A true friend has left this earth today.

A true friend has left this earth today.

Hello everyone. 

It is with great sadness that I write today letting everyone know Sam has crossed the bridge.  She passed peacefully early this AM.  She is now frapping freely in the grass, chasing rabbits and tennis balls.  Eating full bowls of food to fill up her chubby belly.   Bossing around her sister and herding her around the yard.  Soaking up the sun just sitting in the yard keep a watchful eye on what I am doing.  Sam never left my side, ever.  A true friend.  We were blessed to be graced with her love for 7 years and 9 months.  Far, far to short for a Corgi.  Sam always enjoyed rides in the car.  She loved to sleep on my lap, peacefully while driving. 

Sam was diagnosed with Lymphoma in March 2014.  Before that she became septic in 2011, due to bowel complications.  Recently she had begun to have seizures.  We were never fully able to get them under control, and she had finally had enough.  Through it all, Sam remained so very tough.  She would always bounce back, but not this last time.  I have never known a dog so strong.  She wanted nothing more in life but to just be by my side.   I miss her dearly not sitting near my feat as I write this.  It is tough to choke back the tears. 

There is so very much love for Sam and her sister Taz, who is now our only Corgi.  We will continue this love and admiration for Taz, for her, and to keep the memory of her sister close.

Please take some time this evening to sit quietly with your pups.  Dogs make life worth living.  Thank you to everyone who kept in touch with kind words for Sam.  They are appreciated more then you know.  Remember to take pictures and create lasting memories with your pups. 

I will see you again someday little Sam.  I will have plenty of tennis balls to chase and a bag full of treats when we meet again.  Until then, I know you will be watching over everything I do.

Knocked down again... but not for long.

Sam continues to amaze us.  This tough pup continues to be knocked down, but she refuses to stay down for long.

It has been an extremely tough couple of days.  We started noticing Sam favoring her neck again.   She was under very close observation by my wife and I.    Something was just “off” a couple days ago.  Yesterday morning she had another Chemotherapy treatment, a quick injection, and then we returned home.   We gave her a muscle relaxer to help with her neck.

I noticed her being very lethargic early in the afternoon.  I assumed it was from a pain pill and muscle relaxer we gave her.   I asked both Corgis to move into a quite room to sleep.  I then stepped away for three hours for some work commitments.  Then I returned I noticed Sam had severely declined.  She was salivating and miserable.   Late in the afternoon I witnessed her having a Grand Mal seizure.   This was horrifying to watch.  I ran to her, held her carefully, and tried to calm her down.  Her pour heart was racing.  I knew something had to be done.  I reached out to her Oncologist and explained what had happened.  We then witness two more Grand Mal Seizures, one I tried to video to show the doctors.   Later that evening we rushed her back to the ER.  Sleep was not an option last night.   She was rescued from the seizure cycle, and has not had an episode since last night.  THANK YOU God!  Sam has skirted another health issue.

She is currently now recovering back home.  She rested quietly today.  She is very exhausted and worn out from the seizures.  This evening she did perk up another to play briefly with her toys and her sister.   She is back resting quietly now.  Her appetite is back in force, as to be expected post-seizure.  She will be on daily medication indefinitely from this point forward, to control the seizures.  Her Oncologist knows what medication to use, and when to use it.  He is very informed and educated about the latest advancements in medicine.  

Prayers, devotion and love are keeping her going.  Thank you everyone.  We are humbled every day by this simple Corgi, that only wants to be a true friend.

Paws Crossed.

Things are well...

Things are well with Sam.   We were happy to spend time with family and other dogs over Thanksgiving.  Sam is on her final Chemo treatment once a week for three more weeks.  Just a quick shot.  No more 6 hour infusions.   We will do another full biopsy in a few weeks to get some more definite answers.   She seems to be doing extremely well.  Very alert and wanting to please.  She takes her tennis balls back outside every time we venture outside.  This is a good sign.   She never leaves my side.  Even when sleeping, she has to keep one eye on what I am doing.  We are blessed to have both of these Corgis.  They are true friends and companions.

Very happy to announce - Remission accomplished

Hello everyone,
First, thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and good wishes.  We are very happy to announce that Sam has now reached her second full remission.  At the end of last week, her Oncologist attempted to perform a needle aspirate on a lymph node.  But, they were too small to even find.  This is excellent news!  We are very hopefully this remission will last a very long time.  Tough to put a time frame around it, but we do know every day with her, and her sister, is a blessing.

