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Although my boy Lambeau is not a Frenchie, this information will be helpful for any breed as dogs can not be cured of lymphoma. I am posting hoping this information will help someone else in their journey through the chemo treatments and the ups/downs of the illness.
I am logging Lambeau's treatment journey on our sister site - English Bulldog News and coping here.
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Sorry for the long post, but I am doing this on the inspiration of @nubonics and her logging of Curley’s journey with lymphoma. I think it is important for us all to share this information to help others afterall that is a big part of EBN existence to share experiences and knowledge. Nu’s thread and posts helped me over the last few weeks, along with @rjisaterp posts of Jewel and Bentley‘s journey. I hadn’t posted or told anyone about this prior because it made it too real and I just wasn’t ready to go there until we had more understanding of what we were dealing with.
It all started on 7/19, a little blood in stool, I made note and the next day when it was in his poo again. I drove a sample to our vet for testing. A few days later results come back clean… no issues found. Blood is still there and Cheli then has some in his poo, so I think, well, maybe we got a bad batch of raw food. I throw away that week’s batch and put the boys on bland diet for a few days, pumpkin was already being given so that continued with bland diet.
I then find a lump on Lambeau’s neck which was around 7/29-7/30. We call make an appointment with our vet, but due to vacations and short staff, first available was 8/15. We weren’t overly concerned because Lambeau was 1000% normal otherwise; nothing was off other than the blood in his poo. Mind you, it was not a lot, just a little on the end at this point. Not only was he normal, but appetite was on, he was eating, no vomit or temperature. Seriously, all was spot on normal, even his play. Around 8/2, I find a second lump.. call vet to get an earlier appointment, soonest is now 8/9 and we are on cancellation list for a call if any time opens up. Beau is still 100% normal.
On 8/7 we go for their monthly laser session with our favorite vet tech. Since blood was still in Beau’s poo and Cheli was on/off we dropped off samples for testing again. We are chatting and we tell him about the lumps and we are coming back on Tuesday to see one of the doctors as our normal vet is on vacation. Tech immediately gets down and starts checking the lumps and inspecting Beau. He stands up and says, I’m getting you an appointment today... leaves the room for a bit, comes in and says there is only one vet on staff today and he will be in to see us after we finish laser. As Ian is doing the laser therapy, he is telling us that every one of Beau lymph nodes are swollen, front, sides, legs, all of them.
We finish laser and go to a different exam room, we end up being there for three hours. Blood work, full physical exam, then fluid was taken from two nodes to send off for testing which would take about a week to get back. They did in house blood work tests, Beau’s white count was a little elevated, but otherwise the vet stated there was absolutely nothing remarkable in the levels that would indicate why his nodes were all swollen, but they are obviously reacting to something in his system. We leave with three medicines and lots of questions. Your mind immediately starts going through every sneeze, twist, cough or sideways glance trying to figure out what we might have missed.
8/11 we get the call, he has lymphoma. We are crushed. He is only 7 years old and has been in fantastic health for his whole life. Biggest issue was in grown tail and a fatty tissue tumor when he was under two years old and of course the typical allergies. Both poo tests from 8/7 came back clean so food is also ruled out being a cause of any issues for both boys. Cheli is obviously, at this point we realize, stressed with what is going on causing him to have that little spot of blood.
8/15 we meet with our vet of 18+ years it was mostly just a conversation, no real info or additional diagnosis as he is not an oncologist nor is there one at his office. He did do a biopsy on 8/16 to confirm diagnosis as well as find out the type of lymphoma (type B or T), by the way that is an additional test outside of the biopsy. The type of lymphoma determines the protocol to be used by the oncologist. The test results would take 7-14 days to come back so the only thing we can do till we meet an oncologist and have those results is support care… basically, keep him comfortable.
When we got home we called the two locations our vet recommended near us for oncology. The first place we called, 10/14 was the first available appointment, which I booked and placed on cancellation list. Lewis called the other place and first available was 8/31, which he booked. At this point, it is a waiting game till we get to one of those appointments.
We have been sleeping in the basement of our home on the floor since this all started to make it easier for Lambeau getting out in the yard as quick as possible because by now, he has constant diarrhea and when it hits, it is urgent. He was getting increasingly uncomfortable to where we had to give him Trazadone to help him relax and be able to sleep.
On Sunday 8/21 Lewis noticed the nodes on Lambeau’s neck seemed even bigger. We had some family stop in to visit and Lambeau seemed good all that time even interacted and napped a bit, which we were thankful since he had not slept well on Saturday night. Shortly after my niece and nephew left Lambeau stating panting and could not relax. Around 7:30 Lewis started calling ERs within an hour ride of our home to see if we could get him in; again short staffing has ERs not readily able to take all or there is a massive wait time. First place we call is where we have the 10/14 oncology appointment they have an 8 HOUR wait! Second place, they do not have an oxygen tank big enough for Lambeau to fit in. Third place, where we have the 8/31 oncology appointment, they could take him, but if he went into a need for a breathing tube they would not be able to handle due to not having a surgeon on staff that night. Fourth place, not a great reputation/reviews, but could take him right in. It is a 55 minute ride to get there, they ask for our ETA so they can meet us at door to take him right to an oxygen tank and that they did.
