Things Change way to Fast

Sadie having fun on Sunday May 1

Since I wrote that last entry this morning, things have drastically changed. Sadie has NO energy, has not ate anything all day, has been panting all day and shaking at times. She won't even give kisses, which anyone who has ever been around her knows that this is not her normal!! We took her outside to play and she proceeded to go and stand under the apple tree for at least 15 minutes. She would slowly walk my way if I called her, but would have much rather just stood in her spot. The most activity she had was when Matt walked out into the backyard after work. She slowly trotted up the hill to greet him and proceeded to start panting like she had just got done playing frisbee in the 90 degree heat. I did place a call to the vet and they are wondering if the chemo is no longer working and the chemo has now spread. We are going to the vet Friday morning ( we are hoping she lasts that long). Not sure what they are going to do for her there, but at least we can have someone look at her. To us, her lymphnodes are not any larger, but that doesn't mean that the cancer hasn't spread to her organs. This has been such an emotional day. Every time Matt would call to check up on her my tears would start flowing. I just can't imagine our life without her and now I am afraid that we are sooner to that than I was hoping. We knew that we only had 6-9 months with her and we are almost to that 6 month mark. It's just not fair! She is such an awesome dog and such a wonderful part of our family.

We had the talk with Nora tonight about Sadie possibly going to heaven. She was not happy about that at all. She didn't get sad, just mad. She doesn't want Sadie to leave. Sadie is so wonderful with the girls. I can only hope that if we get another dog that it is half the dog Sadie is. She is the best!!

Please keep all the prayers coming, pray for Sadie's comfort. Pray that Matt and I know when to say when, because right now, we don't know what to do!

Latest News

So we are 5 months out from Sadie's original diagnosis of lymphoma. We went back to the oncologist on Thursday April 28 for another recheck exam, 8 weeks out from changing chemo drugs. We had felt some more lymph nodes and the vet stated that they are all firm and more than likely are not anything to worry about. We did have to start Sadie back up on her liver medication. Her liver enzymes are improving and the vet suspects the liver continues to heal itself, however, she still wanted to continue with the liver protectant for another month.
We thought Sadie was doing well. She still has good energy level when we go outside to play, just needs a lot longer recovery time after. However, in the last few days her appetite has begun to decrease. Also at night after she receives her chemo and prednisone, she begins to pant and seems very anxious, she can't sit still and needs to be at either Matt's or my side all evening. Matt was wondering if it is the prednisone. We originally had prednisone that the vet gave us then when we ran out and we got the drug from the Walmart pharmacy. It is a bigger pill with obviously a different manufacturer. Does anyone know if this would make a difference? Or does this happen because she has been on the drug for so long? I guess these would be good questions for the vet, huh?
Last night Matt and I began to have the discussion, how do we know when enough is enough. She certainly is not the same dog she once was. She still wants to play, but can't play very long, and needs a long time to recover after. It saddens me to even begin to think like that, but I know we are going to have to make a decision one day. I hope Sadie will let us know when she has had enough.


***As I am writing this, I just realized maybe the chemo is making her nauseas and that's why she's not eating!! I gave her one of her anti-nausea meds (had to shove it down her throat because she wouldn't eat the cheese or peanut butter) and we will see what happens! If this doesn't help, I will be calling the vet.