Month: November 2009

I cannot upload anything, video or photograph. It will reach 100% and then say HTTP Error. Does anyone know what is wrong?

We have been very busy at our household. But everything is going really well! Maggie is 100% feeling better and back to her normal self again.

We are pretty sure Maggie had a septic or sepsis infection after her surgery, which was causing her high fever, abnormal behavior, and sleepiness (beyond recovering from the surgery). After being on the anti-biotic, Maggie has had a 100% turn around. And she is still feeling good!!

Maggie had her first oncology visit today at UPenn. We wanted to get a better idea of what she was up against and if there was anything more we could do for her. It turns out we really did not learn too much more. The cancer has spread to her lymph nodes, which is what the lumps on her back left leg and abdomen are. We had/have the option to proceed with chemo, however, from what the doctors say and what we have researched, chemo may buy us a little more time, but will not cure the cancer.

In Maggie’s case, the cancer has already spread and it being in her lymph nodes is not good. We had the option to do an ultrasound of her abdomen, but all that would tell us is how far it had spread. We decided against this because of how well Maggie is feeling recently. We basically want to enjoy Maggie as she is for as long as possible without putting her through too much. She is of course on an anti-inflammatory medicine to help with shrinking or keeping the tumor stable, even though we do not know the location of the primary tumor.

Anyway, this is just a little update. I will post more later including some new pictures and even a video if I can figure it out. =)

Our family and Maggie send well wishes to all of you and your loved ones!

For some reason it just hit me today to type in home remedies for canine cancer. I also must have been oblivious to the K9 immunity banner on the home page, which I found after reading the Angel Exchange forum.

I am wondering what different things you all have tried at home and your experience with it. We have been so concerned with trying to get Maggie to eat anything, we give her whatever we think she will like, not necessarily what is good for her. We stand by this, because we want her to enjoy her time here, but if we could be helping her in some way, we want to do that of course.

The easiest thing I think I have read for diet is cottage cheese with fiaxseed oil. Has anyone see any results with this? How about the K9 immunity. Some members have offered it up in the Angel Exchange, so of course we are willing to try if the vet OK’s it. Any success with this? How about any other remedies, supplements or diets?

Maggie is currently eating Caesar’s canned dog food. While I realize this may not be the best for her (with the grain), she likes it a lot and will eat 2-3 a day. We also give her some of her favorites, spaghetti and french frys for special treats. How bad is this? I am kicking myself for not thinking of this sooner!

Here is a picture of Maggie getting her Vitamin D. She LOVES to lay by the door in the sun all afternoon.

Thank you for all the kind comments on Maggie’s appearance. I relayed all the messages and she was on top of the world. The best part is she is just as beautiful on the inside as the outside! 🙂

Hi Tripaws Family!

Maggie is feeling much better – she is on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory medicine. Ever since being on both medicines she has been much more like herself. She barks, plays, eats (a ton!!) and wags her tail. We hope she will be like this with us for a long while.

The news from the vet really wasn’t anything new. She basically said what you guys have been saying – spoil her and let her enjoy life while she is still around. They said that the meds she is on is about the only thing they can do for her. We just taking each day as a blessing and enjoying it to the fullest! Here is a picture of Maggie playing!

Have a great day everyone! =)

Today is day 9 since Maggie’s surgery! She really hasn’t been feeling well lately. She still has a fever on and off. We have been giving her half of a baby aspirin to make it go down and for her to feel a little better. Today we called the vet and they prescribed her the anti-inflammatory medicine. What a difference that made!! She played with her toys, wanted to go outside and did more than simply sleep. We loved having our dog back for the night and hope that it lasts!

We are really nervous about the appointment on Wednesday to get her stitches out. Not for the stitches, but for more news on her cancer and what we can do next, if we can do anything. We have all been trying to feel around on Maggie for her “primary tumor”. From what we can tell, she has a lump or swollen area on her left back leg. She growls when you get near it and it is obviously something. The vet did not sound too concerned and simply put her on this anti-inflammatory medicine. They said we could bring her in today or wait until Wed., so we opted to wait since this medicine seemed to work so well.

That is really all there is to update. Besides today, every day after my last post has been the same. Maggie will eat, sleep and do her business outside, beyond that, she just seems out of it – even after being off the pain meds for a while. It really makes us feel like our time with her is limited. But we are still spoiling her and treating her like the princess she is… and praying for a miracle.

This is definitely one of the hardest things our family has gone through in a while, I don’t know how you all do it. One positive to all of this is that it has brought our family closer, including to our baby Maggie. I hope everyone out there can find at least one positive in all of this too!

We write more on Wednesday as we learn more. Keep your head up and tails wagging! 😉