Tuesday August 4th 2009

DAILY

• ESSIAC tea (orally) 10 ml + 1ml extra Sheep Sorrel Decoction Twice a day.
  
• DAY 25 PREDNISOLONE 1ml x2/day (Back up, but still a 40% reduction from the original dose)
• DAY 35 OPC one capsule twice/day - South African 'anti-cancer' herb
• DAY 34 CF IP-6 & Inositol one capsule twice/day
• DAY 50 HYDRAZINE SULFATE

JUST TODAY

• SHEEP SORREL DECOCTION ON GAUZE compress : on back left leg lump.

STEROIDS, STEROIDS, STEROIDS... MIRACLE OR CURSE?
So when we chose to put Lucy onto Prednisone steroid treatment, it was an act of desperation. She was crashing severely and refusing food and water for ten days. I had to force feed her with an oral syringe into her mouth at that time. She lost 2 kilos of weight in two weeks.
However I did not know that once a dog is on steroids, it halts the natural healing process. That was not explained to me at the time. It acts as an immune suppressant, and so can only buy your dog time, but will prevent any chance of them going into a cancer remission... which is the obvious preferred goal.
For that reason, once Lucy was back to her normal diet and activity level and seeming comfortable and happy again, I discussed with the vet the option of weaning her off the steroids. The risk is that if she needs the steroids again, they may not work as well a second time. The bonus being that if she copes with being weaned off, the other therapies may then kick in giving her a chance of going into a cancer remission.

DIFFICULT TIME DURING THE LAST 48 HOURS
So over the last three weeks we have been reducing the dose of steroids. Her Prednisolone dose came down to 0.5ml last Friday (31st July) as planned (a 0.5 ml reduction each week for four weeks, to wean her off steroids). She started to crash physically on Sunday night... 48 hours after this new lowest dose began.
The lymph glands swelled up again very large and hard and tight. She had a difficult time sleeping on Sunday night, so I slept on the floor with her. She kept close to me.
On Monday she had no energy at all and went out into the garden to sleep by herself... NOT something she has ever done before (being a typical border collie, she likes to keep close to her humans as much as possible.) I was scared.
PALE LIPS & COOL SKIN
I noticed that her lips were pale, and her skin very cool to the touch, considering the hot weather. Being a holiday in Canada, my own vet's office was closed. I called an emergency vet and did some quick online research. Pale lips is usually caused by either Anemia or Low Blood pressure (which can be caused by internal bleeding). Either way it can be very serious.
I left a message for my own vet to call me back on their emergency line as well.

INTUITION & COURAGE
I sat in the garden with her, and meditated on what to do. Having been around dogs most of my life, experiencing both human and animal 'western' medical systems (both of care and of billing!), I had to decide now whether I should now drive to the 24 hr emergency clinic, despite them being unfamiliar with her case and health details.
It can be so hard to make a decision, especially when you are choosing alternative therapies for the good of your beloved companion, who can't speak for themselves.
I had already had one battle with a conventional vet, who was angry with me for choosing homeopathic & alternative options (and so consequently charged me $50 for my homeopathic vet to have access to Lucy's own xrays that I had already paid $200 for!)

I decided to give her another dose of the steroid, to bring her back up to 1.0ml and then I sat and I waited for my homeopathic vet to phone me back...
MIRACLE! Within 45 minutes of the extra dose, Lucy was transformed! It was so strange to see her go through 24 hours of such obvious decline & body distress.... (panting, pale lips and skin, exhaustion, hiding) to deciding to chase a crow up the garden and then coming to ask me for food. After which she hunted down a tennis ball and insisted I throw it for her.
So I gave her another 1ml dose in the evening, and have increased it again this morning to 1.5ml.
The glands are reducing in size again and her appetite is returning now as well.
I thought I would be able to handle the transition off the steroids much more bravely, but it was horrid. I hope that I have not caved in too easily, with increasing the dose again? My new decision is to keep her at the minimum dose needed to prevent this kind of crash. I will not put her back up to the full amount but nor will I try to reduce it to zero again for the moment. It seemed she was getting the full benefit of the drug at a dose of only 40% of the original dose, so there is no need to go higher than that. Sooo... SHE IS BACK ON AN UPWARD SWING AGAIN now.

FOOD
During this new downswing, she totally lost her apetite again. She went back to wanting only biscuits and stopped drinking water as well. This is exactly what happened the first time around before we put her on the steroid.
Now that her Prednisolone dose is back to 40%, she is eating again. It may take me a few days to get her back onto the Raw food. She refused it so far, but did eat two small cans of canned EVO this morning as well as some grain-free biscuits.

BUMP ON HER RIGHT ELBOW
Lucy has always had a callous on her right elbow since she favors lying down on that side. However I have noticed that she 'flumps' down more heavily since her illness began. It may be that the glands in her legs feel awkward, or some other discomfort is causing her to flop down more heavily from a different angle. Anyway she has made that callous irritated and it is a bit raw/scratched looking. She keeps licking it, so I have been cleaning it with 2% iodine (disinfectant) since yesterday, and today I put a soft dressing on it to pad it a little and give it a chance to heal up again.