This Corgi has been through quite the battle.  This was a tough round of treatment on her, but she continues to fight and bounce back.  We have had quite the emotional roller coaster with her lately, but she is now back, happy and healthy.  She has one final treatment of a Chemo drug that will be administered over a few weeks.  It is a simple administration compared to what she has been through.  This final administration is a "clean-up" type of drug, to wipe out any cancer cells that are left.

This is the Best Christmas gift we could ask for!!

A neck injury - roller coaster weekend

We had quite the roller coaster weekend.  Sam was experiencing lethargy and wobbling around.  We were very concerned and upset.  We did think that her fight was taking a bad turn.   She was seen by her Onocologist, early Sunday, on his day off.  This man is truly a compassionate vet, a true blessing.  Sam was also seen by the on call neurolgist.  Her diagnosis is  a potential disk issue in her neck.  Nothing related to the lymphoma.  She has been placed on pain, muscle relaxers and steroid medication.  She was not looking good early this morning.  But, the medication does seem to be helping.  She is still very drowsy, but does seems to be a little more alert.   We have returned home with her and she is now resting quietly.  She still has trouble standing, especially on the wood floors.  We have assembled her a comfortable bed with soft blankets.  She is eating and drinking some water.  Which is good.  She will need to remain calm for the immediate future.

 A true diagnosis for the neck injury would require an MRI.  This would require sedation.  Something we are not comfortable doing.  She has been through enough.

This dog never stops amazing me.  She is incredible with her continued fight.  She has been through a septic episode a few years ago.  Currently being treated Chemo for  lymphoma.   And now, a neck injury she needs to recover from.
Our friends and family continued prayers have helped.  Thank you for them.

Potential Seizure

Looking for some prayers.
We feel Sam had a seizure last night.   We have been monitoring her all day.  She is pretty lethargic and unmotivated.  We are taking her to her treatment center for observation and some treatment medication.  They will monitor her overnight.   We can get through this if we can get the seizure episodes under control.  Which may mean medication daily.  Something that does not harm her liver.
We are very sad to see her in this condition.  This poor dog has been through so very much, but keeps going.
Thank you everyone in advance for your prayers.

Treatment finish line in sight.

Sam had another treatment yesterday.  This time it was fairly quick.  I worked in an office while she was being treated, then drove her back home.  We did stop for her favorite Chik-fil-a grilled chicken nuggets.  We saved a few to share with her sister Taz once home.
Sam is definitely becoming very uneasy when she goes for treatment.  She will hide under a chair and attempt to make herself invisible.   The Oncologist is very compassionate and will sit right with her during treatment.   This round was fairly expensive and wasteful with regards to unused Chemo product.  It is what it is.  Sam is putting on some weight again, she has gained almost two pounds since we started her second round of Chemo treatments.  This is good.... It means her body is winning the fight and not succumbing to the cancer.  Her attitude is great.  She is bitchy towards her sister, which is good to see.  It means she is alert and not feeling bad.

Sam did puke a bit this AM, not long after eating her food.  We gave he an additional anti-nausea pill that we keep around during the Chemo treatments.  We usually see the worst side effects a few days after the treatment.  She seems to be doing fine now.

Nest week, the last in the series of round two treatments.

Go Sam Go!!!

Just returned from another bi-weekly treatment

I have just returned back home with Sam.  She had the 8 hour infusion today.   We left early this morning, 530 AM, to arrive at the hospital before 7AM.  As usual, Sam was very hesitant to go into the back, where she is administered her Chemo.  She attempts to hide under my chair, which is sad to see.  The doctors are as compassionate as they can be with her.

Today, I did take her sister Taz with me. Taz stayed with me today as I worked from my step-fathers house.  Always good to have the comfort of a Corgi around while working.

Good discussion with the Oncologist today... he really feels the treatment is working.  But we are both only cautiously optimistic.  With Lymphoma, the status can change in a hurry.  We will assess in 6 weeks, three more treatments.  AT that time we may pause and let her body take a Chemo break. We will address soon.

We did also take a few moments to view Sam's belly with the ultrasound machine.   The liver and bladder all look good.  It is neat to see.  Had for me to decipher, but I was given a crash course.  Which I appreciated.

I did mention that I read a story about another dog that had just passed.  The dog lived with Lymphoma out four years.  Then, passed on, but from Pneumonia, not Lymphoma.  I hope we are this lucky.  Sam is very much a fighter.

OK after treatment today

Sam had another treatment today.  Our day started out with an early morning drive north to her treating Oncologist.  Sam road on my lap the entire way.  She received a Corgi massage the entire way.   I really think she knows where we are going, and what is going to happen.   I think she pretty much just deals with the IV insertion anymore.  It makes me sad that she may think this is just part of life.  I wish I could tell her that we are trying to make her better and extend her life.  We have a few more treatments to go and then we will have to make some decisions.  We may do another medical biopsy to see if she has truly made it into remission this time.  This can be done with minimal surgical effort right behind the rear knee.  We will also have to decide what path we then take with additional treatment.  The total cost is really starting to add up.  I never thought I would say this, but we need to touch base with reality at some point.

