# needing input please! :)



## OscarsDad (Dec 20, 2017)

So sorry you are struggling with this. I have moved your thread to a section of the Forum where you should get more responses.


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## Lucys mom (Jun 24, 2020)

OscarsDad said:


> So sorry you are struggling with this. I have moved your thread to a section of the Forum where you should get more responses.


Thank you for doing that! New to the site so wasn’t sure where to start.


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## OscarsDad (Dec 20, 2017)

Bumping up ^^^^^


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## Lucys mom (Jun 24, 2020)

my golden has t cell lymphoma. we did 19 weeks of chop and it only worked partially/ lymph nodes 50% shrunk. Now vet wants to do Elspar. Im on board for one shot but honestly am getting worn out with all the chemo . also the more you give Elspar the higher risk of allergic reaction? I'm worried b/c are golden had some really bad reactions to the chemo and ended up getting multiple seizures. when did you decide to stop and just let nature take its course? my pup just seems so worn out by all the vets visits and is so scared to go in. She's on PRED and doing great on that / i wish i had more faith in all these drugs but after 19 weeks driving 8 hours to vets every friday to get her chemo and it not even totally working I'm a hesitant to keep pushing these drugs on her.


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## Lucys mom (Jun 24, 2020)

this is her!  lucy


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Lucy'smom, I merged your two threads into one so you would have all the information in the same thread.

I'm very sorry you and your girl are going through this. Lucy's beautiful.

I lost my girl several years ago to Lymphoma, my Vet did not recommend Chemo treatment. Instead she was on Predisone throughout. She was doing really well for about 8 months from the time of her diagnosis, I eventually had to make the decision to set her free.

Did the Oncologist discuss any side effects with the Elspar? Did the Oncologist give you their thoughts about what they would do if they were in your situation?

My Vet was very straight forward with me about the option of Chemo and what it does to dogs.
She basically said to me you have to decide between quality of life and quantity of life.

I chose quality, as I said, my girl was doing really well for about 8 months, then quickly went down hill and it was time to set her free.

I'm sorry you're going through this and faced with making a decision that is never easy to do.

The decision to stop or continue treatment is a personal one.

I know several humans that have gone through Chemo, it was very hard and difficult for them and their families. The quality of life is not always the best and eventually a decision to stop treatment is made and the people try to make the best of the time they have with their loved ones.


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## Lucys mom (Jun 24, 2020)

Thank you so much for the response! 
As far as Elspar goes it usually doesn't have any bad side effects the first time you do it but the more you give it to them the higher the risk of an allergic reaction.
My oncologist suggests doing it one or two times.(Elspar) They said another option is we could give her more chemo but after her 19 week chop protocol only put her in a 50 percent remission I'm saying enough is enough. The chemo was really rough on her the last 2 months ( she has seizures and had to be rushed to UD Davis emergency on one occasion) . The first 3 months months of chemo she did really well so it was shocking to have her do so poorly in the end and then not even be in a full remission. 
Can i ask what kind of Lym your golden had? Lucy has T-cell. I'm really happy to read that your pup survived 8 months on prednisone, I would love for lucy to get some really good time with family and her golden retriever brother after all she has been through. 
Cancer is such a terrible thing to happen to such sweet creatures . I have the two golden retrievers and they are my life. Im so blessed to have them as my fur babies and just want to do whats right for my pup and not keep pushing drugs on her when its not even working.
I too have seen my sister in law go through chemo for breast cancer and it was terrible for her.
Thank you so much for your input and I absolutely agree that quality is far more important than quantity.


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## dborgers (Dec 7, 2011)

Lucys mom said:


> my golden has t cell lymphoma. we did 19 weeks of chop and it only worked partially/ lymph nodes 50% shrunk. Now vet wants to do Elspar. Im on board for one shot but honestly am getting worn out with all the chemo . also the more you give Elspar the higher risk of allergic reaction? I'm worried b/c are golden had some really bad reactions to the chemo and ended up getting multiple seizures. when did you decide to stop and just let nature take its course? my pup just seems so worn out by all the vets visits and is so scared to go in. She's on PRED and doing great on that / i wish i had more faith in all these drugs but after 19 weeks driving 8 hours to vets every friday to get her chemo and it not even totally working I'm a hesitant to keep pushing these drugs on her.


