Our Mr. Handsome Pants
In the previous installement of Tucker’s journey you probably
noticed that Tucker’s humans had already spent a hefty amount in two short
months. This was just the beginning of the cost, doctors visits, and toll it
was going to take on all of them.
Tucker has been known to us, and most of his friends, as Mr.
Handsome Pants because of the darling pajama pants he sported.
We thought this was such a clever way of helping Tucker manage to keep his
staples safe from himself. See what led
to the pants:
3/1/14 Visit to Franklin Veterinary Associates. Bandage and drain removal day.
Office Visit - $11.00
Of course, this brought about
a new set of challenges. Tucker could reach the staples and he was transfixed
with chewing and removing them all on his own.
I bought a pair of Scooby Doo
PJ’s and with some creative scissor skills and duct tape I thought I came up
with a great solution. I put the
bottoms on him to protect the staples and we nicknamed Tucker “Mr. Handsome
Pants”.
Of course, the next morning
the PJ’s were on the bed and another staple was decorating the PJ bottoms.
3/4/14 Visit to Franklin Veterinary Associates staple removal day and progress exam. Office Visit - $47.41
3/8/14 Visit to Franklin Veterinary Associates for
Medical Progress Exam.
Office Visit - $24.00
3/10/14
Visit with Dr. Boshoven, Radiation Oncologist, VCA Veterinary Referral
Associates. Our consultation went well.
He discussed radiation and chemotherapy options with us.
Amputation would have the
highest chance of curing him of the local disease and he would still recommend
chemotherapy to follow if we choose that route.
Radiation has a good chance
of controlling the local disease as well.
As with surgery, however, radiation does not do anything for the
possible spread of the disease.
All of this information was
overwhelming but I decided against amputation and radiation treatments and go
for chemotherapy.
He ordered an abdominal
ultrasound. They found that the lymph
node was more round than oblong indicating a possibility of cancer or normal
due to the location of the lymph node near the incision site. They will aspirate the lymph node to rule
out cancer. This procedure is scheduled for Friday, March 14, 2014.
Office Visit - $725.10
3/11/14 –
Visit to Franklin Veterinary Associates for Medical Progress Exam and
Simplicef. Office Visit - $45.91
3/14/14 –
Visit to VCA Veterinary Referral Associates.
Tucker was sedated and Radiology service performed the aspiration of the
lymph nodes. Waiting on the test results
was nerve racking. If the cancer had
spread there were not a lot of treatment options. Office Visit - $745.35
After many calls to VCA, I received a call
from Dr. Shigemoto the Radiologist that performed the procedure on Tucker. Great News!
No cancer cells in the lymph node.
This means we can move forward with the chemotherapy treatment.
3/26/14
- Visit to VCA Veterinary Referral
Associates. Appointment with Dr.
Intile. Chemotherapy treatment #1. There
will be a total of five treatments given every three weeks. Tucker had bloodwork, urinalysis, thoracic
study. He is on Cerenia and Metronidazole. Office Visit - $815.61
4/16/14 –
Visit to VCA Veterinary Referral Associates.
Appointment with Dr. Intile.
Chemotherapy treatment #2. Tucker
had bloodwork tests performed and it indicated that he had adequate red and
white blood cell parameters for treatment #2.
Office Visit - $479.16
5/9/14 - Visit to VCA Veterinary Referral
Associates. Appointment with Dr. Intile.
Chemotherapy treatment
#3. Tucker had bloodwork tests performed
and it indicated that he had adequate red and white blood cell parameters for treatment
#3. Office Visit - $479.16
After this treatment Tucker
started losing his eyebrows, mustache and beard.
Many people asked about
Tucker’s breed. What kind of dog is
that? WelI, he doesn’t look like a Miniature
Schnauzer. I repeated his story many
times and it became exhausting.
Priscilla Singletary sent Tucker shirts to wear “They All Matter Find
the Cure”, “Fight Like Tucker” #beatcancer, “Cancer Sucks”.
Tucker wore these shirts
everywhere and most of the questions stopped.
I will be forever grateful for her kindness.
5/30/14 –
Visit to VCA Veterinary Referral Associates.
Appointment with Dr. Intile.
Chemotherapy treatment #4. Tucker
underwent a recheck abdominal ultrasound, which showed that the previously
enlarged lymph nodes in his abdomen were smaller in size. Also x-rays were performed. Tucker had bloodwork tests performed and it
indicated that he had adequate red and white blood cell parameters for
treatment #4. Office Visit - $1244.56
6/20/14 – Visit
to VCA Veterinary Referral Associates.
Appointment with Dr. Intile.
Chemotherapy treatment #5. CBC
was done and showed adequate red and white blood cell parameters for
administering chemotherapy. Fine needle
aspirates were obtained from several of the nodules along the back of the right
thigh and in house cytology showed clusters of what were suspected to be normal
epithelial cells. Tucker was declared cancer free!
Office Visit - $537.88
Tucker did really well during
these chemotherapy treatments. He had a
picky appetite following his treatment, but this resolved with a new medicine
to stimulant his appetite.
 |
| Some hair regrowth on sweet Tucker |
At this point we became very familiar with Tucker and his
chemotherapy appointments. His friends all rallied around him as he went in for
treatment after treatment:
10/1/14 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital.
Appointment with Dr. Altendorf. Tucker
was evaluated for a tumor on his left leg.
He had an exam and
Cytology was sent to Idexx
for evaluation. Office Visit - $111.49
10/8/14 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital.
Xrays and ultrasound performed.
Office Visit - $350.12
10/15/14 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital.
Surgery day. Lesion removal with lymph node removal. Tucker did really well. He did a lot better than I did.
I was a nervous wreck! His diagnosis was confirmed
Hemangiosarcoma. Office Visit - $768.95
Note: I was in disbelief. We are going to battle this cancer for a
second time!
11/17/14 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital.
The same tests were done by this Vet to ensure Tucker was in good health
for the treatment.
Chemotherapy Treatment
#1 and he was given an appetite
stimulant.
Office Visit - $421.91
12/17/14 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital.
Chemotherapy Treatment #2
Office Visit - $427.21
12/29/14 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital.
Chemotherapy Treatment #3
Office Visit - $455.81
1/19/15 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital
Chemotherapy Treatment #4
Office Visit - $497.27
2/9/15 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital
Chemotherapy Treatment #5
with x-rays and ultrasound
Office Visit - $699.81
3/4/15 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital
CBC
Office Visit – $27.17
3/25/15 –
Visit to Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Hospital
Extensive Blood workup
Office Visit - $109.83
4/1/15 - Tucker
has had 2 rounds of Chemotherapy (5 treatment each time) which is the
limit. The Vet put him on Chlorambucil
which is a maintenance Chemotherapy treatment.
Chlorambucil depresses the function of the bone marrow which can result
in anemias and bleeding disorders.
RX (60 Caps) - $74.16
