So, overall, Teddy handled his first chemo pretty well. He did get sick one night, five days after the infusion, but we gave him some additional anti-nausea medication, and he got through it. I think it scared him, and he became really clingy, which may be difficult for the casual observer to detect, as he follows me constantly even when he feels his best. "Clingy" just means that he wanted me to offer constant comfort and to accompany him out in the backyard when he needed to heave a little and to nibble some grass. And that's okay, because that's exactly what I wanted to do andyway, so I could see just how sick he was and to make sure he didn't nibble too much grass. So what if it was 1:30 in the morning? And 3:00 in the morning...and 6:00 in the morning...He is feeling better now.
Teddy had a blood test at OSU on Tuesday, and that was fine, but his oncologist didn't like the look of a cyst on his back. We were aware of the cyst and had it previously tested, and at that time it turned out to be a not-uncommon, not dangerous sebaceous cyst. But now we have cancer, and the nature of the cyst may have changed. It looks a little different, a little more raised, a little angrier. They took a scraping at OSU and sent it to pathology, and now it has some "atypical cells." They are going to do a bigger biopsy in two weeks when Teddy goes back for his next infusion. I offered to bring him in sooner, like immediately, but they didn't think it would make a difference. The scary thing is that the myxosarcoma that he had in his spleen is usually found on or just under the skin...like a cyst. So now, there's two weeks of waiting. Or two weeks of denial. I'm thinking about going with denial. In the meantime, I have his "carry out" chemo to give him on Friday and Saturday at home.
And now the survival story...after Teddy's operation, we kept him downstairs until his staples came out because we didn't want him to go up and down stairs very much and we especially didn't want him to jump up on or down from the bed. He also needed to go outside much more frequently because all the fluids during surgery affected his kidneys for a while, and he had to be on a leash to go out even though the yard is fenced because he could not run or roll or jump. So, it seemed easier to stay downstairs with him and sleep on the couch in the family room. I did that for almost three weeks. It may sound like a hardship, but I actually enjoyed our little slumber parties and our peaceful sojourns out into the moonlit snow-covered back yard at all hours of the night. When it was time to move back upstairs, I disassembled the bedding on the couch and washed it (which I did along the way, too, but the final time had a special urgency to it. Just sayin'......) So, the sheets and blanket went into the washing machine, along with my ipod, one of my favorite possessions, and one that I use daily, for dogwalking, artmaking, and lying awake while the rest of the world slumbers. And of course, Art had to be the one to discover it in the washing machine. Full cycle, wash, rinse, spun dry. For a few days, it didn't look good, but I kept it in a box of rice, and every day it got better. Once we dislodged a grain of rice that had stuck in the charging port, my ipod is fully functioning with no water visible under the screen. I fear that the insides are corroding, but right now it works fine. So that's one little victory. Yay.
Teddy had a blood test at OSU on Tuesday, and that was fine, but his oncologist didn't like the look of a cyst on his back. We were aware of the cyst and had it previously tested, and at that time it turned out to be a not-uncommon, not dangerous sebaceous cyst. But now we have cancer, and the nature of the cyst may have changed. It looks a little different, a little more raised, a little angrier. They took a scraping at OSU and sent it to pathology, and now it has some "atypical cells." They are going to do a bigger biopsy in two weeks when Teddy goes back for his next infusion. I offered to bring him in sooner, like immediately, but they didn't think it would make a difference. The scary thing is that the myxosarcoma that he had in his spleen is usually found on or just under the skin...like a cyst. So now, there's two weeks of waiting. Or two weeks of denial. I'm thinking about going with denial. In the meantime, I have his "carry out" chemo to give him on Friday and Saturday at home.
And now the survival story...after Teddy's operation, we kept him downstairs until his staples came out because we didn't want him to go up and down stairs very much and we especially didn't want him to jump up on or down from the bed. He also needed to go outside much more frequently because all the fluids during surgery affected his kidneys for a while, and he had to be on a leash to go out even though the yard is fenced because he could not run or roll or jump. So, it seemed easier to stay downstairs with him and sleep on the couch in the family room. I did that for almost three weeks. It may sound like a hardship, but I actually enjoyed our little slumber parties and our peaceful sojourns out into the moonlit snow-covered back yard at all hours of the night. When it was time to move back upstairs, I disassembled the bedding on the couch and washed it (which I did along the way, too, but the final time had a special urgency to it. Just sayin'......) So, the sheets and blanket went into the washing machine, along with my ipod, one of my favorite possessions, and one that I use daily, for dogwalking, artmaking, and lying awake while the rest of the world slumbers. And of course, Art had to be the one to discover it in the washing machine. Full cycle, wash, rinse, spun dry. For a few days, it didn't look good, but I kept it in a box of rice, and every day it got better. Once we dislodged a grain of rice that had stuck in the charging port, my ipod is fully functioning with no water visible under the screen. I fear that the insides are corroding, but right now it works fine. So that's one little victory. Yay.
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