The good thing now is Sam is happy.  She is eating better and gaining some weight.  We are supplementing her home cooked food with come high calorie canned food that is gentle on her GI tract.   She did pick up a pound over the past week.  Which is good.  She is still not back to her portly corgi self, and we are not sure if she every will be, but she does seems happy.  Always easy to tell when she proudly leads me to the grass every morning, with her tennis ball held high in her month. Yes, she has me trained very well.

We are moving into the seventh month since her initial diagnosis in March 2014.  I am hopeful for 10 times that seven month count!

Bouncing back - thank you for the prayers

Hello everyone.
Sam is recovering very quickly from her most recent Chemo complication.   Her stomach seems to be feeling much better.  No more puking as a Chemo side effect.  It is very tough to think about how she is feeling... and wishing there is something we could do to comfort her.  Sam never ceases to amaze me in her relentless fight to keep going.  She is still on some pretty bland food, and will be for the next few days.  Then, back to our home-cooked daily meals for her.  I really feel cooking her food is helping her keep going strong.

This AM she was charging around the house, chasing her sister Taz.  Bossing everyone around.  This is the behavior we love to see.  A true stubborn Corgi.

Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers.  We are hopeful that she will return to a remission state in under two months.

Post treatment complications

It was a long weekend with Sam.  She had another round of Chemo last Thursday.  We were informed that this Chemo would work on her GI tract.   We were also informed that this would happen a few days after treatment.   By Saturday night, she was puking and miserable.  She seemed to perk back up on Sunday, eating some soft canned food.  I slept on the floor next to her both nights, just monitoring her.  Listening to her heavy breathing and stirring around as she was uncomfortable.  By today, Monday AM, I needed to drive her to see her doctor.  It is an hour drive one way and Sam did not really enjoy the drive.  She will be staying with the Vet today on supportive IV and additional anti-nausea medication.  We are hopefully she will bounce back.  It is so very troublesome and sad to see Sam feel bad.  When she did not want to eat or drink early this AM, we knew something was wrong.  I will head back up this evening to pick her up.  I am hoping for updates throughout the day.   I am going to make a valiant attempt to stay positive and keep churning on my work products.   Knowing in my mind that our dog is not feeling well.  It will be a challenging day, but we should get through it.  Cancer, of any kind, just plan sucks.  I am not sure what is worse, the disease or the treatment.  Her Vet is positive that she will bounce back.  Just hard to digest for me personally.

Positive news from a blood test

We took Sam late on Friday to see her Veterinary Oncologist... this time for just a quick blood test.  We have been very concerned about her liver values from the months of treatment.  She has now been removed from any treatments that will harm her liver.   We are also giving her additional medication to help her liver hopefully heal a bit.  The test did show that some of the liver markers are coming back down, which is a very good thing.
She is doing exceptionally well.  We hung out all weekend, taking many walks, and worked in the yard.  She seems very happy.

Saturday - tough treatment

Sam had an 8 hour IV infusion treatment this past Saturday.  A treatment that works against the bone marrow.   It was tough for me to leave her that long.  The new Veterinary Oncologist does seem to be very passionate about helping Sam.  We did do substantial blood work before the start of the treatment.  Her liver levels are very high.  Some of the previous Chemo drugs pushed her liver to troublesome levels.  She will no longer be having and Chemo that will harm her liver.  She is also on medication to help  her liver heal.

The drive home on Saturday afternoon was tough.  Sam was uncomfortable.  She seemed agitated and did not enjoy the car ride.  She sat on my lap the entire way home, but kept moving around.  This is a new experience for Leslie and I as the treatment is now more intense.  She was given some anti-nausea medication to help with the Chemo administration side affects.  Once we arrived home she greeted her sister and played on the grass.  She was a bit wobbly but OK.   She finally relaxed and fell asleep late Saturday night.  Both Leslie and I check on her often in the night.

By Sunday morning she seemed to be getting her normal attitude.  Happy, eating, chewing on bones, and bossing around her sister.  We are hopefully this new treatment protocol will drive the Lymphoma back into remission, this time for a longer time.  Paws crossed!

