sessions next week. The cost will be $500 each session. Right now, Hero is doing great. He is happy and hops around well. He does get tired pretty quickly.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions.
1-18-10 & 1-19-10 Trouble Sleeping, Itching, but healing. Still hasn’t started chemo
Hello, it seems like Hero has made it through the toughest part of his recovery from surgery. He just has issues sleeping at night. He walks back and forth and scrapes his E Collar along the wall, on our bed, wherever he can. His goal is simple – he wants to get it off so he can get to his stiches. I feel bad for the poor boy. We have been putting neosporin on the incision to try and help. We still haven’t started him on any chemotherapy though. That is mostly because I’m too busy with work, but also to give him time to rest and heal from the surgery first.
pls recommend chemotherapy in LA
Can you please refer a great reasonable price chemotherapy in LA?
I read a lot about financial stresses and poor services and since it will be a long journey (We really hope), I wanna find out a right one.
What I found right now is VCA west LA, city of angeles vet cancer group, animal specialty group and vet cancer fererral group (I don’t know they are hospital or just referral center).
So please let us know a great vet, great hospital for our Hero.
And also to do chemotherapy,
1. do we have to go to oncologist?
2. how they actually do (oral medicine or injection…)
3. how often he should get treatment
4. how much does it cost (I have no idea how much it is, it is $10/time or $10oo/time or… I know every case is different, but anybody can share your info or experience, then at least I can estimate…
I have no where to ask, so please please help us.
6day lethargic – what we did
Hello, I’m Hero’s mom.
I want to add what I did for him when he suddenly became lethargic.
Hero’s condition 5th day-6th day: gum color was pale, dry warm nose, couldn’t even stand up.
1. measure temperature-100.3 no fever (actually it seems like it was low…)
2. called to vet and they recommended to take him to local vet but I decided not to (we live in LA and we had his surgery in San Diego) I thought what they can do except just check temp and incision. Only thing I worried was possible infection around incision but I looked fine to me.
3. I read info from this website (thank you so much) and I took some of the advice and reduced medicine. We gave: cephalexin 500mg 2, Tramadol 50mg 2 or 3, fishoil 1 : per time, 3 times/day plus deramaxx 50mg in the morning – I reduced tramadol 1 or 2(night) and cut deramaxx and fishoil which I think it caused diarrhea. And of course, lots of love and hugs and tears. And next day his condition became dramatically improved and now he’s back again as our cuttie Hero. His gum looks pink and nose is wet cold and most important, almost running. ^^
I am sorry I don’t have enough med knowledge but I am learning…since we never expected this kind of situation before so it takes time for us to absorb all of this… but I really appreciated for your infos thoughts and supports. Thank you everybody.
6 day post-amputation update
Our Hero (a 5 yr old rottie) is just 6 days post-amputation. He did great – in very good spirits and getting around well the first 4 days but on day 5, he crashed pretty hard. He wasn’t able to stand at all and his eyes, oh my, he looked too far gone. We took his temperature and it was ok, just around 100. We fed him a little later and he ate just fine, and that seemed to perk him up and out of his stooper. Now, at 10:30 p.m. on 1-14-10, and for most of today, he’s been his old self.
As older and wiser people than us have commented on this website, the weeks after the amputation surgery are a roller coaster and full of emotion. In one way, it is a wonderful ride which is made better and more comfortable with this forum. On the other hand, we’re dealing with life and death of our most loved and precious friends. They really do teach us so much in life.
Lethargic yesterday and this morning
Hello everyone. Hero is doing great now but last night and this morning were rough ones for our Hero. His nose was dry and he was extremely lethargic. We were scared. We took his temperature this morning and it was just about 100 even. He ate and then became better. I had to go to work so my wife took care of him. Thanks to this website for providing reassurance that what we’re experiencing is normal. This forum is without a doubt the best thing to keeping us balanced and on the right path for our Hero. Thank you for sharing your experiences and for your advice. It is truly helpful.
ProCollar doesn’t work at all
ProCollar doesn’t work for Hero.
Hello, we bought the ProCollar to make Hero more comfortable at night but this thing doesn’t work at all. It really doesn’t stop him from reaching around to lick his wounds. I’m going to return it.
We also got him the Web Master harness. That thing is great.
We’re also trying out the cottage cheese and flax seed oil.
Hero’s swelling is still going down and the bruising is all but gone. I’m having trouble adding more photos so it looks like I need to become a supporter.
Please tell me whether you think Hero’s swelling is ok.
Hero’s swelling in his belly below the amputation is about a fist in size. There has been no discharge from the staples at all. He is in good spirits and is getting around pretty well. Do you see anything to worry about with the swelling? From what I’ve read on this site, it seems to be within normal range and will likely get absorbed back into his body once it figures out what to do with the extra fluids. Thanks very much in advance.
Hero’s swelling in his belly below the amputation is about a fist in size. There has been no discharge from the staples at all. He is in good spirits and is getting around pretty well. Do you see anything to worry about with the swelling? From what I’ve read on this site, it seems to be within normal range and will likely get absorbed back into his body once it figures out what to do with the extra fluids. Thanks very much in advance.
- 1-10-10 1:30 pm
