First off, please let me mention that our dog IS under the care of a vet AND an oncologist. We are not neglecting our beloved little man. We love him with all of our heart. I am not here to hear "take him to the vet" because, we were just there and we were told to just take him home and be prepared for him to die or to put him down. So, been there done that. Why I am here is to ask if anyone has any information, feelings, ideas, sources on hollistic treatments or even to find known hollistic vets in Ontario (or ones that will talk over the phone and offer advice/treatment plans). I maintain that something is going on with my dog BESIDES the Lymphoma (stage III or IV b) he was diagnosed with.
He's been sick since we moved. Over $4000 in vet bills before the acute symptoms of Lymphoma occured. The beginning of this year onward has been the worst. In February he went out for a car ride and came home completely blind. 3 days of Prednisone drops and an eye antibiotic and it seemed to disappear. We stopped the Pred and it came back within the day. We then had him put on 50mg a day and then over a month, sloooooowly weaned him off of it. He still has his eyesight today. But since then, we have been in and out for various other problems (he was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at this point too). One being a swollen elbow with sores that wouldn't heal. No conventional medicine helped it. I did some research and switched his diet to Whole Prey Raw Food. In under 1 week his arms healed up and it was like he was a brand new dog! All of them were
Our first "Lymphoma" symptom - 2 months later - was that he stopped eating anything with bones in it. Then he stopped eating altogether. My husband brought home Pedigree cans and he gobbled them up. So not a lack of hunger. We thought possible tooth infection. At the same time he started choking in his sleep. We got on the phone and had an appointment for the Saturday morning. The next day, I was rubbing him and noticed that all of his glands in his neck were swollen
We called them back and they still couldn't get us in before hand, but told us to expect Lymphoma. Took him in and she was sure it was. We had to wait a while to get him in to the oncologist. Around this time, he started licking his elbow again. I started researching his symptoms as a whole, and not just parts, and his symptoms matched Blastomycosis perfectly. We are told that they checked for infectious diseases with the lymph node aspirations and that he has Lymphoma, but was it by deduction? Did they get any cancer cells or infectious disease cells in the aspiration or could they have just gotten good cells? No answers. We decided to move along with the chemo treatments. He went in last Tuesday for his first chemo treatment with Vincristine. He did great, and continued to do great even past the 3-5 day mark! No belly problems, nothing! Also, his lymph nodes became completely untraceable! But, he was continuing to lick his elbow, and at this point, it was an AWFUL sore on his elbow. In one night, it went from bandaged awful sore, to exposing the bone and a hole about the size of a toonie. We had the oncologist appointment already for Thursday for his next chemo and our vet wasn't here this week. So we waited (we were in constant communication with the vets office and the oncologists). I've kept the wound packed with Polysporin, and had it starting to heal before the vets poked around in it and said it was super clean, but it will be a $2000 surgery to fix (we are living on my husbands pay as the sole income, our credit card is maxed, credit is screwed, and it was all we could do to come up with $350 extra a week. we barely have groceries for our OWN children right now!) Wednesday he woke up and couldn't walk. Rear left leg is totally paralyzed. I think that he skidded on the floor in the time that I went to bed and my husband got home. My husband took him in the morning to the doctors who said it was going to be $2000 to fix his arm, and at least another $3000+ (and added stress on him) to do extensive testing to figure what is going on. They won't continue chemo, so those cancer cells will soon be taking over him. I know we are running out of time, and I know we are fighting the inevitable, but I'm looking for alternatives because really? What else do I have to lose? His spirits are still way up. He's in constant communication with us, wants to be with us, asks for car rides, lets us know when he has to go outside. Everything. He's not grouchy, or depressed. So, if he's still got fight in him.. so do I
**Side note: Looking for opinions. I read today that rabies vaccinations could have something to do with the other stuff. He's the only one of our dogs that gets his yearly shots, his rabies updates, and heartworm medication. And he is the unhealthiest by FAR. Anyone have any ideas on this? I'm fairly openminded when it comes to health for us or our pets. I couldn't trust hollistic care to cure cancer, I would turn to chemo. But we had every intention (and have been TRYING to find) a hollistic vet to help detoxing him, keeping his immunity up, and giving the chemo a chance to work to it's fullest.
Thanks in advance and
for the novel
Crystal
PS! Forgot to mention that he was on Prednisone 50mg for the few days before chemo, and up until the beginning of this week. I can't remember if he was on 50 or 37.5 when his leg went.