Not today.

On Friday, April 13th, my Mom took my sweet Lacy to the vet due to a decreased appetite & lethargy...that day changed the world I knew it.  Our vet made a prelimonary diagnosis of lymphoma - this news hit me harder than any punch to the gut ever would.  Seeing my sweet pup mope around knowing how badly she must feel cut me to my core.  After talking with a close friend who has lost 2 of her dogs to cancer, I decided to see a specialist would could give a complete diagnosis & a range of treatment options.  On Friday, April 20th, I visited with the specialist who ran tests to see if my vet had been correct...to my dismay, she agreed with my vet's diagnosis.

The chemo options for Lymphoma can be amazingly expensive:
1 - the most agressive chemo:  $4-5000
2 - the mid-range chemo:         $2-3000
3 - the chemo shot w/steroids: $400

If money & time were not object, I would have definitely gone with the most aggressive chemo treatements available; however, money and time are two things I don't have a terrible lot of.  Due to the fact that my Lacy is 13yrs. old & my main concern was to make her more comfortable, I decided on option 3.  The thought of buying a small amount of time at a huge price tag only to lose her in a few months & be left with a large debt just did not seem like the wisest of choices.  The specialist gave her the chemo shot, which was supposed to shrink her enlarged lymph nodes within 48 hours and it did, as well as give her a steroid regime.  Within 2 days, Lacy was almost back to her to perky little self, eating up a storm with enthusiastic tail wagging.

I made the trip back to visit again on Mother's Day, the weekend of May 13th, and Lacy was doing wonderfully!  She had gained weight, was eating about 3 cups of food a day & even brought us her toys to play a little bit - something she had not done since before Christmas.  I received a call from my Mom on Monday, May 28th to let me know that Lacy had begun not wanting her food again, but Mom was able to encourage her using chicken broth over her food.  I got another call Tuesday evening of the same thing, so I decided to call the specialist to see if we could increase the steroid to stimulate her appetite again - since it had been weaned down from 2 pills to 1 pill.  The doctor was out at a conference so after speaking with her assistant, I decided to have Mom increase the steroid to 1.5 pills on Thursday - this still did no good.

On Friday morning, June 1st, my Mom called me from my vet's office...my heart immediately sank...the vet said that she thought Lacy had an infection (either bladder or UTI) and gastrointestinal distress - most likely due to the steroid.  Her recommendation was to take her off the steroid so she could treat the infection with antibiotics.  My poor Lacy had not eaten a thing in over 24hours (probably closer to 48 at that point) & was having diarrhea.  She received a shot of antibiotics as well as antibiotic pills & pro-biotic gel.  She was very weak when I got to the house; just like when humans are sick & don't eat for a day or so, she needed help to get her strength back.

My Mom had not had much luck with giving her hamburger & rice, so after some prayer for wisdome, Mom remembered that she had a can of chicken...hooray for canned chicken!  While I know that grain is not good for a dog that dealing with cancer, canned chicken & bread seem to be the only things we can get Lacy to eat...and marshmallows...oh, how she loooooves marshmallows!

She does seem to have a little more energy & is not near as weak as she was on Friday or Saturday, she seems tired :(  I was told about K9 Immunity, which is a immune boosting supplement, by a friend & ordered it on Friday. 

I am desperately awaiting the arrival of this supplement since I am at my wits end.  Part of me wonders if it is time to make that most difficut decision of letting her go, but my heart wants to hold on a little bit longer..."not today" it says..."not today".