February/March 2002 ~ Most recent entries first.
Monday, March 25, 2002 - Not much to report and that's a good thing!!! Boofy is still going strong. No signs of illness other than his positive diagnosis. He's eating well...ok, he wants to eat all the time!!! *smile* I'm still making his food and cooking him eggs fro breakfast. He's still his usually goofy, silly, playful self.
Sunday, February 17, 2002 - No Sleep - Don't know what's up with The Boof. He had me up every half hour to go out for a pee last night. I'm exhausted. The prednisone must be doing it...poor guy.
Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - Real Food - Today was Boof's first day of homemade food. Any of you who know me, will find this quite humourous. I am NOT a morning person in the least and I do not do breakfast, etc., but there I was this morning at 5:15 am scrambling eggs for the dog! not myself, but for Boof! *smile* He sat contentedly at my feet with that silly smile on his face (any of you who know Boof, know what I mean!) while I was cooking - he must have known it was for him! I remember thinking to myself, "oh, if only they could see me!" *smiles* He loved it and I think it may have helped with his tummy troubles. Like I mentioned yesterday, for the last few days, he's had the scoots pretty bad, however he made it through today without an accident...that's a good thing. *smile* For supper, Boof had a combination of ground liver and kidney (boy, that smelled "good" when I boiled it - YUCK!!!). I supplemented it with soya protein isolate and salmon oil. I mixed it with a half a can of the cancer diet. He inhaled it!!! *smile*
Monday, February 11, 2002 - Boof's doing fine other that for the last couple of days, he's had the scoots pretty bad. I tell ya, it was not pleasant to come home to a house spelling like, well, you know!!! Anyway, my friend Cheryl had given me some of that Oxy-clean to try. You know, one of those stain removal products you see on TV and think, "yeah, right!" Well, IT WORKS!!! It's amazing stuff...cleaned the poop off the carpet without a trace. I asked Dr. Hooper about it and she said it's from the high fat content of the special cancer diet food. She told me to cut back a little on his intake. I also told Dr. Hooper that I was opting to go the no chemo route. She completely understood *smile*. We're going to concentrate on nutrition, etc. She's going to talk to a Holistic Veterinarian she knows in Toronto to find out about what herbals I can use, dosage, etc. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING DR. HOOPER!!!!!!!!
Sunday, February 10, 2002 - The attunement went extremely well. Read about it here.
Saturday, February 9, 2002 - Reiki Dog - Since Boofy loves it when I give him Reiki, I discussed with a very good friend of mine who is a Reiki Master about attuning Boof to Level I. She's going to do the attunement on Sunday, February 10. Stay tuned for that one...should be interesting!!! He's a pretty hyper beagle and I have no idea how he's going to react to this or if we'll be able to make him sit still for more than 30 seconds!!! *smiles* I've even asked her to make up a certificate for him like when a person is attuned to Reiki...I will proudly display it on the wall next to my two certificates. *smile*
Friday, February 8, 2002 -The Decision - After heart-wrenching soul-searching and discussing this with my family and friends, I've decided on option 4. I've thought about what I would want if I was in the same situation and there are no guarantees chemo will work. This was likely the hardest choice I have ever had to make. I'm going to concentrate on his nutritional needs, different supplements, herbs, homeopathics (a friend of mine is a Homeopahtic Doctor) and other natural methods.
I've received numerous emails from people from all over the place that I don't even know offering well-wishes, comfort, advice and stories of their dogs and successes they've had WITHOUT going the chemo route. THANK YOU to you all!!!!!
Thursday, February 7, 2002 - Boof's Checkup with Dr. Hooper - Boof's lymphs are still a little swollen and he's lost 5 pounds. The weight loss could be a result of the change in diet or from the cancer or a combination of the two. She told me to feed him more. He can also have treats like air-popped popcorn with no butter. He likes that *smile* Boof even knows the sound of the air popper cuz he knows there's always a few that fly around at the end! *smile* That should help his INCREDIBLE appetite. Dr. Hooper said when the prednisone ups their appetite, it "drives them crazy"...they are constantly hungry. Poor Boof. She said the popcorn should at least help some...make him think he's eating anyway. She loved the idea of homemade food so I'm going to start on that right away. She explained the me the different options for chemo and radiation treatments. I have basically 4 options to choose from:
1. Chemo protocol done here.
2. Chemo protocol done in Guelph with different chemicals than they use here.
3. Chemo/Radiation combination protocal done in Guelph.
4. No treatment, but continue with prednison.
Now I have to make the hardest decision I think I've ever had to make. Which way do I go? or do I even do it at all? Once again, I'm a wreck and a blubbering, crying, hysterical mess. My heart is breaking .
Wednesday, February 6, 2002 - Dr. Hooper said that Boof would start to poop a lot less eating high protein/low carb food cuz there isn't the filler and was she right...he hardly poops at all now...no more HUGE beagle rockets! Now it's very small volume and it's really really tiny, almost like cat poop...oh, if I could only litter train him!!! hee hee hee He does pee a lot though from the prednisone...but he's only had a few accidents. He's having a hard time making it through the day while I'm at work without going outside...but the last 2 days, no mess, he must be trying *smile* and I know dogs don't usually like to make a mess. I might try putting down newspaper on the kitchen floor and maybe he'll go there...perhaps he'll have house-training-puppy-flashbacks!
