more treatments for Buddy

Today Sal and I met with Buddy's oncologist (cancer specialist). After reviewing Buddy's case, she believes the best course of treatment for him now is chemotherapy. Although I'm disappointed that Buddy will have to endure more medical treatment, it seems that it's what will give him the best long-term prognosis.

He already had his first round of chemo today. We started it right away because if the cancer is already spreading and/or growing, we want to get rid of it! So, he'll get another round of chemo 3 weeks from now, and then 4 more rounds after that, every 3 weeks. The doses will alternate between 2 different injectable cancer drugs. When the injectables are done, he'll take oral cancer meds for 6 months to a year.

The good news is that, unlike humans, dogs seem to endure the effects of chemo OK. They don't lose all their fur, and at worst Buddy might have a bit of nausea, perhaps some diarrhea, or a decreased appetite. But we have meds to offset those symptoms.

We're hoping that these treatments will keep any cells (that broke away from the lung tumor) from growing into another tumor elsewhere in his body. Buddy is strong and healthy aside from the cancer, thankfully, so our hopes are high that he'll live a long and happy life with us.