The team there was awesome, incredibly caring, attentive, informative and compassionate. Lambeau nodes in his throat had swelled so big they were placing pressure on his wind pipe/trachea so he was struggling to breathe. They placed him in the oxygen tank while we discussed the current situation, the diagnosis we had and what they could do to help get him stable. As stressful as the whole night was, it turned out to be a Godsend, this ER was also an oncology center, but the oncologist was on leave so we could not get any appointments or meetings with them, however they could administer a chemo treatment with our approval. Lambeau spent the night; they gave him a shot of Lspar and started him on high dose prednisone which allowed the swelling in the nodes to begin to slowly go down. He came home on Monday night and it has been an up/down roller coaster of different issues on the daily. Needing to poo or pee at least two or three times an hour. Then not eating or being ravenous, drinking water like crazy due to the prednisone, sleepless nights due to panting and discomfort.
Our vet and our vet tech have been a tremendous support to us; once they saw the report that Lambeau was in the ER that Sunday night they actually called every oncologist in a three-hour radius of our home trying to get us an emergency appointment on that Monday (8/22). Unfortunately, there were absolutely none that would accept him so we wait till 8/31.
8/31, we meet with the oncologist at Blue Pearl in Malvern. We brought the doctor up to date on everything from 7/19 till 8/31. Unfortunately at the time of the appointment we still did not have the type of lymphoma testing results back so she did not want to go into protocols or prognosis until she has that information. She did state general information on short and long term diagnosis, but overall she wanted to wait to talk specifics. Regardless of type, the first four treatments are the same so Lambeau did get his second treatment which was Vincristine via IV that day and so far is responding well as the nodes seem to be back to normal size. She did have us start to wean him off the prednisone which I am thankful for as I’m not a fan, but understand they are a necessary evil right now.
The one thing our vet and the oncologist cannot find an answer for is the constant diarrhea that started before any medicine or chemo treatment and has been consistent. It is straight liquid or pudding like poo. Nothing and I mean nothing we have done over the past 6 weeks has stopped it. Pumpkin, green beans, bland diet, metronidazole, three other types of diarrhea medicines, now we are tying bland diet again with Imodium AD, three days in and still liquid.
I am logging Lambeau's treatment journey on our sister site - English Bulldog News and coping here.
------
Sorry for the long post, but I am doing this on the inspiration of @nubonics and her logging of Curley’s journey with lymphoma. I think it is important for us all to share this information to help others afterall that is a big part of EBN existence to share experiences and knowledge. Nu’s thread and posts helped me over the last few weeks, along with @rjisaterp posts of Jewel and Bentley‘s journey. I hadn’t posted or told anyone about this prior because it made it too real and I just wasn’t ready to go there until we had more understanding of what we were dealing with.
It all started on 7/19, a little blood in stool, I made note and the next day when it was in his poo again. I drove a sample to our vet for testing. A few days later results come back clean… no issues found. Blood is still there and Cheli then has some in his poo, so I think, well, maybe we got a bad batch of raw food. I throw away that week’s batch and put the boys on bland diet for a few days, pumpkin was already being given so that continued with bland diet.
I then find a lump on Lambeau’s neck which was around 7/29-7/30. We call make an appointment with our vet, but due to vacations and short staff, first available was 8/15. We weren’t overly concerned because Lambeau was 1000% normal otherwise; nothing was off other than the blood in his poo. Mind you, it was not a lot, just a little on the end at this point. Not only was he normal, but appetite was on, he was eating, no vomit or temperature. Seriously, all was spot on normal, even his play. Around 8/2, I find a second lump.. call vet to get an earlier appointment, soonest is now 8/9 and we are on cancellation list for a call if any time opens up. Beau is still 100% normal.
On 8/7 we go for their monthly laser session with our favorite vet tech. Since blood was still in Beau’s poo and Cheli was on/off we dropped off samples for testing again. We are chatting and we tell him about the lumps and we are coming back on Tuesday to see one of the doctors as our normal vet is on vacation. Tech immediately gets down and starts checking the lumps and inspecting Beau. He stands up and says, I’m getting you an appointment today... leaves the room for a bit, comes in and says there is only one vet on staff today and he will be in to see us after we finish laser. As Ian is doing the laser therapy, he is telling us that every one of Beau lymph nodes are swollen, front, sides, legs, all of them.