Modified the rescue treatment

We have moved Sam to be under the direct care of a Veterinary Oncologist.  Much longer drive, but we feel it is worth it for Sam.   We wanted to make sure all the options were being explored.  She had a heavy dose of Chemo yesterday, an IV infusion, complete with a catheter, for 5 hours.  She took everything in stride, like she always does.  This. dog never ceases to amaze me.  I welled up again with tears when I had to leave her for the day.  She senses that she will be treated, poked and prodded.  And, she hates to leave my side.  She was somewhat groggy on the return trip home yesterday evening.  Once we arrived home, and her sister engaged with her, she was back to her normal Corgi self.

This treatment will go for 8 weeks, alternating medications every 2 weeks.  Our goal is to kick the cancer back into remission.  We are hoping for the best for this special Corgi.

3 week treatment schedule - working

Sam is doing very well on her rescue Chemo medication.  She has a treatment every three weeks now. Another round tomorrow.  It is an easier treatment for her as only an oral pill is administered.  But, she is still on the Prednisone, and the combo of both is definitely making her belly swollen.  It does not seem to be slowing her down much although, she still Fraps in the grass after the tennis balls and follows my every move when I am home.
We are Sam's diet to be 100% cooked food by Leslie and I.  We are also working with another vet, who has some Eastern medicine experience.  He has provided a diet, and some Chinese herbs for her to take. We think they are helping.  Sam also had some Acupuncture a couple weeks ago.  She did fine with it.  She did not even notice.
As I have said before, Sam will be afforded every single opportunity to fight her cancer.  I love seeing how good she is doing and how alert she always is.

Grand Lake swimming adventure

We had the opportunity to try out some new Corgi life vests.  They were not that enthused with the experience.  In their defense, the lake was pretty cold.  I will be taking them to a warmer lake soon for round two.

Sam was quite the trooper.  The same week as her relapse, and subsequent Chemo drug modification, she still enjoyed the trip.  She had her new treatment the day we drove up.  I was concerned she may get sick.  But, not once.  She sat on my lap all the way there.  

Pretty surreal this evening.

It has been a pretty surreal evening for Leslie and I.  We had a consultation with the Vet late this afternoon.   We will be switching Sam to a "rescue" protocol treatment.  A combo of L-asparaginase, lomustine, and prednisone.  This is an additional University of Wisconsin protocol.  We are hoping for the best we can get here with additional months with Sam.  She is back to grunting again.  Maybe there is some internal congestion caused by the cancer.  We do not know.   Back, in March, I was hopefully for a couple years, now, reality has set in.  Those years may very well be months.  Although I am hoping for many many months.
It is very interesting to think about this situation.  Sam is acting normal, eating, playing with her tennis balls, and bossing around her sister. But, she is quickly being overcome with cancer.  Very surreal.  Both Leslie and I know that we need to be positive for Sam.  That is what she would want if she could tell us.  This is something I just know.

We are looking forward to a weekend in the mountains with the Corgis.  Some swimming adventures await!

Prayers needed - Sam has relapsed

Hello everyone.
Asking for some Corgi prayers.  Sam has experienced a relapse.  We are very sad but hopefully that some modifications in treatment will help.  Keep her in your prayers.  Much appreciated!

Life vests for the weekend

I took Sam for lunch today.  We stopped at her favorite place, Chick-fil-a.  She had some grilled chicken while we sat outside.  I then took the rest of my lunch break to pick up a couple life vests for the Corgis.  We will be headed up to the mountains this weekend.  I plan on making some Corgi memories with them swimming in the lake.  I am not quite sure how this will all play out.  Taz will more then likely not have anything to do with the swimming.  I do hope Sam enjoys it.  We are trying to give them as many new and exciting experiences as we can.  Videos to follow next week.

I am a little worried about Sam and her Lymph node growth that "might" be returning.   Her left lymph node on her neck seems a little swollen today.  Good thing she is headed back for her two week treatment tomorrow.  More to come there.

In the meantime... I am looking forward to the evening hours to take them both for a nice long summer time walk.

Storms last night - kept the Corgis close

We experienced some pretty heavy storms last night.  I was up working late, the thunder was rolling, and both Corgis were huddled at my feet.  They absolutely hate the thunder.  I tried to take them outside last night to help them understand it is OK, but they both wanted nothing to do with it.  They went out, stood outside for a brief moment, heard a thunder clap, and bolted back to the door.  We still had thunder well past midnight, so, the Corgis decided to camp out in the bedroom.  Instead of their crates.

Sam is doing well this week.  This week is her "off" week from treatment.  She seems a bit thin, but her weight on the scale is constant. We have her on a high protein, almost no carb diet.  From what we have read, the carbs feed the cancer.  Obviously something we do not want.

Well, time for me to take them out to the grass for some fetch.