Day 7 and the Oncologist

Dannii, taken at the vets office, today

Dinner time has become a nightmare.  Frustration and tears as Dannii turns his nose up at almost everything I try and give him.  He did take his Pepcid and his Phenobarbital pills as I put those in a Gerber Graduate hot dog. I ended up fixing him a scrambled egg which he ate.  Could not get his Prednisone pills down him, so I litterly had to shove them down his throat.  Still drinking a lot of water. This makes the 4th day that I know, that he got his Prednisone pills.

We went to see the oncologist today.  He is about 50 miles away (one way).  Dannii was in the back of the car, laying down.  Usually when I stop at a light, he is up and looking out the windows.  Not today.  He never moved,.  I truly thought he had died back there! 

Thankfully I was wrong.  As I parked the car in the clinic's parking lot and opened the door, he was up and at the door, waiting for me to open it.  I let him sniff and smell the grass and some bushes, hoping he would go pee, but no such luck.  But, I sure had to visit the little girls room, and quick!  As I was about to open the door to the bathroom, Dannii had stopped, and was peeing on a fake plant that was just around the corner.  It was like a small lake, so much pee, coming out of one little dog!

So the Oncologist explained to me what he would like to do, and what I would have to do, and so on and so forth, (to make it short).  He left the room to write up an estimate, and his nurse came in with it.  We were looking at $500 every 3 weeks, give or take $20-$40.  I was real close to tears, I can not afford that.  I live from paycheck to paycheck, and having a hard time as it is.  I told the nurse this, so said that she would go talk to the dr, and come back.  She came back with a new plan and estimate.  On the original (first) plan, the vet was going to give Dannii a chemo drug that he called CCNU, expensive, and can cause liver damage, which is why they would have to monitor his blood count and such.  The new plan was for a donated chemo drug (he told me who donated the drugs, but I forgot), so I wouldn't be charged for them.  Plus they would give him something to help with his appetite, and vomiting.  Even tho he hasn't been vomiting, it might be the reason why he wasn't eating. Queasy stomach.  They kept him for an hour, and they gave him 1 1/2 jars (small) of baby food, and he ate that.  He wanted more.  So, today's total was $198.00.  They gave me 2 can's of Hill's A/D and a couple of small jars of baby food, plus pills (always pills)!

So, I stopped and bought a pizza before I came home.  I gave Dannii a slice, but it was too hot.  By the time, we pulled up in front on the house, he was chowing it down.  I gave him a can of A/D and he wouldn't touch it!  I had planned on giving him some liver anyways, so I fried that up. Since it was a long piece, I cut into 4 piece, and I gave him one, and he ate it up.  Could not get him to take his Prednisone pills, so again, I had to shove them down his throat.  Am picking up a pill pusher tomorrow from my vet.

I was in the kitchen around 9:30 tonight, and Dannii come's and stands next to his food bowl.  I spoon some of the A/D into his bowl, and he eats it.  Spoon some more, he eats it, finishes off the can, and is still looking for food.  So I give him a (small) can of Fancy Feast cat food, and he eats the whole can!  I haven't seen him eat that much in a very long time!  I just hope he can keep it up (the eating, that is).

This makes the 4th day that I know for sure that he has gotten his Prednisone pills down.  He started drinking alot of water (not as much as he is now) before he started the Prednisone.  So, a friend is sending me a Diastix to test him for Fanconi.  I even brought this up to the vet, and he agreed that maybe this is also why he's not feeling well.  On top of everything else that's going on with him, I sure don't want him to have fanconi!

You all come back again, now hear?