Indy's Weekly Update

Today is Wednesday and that means Indy goes in to see the Oncologist.  This is her "off" week seeing how she was given the "strong" drug last week.  It was just a simple blood draw and back home.  Kristina didn't even have to leave her today.  They just called later in the day to report that her blood work is fine!  This is good news because she starts her 3rd round of CHOP next week and we want to make sure she is in tip top shape.  However, there was one piece of news that Kristina could have done without knowing.  Apparently Indy is getting tired of being poked -- totally understandable, BUT, she is now getting "sassy" with the vet techs when they draw blood.  Kristina apologized profusely, and they said it was ok, but it still never good to hear.  Next week we are going to talk her on her walk BEFORE taking her to the vet -- this way we hope to get some of that sass out of her!

Indy's CHOP25 -- WEEK 9

Indy went to the oncologist today for her latest round of CHOP.  We almost feel bad taking her in (especially today) since she has been feeling so good.  But we know if we let up now the cancer will come roaring back.

That being said, she finished her 2nd complete round of CHOP today.  That means that instead of weekly appointments she has appointments every other week -- and she is half way through in terms of treatments.  However, since they are spaced every other week, she has 16 more weeks of treatment.  Dr. Choy said she is doing great though and was pleased with her progress.

Today's treatment was Doxorubicin.  This is the one that is the toughest on Indy.  She is sedated and they administer via catheter over the course of an hour or so and watch her afterwards for quite some time to make sure she has no adverse reactions.  She did well, but she always comes home very lethargic and not herself.  However, so far her hungry level is the same, just energy is down. Tomorrow she will be better, but tonight she was down enough that we opted not to go on a walk and she didn't even seem like she missed it either.

Next week will be a quick appointment for blood work and no treatment.  It will be good to give her body a week or so to recover.  She is such a good little fighter!

Valentine's Day Follow-up

The plan was to have a nice dinner at home on Sunday, but the day got away from us.  Between finishing up chores, walking Indy, etc...it got too late to make a big meal, so we postponed it to Monday night (since we both had President's Day off).

 

Kristina worked her magic and made a great meal!  She cooked up her infamous prime rib, homemade mac and cheese, roasted broccoli, and chocolate lava cakes for dessert!  It was a great meal and a nice day!

 



Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  It was a quiet weekend for us.  We have some projects going on at home and with Indy going through chemo, we thought it would be best to lay low.  In addition, we both have been working so hard that we needed some recovery.  However, when Kristina woke up on Sunday morning she had two bouquets of flowers; one bouquet was from Jared and the other bouquet was from Indy.  It was sooooo thoughtful of them to both think about Kristina on Valentine's Day!

 

Jared picked out a lovely bouquet of lilies and red roses....

 



While Indy thought spring tulips were more appropriate!

 

Either way, Kristina loved both of the bouquets and is lucky to have them both!

 

Jared and Kristina followed up the day with a burger at a local bar for dinner...now that's the way to finish a day!

Indy's Chemo Update -- Week #8

It is Wednesday and that means Indy went to the vet for her latest round of CHEMO.  By the way, she continues to do OUTSTANDING!  She isn't skipping a beat and is the same ol' Indy that we have had for almost 7 years now.  :)

Today was a Vincristine IV into her left cephalic vein and she had no immediate complications.  So her visit was quick and Kristina was able to pick her up at 1pm (since Jared dropped her off at 9am).

Next week though is the rough visit (again)...so we won't think about it until we hit that!

Go INDY!

Happy Birthday Jared!

Happy Birthday Jared!  He is another year older and wiser -- and did I mention he is the Technology Director in charge of Graphics at Monolith now?  He isn't telling enough people, so I had to get involved!

 

Anyway, Jared isn't having the best of birthdays because he has come down with a cold...but that didn't keep Kristina from making him a birthday cake!  Here is her masterpiece!  It is a yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting -- all made from scratch!  And it is only a 6" cake so that we don't have cake for a week after the birthday!  It is super yummy!

 

Since he is feeling under the weather, no dinner out -- just steaks at home!  But that didn't disappoint!  Again -- those rib-eyes hit the spot!  Hopefully he will feel good enough to go out tomorrow -- if not, we'll just postpone until he is better.

Indy CHOP-25 Week #7

Indy completed Week 7 of her CHOP regimen this week. Week #7 consisted of her getting Cytoxan (Cyclophosphamide) again.  It was in pill form, so it was a super quick visit for her today; although they did do a CBC and lymph node measurement which took some time to wait for the results.

All lymph nodes are < 1 cm (where they should be)!  They have been like this for 4 weeks, so that's good.  Also, her blood chemistry showed "significant near complete resolution of previously noted elevated liver values".  This was very exciting for us to hear!

Looking at Indy, you would have no idea that she has cancer!  Her energy level would put most dogs to shame and her appetite is voracious (which is normal for her).  We are super happy that she is doing so well and responding to the chemotherapy.  It has been well worth our time and money to pursue this route.  We are just happy to have her still with us and that she is feeling so good!

January Rain

January 2016 has come and gone, and WOW, did we get the rain.  Our rain gauge logged 7.56" of rain for the month of January.  That is even more than we expect in November when it is our rainiest month.  The good news about the rain being so frequent is that there is a good snow base in the mountains too, and that bodes well for a good summer -- especially for Eastern Washington.  That being said, we wouldn't complain about having a few sunny days either.

Happy February!