We finish laser and go to a different exam room, we end up being there for three hours. Blood work, full physical exam, then fluid was taken from two nodes to send off for testing which would take about a week to get back. They did in house blood work tests, Beau’s white count was a little elevated, but otherwise the vet stated there was absolutely nothing remarkable in the levels that would indicate why his nodes were all swollen, but they are obviously reacting to something in his system. We leave with three medicines and lots of questions. Your mind immediately starts going through every sneeze, twist, cough or sideways glance trying to figure out what we might have missed.
8/11 we get the call, he has lymphoma. We are crushed. He is only 7 years old and has been in fantastic health for his whole life. Biggest issue was in grown tail and a fatty tissue tumor when he was under two years old and of course the typical allergies. Both poo tests from 8/7 came back clean so food is also ruled out being a cause of any issues for both boys. Cheli is obviously, at this point we realize, stressed with what is going on causing him to have that little spot of blood.
8/15 we meet with our vet of 18+ years it was mostly just a conversation, no real info or additional diagnosis as he is not an oncologist nor is there one at his office. He did do a biopsy on 8/16 to confirm diagnosis as well as find out the type of lymphoma (type B or T), by the way that is an additional test outside of the biopsy. The type of lymphoma determines the protocol to be used by the oncologist. The test results would take 7-14 days to come back so the only thing we can do till we meet an oncologist and have those results is support care… basically, keep him comfortable.
When we got home we called the two locations our vet recommended near us for oncology. The first place we called, 10/14 was the first available appointment, which I booked and placed on cancellation list. Lewis called the other place and first available was 8/31, which he booked. At this point, it is a waiting game till we get to one of those appointments.
We have been sleeping in the basement of our home on the floor since this all started to make it easier for Lambeau getting out in the yard as quick as possible because by now, he has constant diarrhea and when it hits, it is urgent. He was getting increasingly uncomfortable to where we had to give him Trazadone to help him relax and be able to sleep.
On Sunday 8/21 Lewis noticed the nodes on Lambeau’s neck seemed even bigger. We had some family stop in to visit and Lambeau seemed good all that time even interacted and napped a bit, which we were thankful since he had not slept well on Saturday night. Shortly after my niece and nephew left Lambeau stating panting and could not relax. Around 7:30 Lewis started calling ERs within an hour ride of our home to see if we could get him in; again short staffing has ERs not readily able to take all or there is a massive wait time. First place we call is where we have the 10/14 oncology appointment they have an 8 HOUR wait! Second place, they do not have an oxygen tank big enough for Lambeau to fit in. Third place, where we have the 8/31 oncology appointment, they could take him, but if he went into a need for a breathing tube they would not be able to handle due to not having a surgeon on staff that night. Fourth place, not a great reputation/reviews, but could take him right in. It is a 55 minute ride to get there, they ask for our ETA so they can meet us at door to take him right to an oxygen tank and that they did.
The team there was awesome, incredibly caring, attentive, informative and compassionate. Lambeau nodes in his throat had swelled so big they were placing pressure on his wind pipe/trachea so he was struggling to breathe. They placed him in the oxygen tank while we discussed the current situation, the diagnosis we had and what they could do to help get him stable. As stressful as the whole night was, it turned out to be a Godsend, this ER was also an oncology center, but the oncologist was on leave so we could not get any appointments or meetings with them, however they could administer a chemo treatment with our approval. Lambeau spent the night; they gave him a shot of Lspar and started him on high dose prednisone which allowed the swelling in the nodes to begin to slowly go down. He came home on Monday night and it has been an up/down roller coaster of different issues on the daily. Needing to poo or pee at least two or three times an hour. Then not eating or being ravenous, drinking water like crazy due to the prednisone, sleepless nights due to panting and discomfort.
Our vet and our vet tech have been a tremendous support to us; once they saw the report that Lambeau was in the ER that Sunday night they actually called every oncologist in a three-hour radius of our home trying to get us an emergency appointment on that Monday (8/22). Unfortunately, there were absolutely none that would accept him so we wait till 8/31.
8/31, we meet with the oncologist at Blue Pearl in Malvern. We brought the doctor up to date on everything from 7/19 till 8/31. Unfortunately at the time of the appointment we still did not have the type of lymphoma testing results back so she did not want to go into protocols or prognosis until she has that information. She did state general information on short and long term diagnosis, but overall she wanted to wait to talk specifics. Regardless of type, the first four treatments are the same so Lambeau did get his second treatment which was Vincristine via IV that day and so far is responding well as the nodes seem to be back to normal size. She did have us start to wean him off the prednisone which I am thankful for as I’m not a fan, but understand they are a necessary evil right now.
The one thing our vet and the oncologist cannot find an answer for is the constant diarrhea that started before any medicine or chemo treatment and has been consistent. It is straight liquid or pudding like poo. Nothing and I mean nothing we have done over the past 6 weeks has stopped it. Pumpkin, green beans, bland diet, metronidazole, three other types of diarrhea medicines, now we are tying bland diet again with Imodium AD, three days in and still liquid.
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