Elspar was easily tolerated by my late boy, Andy, who also had T-Cell and was in remission when he passed away at a ripe old age after a year and a half of chemo. His vet had just taken him off a 'maintenance chemo' (6 pills, once a week, the name escapes me).

They used it as a rescue chemo as well when he took a bad turn several weeks into the CHOP protocol.

It was the Doxyrubicin he had an allergic reaction to. His first oncologist (who I fired) dismissed his weight loss to a faulty scale. 14 pound loss in 2 weeks is NOT normal. His new oncologist put him on preventative Cerenia (anti-nausea) before I'd even spoken to her in person after his first visit. All was well from them on.

A few things that I believe really helped:

- Denamarin, to help the liver process chemo better. It's a compound of natural supplements like milk thistle and other ingredients. His blood panels were good, and the liver never got into the danger zone.

- Adding krill oil to his food. It's a powerful anti-oxidant that helps the body fight off the cancer.

- Diet: We cut WAY down on grains and began home cooking chicken and other lean meats (his oncologist said, 'no fatty foods" ... like Burger King burger treats (replaced with chicken nuggets), so we switched it up Also added things like lightly steamed broccoli, cauliflower, cottage cheese. He enjoyed the variety.

BTW, frozen yogurt from the supermarket is a healthy treat that helps their GI tract. Being summertime and all, some peach frozen yogurt would hit the spot 

- Crushing his pills and making a gravy using beef consumed (Campbell's works great). I'd leave the can in the refrigerator where it would turn into a gel. Mix enough consume in until the pills/consume are the consistency of gravy, mix into food. The other trick was putting them in a ball of peanut butter applied to the back of the tongue. Makes it nearly impossible to spit out the pills, which happened a lot as he was taking up to 13 pills at one point.

(A more recent trick I discovered (for our senior girl, Bailey) is wrapping them up in braunschweiger. Make a ball out of it with the pills inside. Irresistible!)

When Andy refused food, he could not resist *canned green tripe* (<link). It's extremely nutritious and irresistible to dogs. When I first joined in 2011, the night I found out about Andy's lymphoma diagnosis, Meggie's Mom suggested it, calling it 'crack for dogs," and she was right!

You should read her thread. Her golden, Meggie, also had T-Cell lymphoma, and lived for many years afterwards. It was SO helpful and hope-giving to me as it's been to many, many others over the years.

*Lymphoma (Meggie's T-Cell journey)*

I wish you all the very best. Our motto was: "Carpe Diem (and all kinds of tasty treats)"


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## Lucys mom (Jun 24, 2020)

thank you so much for all your input! Im definitely going to try the frozen peach dessert. Im cutting back on grains too! Ive started making all my own dog treats from coconut flour, peanut butter, egg and pumpkin puree and she loves them! 
Making the most of the time I have left with Lucy is my main goal right now! 
Can i ask how many times your pup got ELSPAR? my vet said that she's done it up to 3 times .
thank you so much for your response! so happy to have this forum in my life.


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## dborgers (Dec 7, 2011)

Lucys mom said:


> thank you so much for all your input! Im definitely going to try the frozen peach dessert. Im cutting back on grains too! Ive started making all my own dog treats from coconut flour, peanut butter, egg and pumpkin puree and she loves them!
> Making the most of the time I have left with Lucy is my main goal right now!
> Can i ask how many times your pup got ELSPAR? my vet said that she's done it up to 3 times .
> thank you so much for your response! so happy to have this forum in my life.


Sorry I'm just responding. My elderly MIL required our attention, so I haven't been on this site in months.

Andy did Elspar at least 3 times and then again after he fell out of remission.

I hope your girl is doing well.


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