Soleil Update

Happy Holidays to ALL!

2009-12-24T22:13:00.003-05:00

Well no news is good news! I got a call the other day from NEVOG. I had an appointment for Soleil coming up. Because she continues to be in remission, and continues to do well, I was able to cancel this appointment and postpone it for another month. I discussed this with the Doctor the last time I was there.

Soleil continues to do well. She is in remission, so you would never even know she was sick at all. She is back to training in agility, and I hope to enter her in limited agility trials in the spring.

I hope everyone has very Happy Holidays! I hope the new year brings you good health and happiness!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make Soleil's remission possible!

Not sure if I mentioned it, but Soleil was on Cyclosporine treatment (eye drops) for an eye problem. Cyclosporine administration is associated with an increased risk of development of lymphoma in humans and a similar increased risk is currently being studied in dogs in England. Although the relationship between cyclosporine treatment and the development of lymphoma cannot be proven in this case, it is possible that the cyclosporine therapy may have contributed to Soleil's lymphoma.

I know 2 other dogs who were on the same cyclosporine treatment for the same eye problem, and both dogs ended up with lymphoma. Coincidence??? I don't think so. I believe the cyclosporine therapy Soleil was on, directly contributed to her getting lymphoma. While I can't prove it, I believe it to be true. Would she have gotten lymphoma had she not been on the cyclosporine treatment? We will never know the answer to that.

Our last NEVOG appointment for awhile!

2009-11-03T18:34:00.004-05:00

We had another healthy check up and got more good news. Everything looks great. We have an appointment in 2 months, but the Doctor told me if everything is still going good that I can extend that out further. So, we are now done with the monthly "healthy" visits.

It is wonderful to see Soleil so healthy and playing and enjoying life so much. I know the cancer is still in her system and it's only a matter of time before it rears its ugly head again, but I hope I don't have to deal with that again for a very long time.

Soleil's check up at NEVOG

2009-09-25T23:58:00.006-04:00

Well I am very happy to report Soleil got an excellent report this week on her first "healthy" checkup. She also got lots and lots of cookies from all the vet techs there because they hadn't seen her for such a long time. I think they wanted to make up for all the weekly cookies she had missed.

Her lymph nodes looked great and her bloodwork looked good. Her red blood cell count was on the low/normal line, but the Doctor didn't seem worried about it at all. Her white blood cell counts were all back up in the normal range. I was smiling all the way home.

Soleil's Fun Weekend at the Agility Trial

2009-09-22T15:43:00.008-04:00

I am sorry I have not posted in awhile. I just want to update everyone on Soleil's condition.

She is doing GREAT!!! She is very active is playing like she is a 2 year old again.

I entered Soleil in an agility trial that was held September 12 & 13. She was entered in 2 runs a day. Three of the four runs were beautiful, but the jumpers run on Saturday, Soleil's handler (me) totally screwed up the run for her. She didn't seem to mind because she was out there doing agility and having a blast.

The first run was a Standard run. The run was perfect except she came to the table with a little too much speed and slid off it. This is a problem we have been having since I jump her at the lower jump height now. The table for 20" dogs is six inches shorter than the table for the 24" dogs. So Soleil jumps up thinking she has to jump an extra 6 inches and overshoots the table. The rest of the run was perfect.

The jumpers run on Saturday was a total disaster. I got stuck behind the wing of jump number 3 and ended up sending her all over the place in the wrong direction. Poor Soleil. She tries so hard to do it right, but sometimes her handler doesn't get in the right place at the right time or doesn't give her the right information she needs to run the course correctly. If she had a better handler, she would do so much better.

Sunday's Standard run was another beautiful run with one tiny little mistake. I pulled away from the weave poles too soon and caused her to pop out at the 10th pole instead of completing all 12 poles. I didn't even see it and I thought she qualified until I saw the scribe sheet. Then someone told me she didn't finish the weave poles. It was a beautiful run and she had fun. That's what counts.

Sunday's jumpers run was another beautiful run. No table to worry about in jumpers, and I didn't pull her out of the weave poles this time, so she qualified and earned her Excellent Jumpers Preferred title (AJP).

She had a blast and it was so nice to be out there with her again. She really loves doing agility. I am just happy to be able to go to the start line with her. I don't really care how she does, just as long as she is having fun.

Someone took videos of the runs for me. He said he will send them to me, but I haven't received them yet. I was waiting for the videos before posting this, but I don't know when I'll be getting the videos, and I started to get emails from people asking about Soleil, so I figured I better update people. I will post the videos once I receive them.

Soleil has a check up at NEVOG on Thursday. This will be the first time we will go when we are not scheduled to receive chemo!!! YEAH!!!

I will post the results of her visit later this week.

Again (I just can't say it enough), THANK YOU to everyone for making this possible.

YAHOO!!! We are done!

2009-08-27T20:54:00.004-04:00

Well, today I had very mixed news. We went for our last appointment at NEVOG today. YAHOO! When Soleil's bloodwork came back, many of her counts were very low. They were too low to have the Vinblastine chemo treatment. I was not pleased to hear that. Her counts have been low before, but never low enough that she could not have a treatment. But, the Dr. said it was not a problem, that it is not uncommon for this to happen. We were sent home with the Cytoxin, which we will start next week. She will get one pill a day for 5 days. That will be her LAST chemo!

So while I am thrilled that we are almost finally done with the 18 week series, and we had our very last "treatment" visit to NEVOG, I am disappointed her blood counts were so low. She has an appointment in a month for a check up. We will see how things look then. Her bloodwork should be much better because she will have been off of chemo for 3 weeks.

Getting Toward the End!

2009-08-13T18:24:00.006-04:00

Had another visit to NEVOG today. Soleil's blood work looked great and she had an Adriamycin treatment today. Adria is given with a slow injection. They do a flush of fluids to make sure they have a good vein, then they give the Adria, followed by a second flush of fluids.

The good news is this is her last Adriamycin injection! YEAH!!! Soleil has a week off of no chemo, so we will go back in two weeks. That will be our last chemo visit!!! She will get one more IV of Vinblastine and we will go home with the Cytoxcin pills and then she is DONE with her chemo treatments.

After that we will go to monthly check up visits.

So far so good. I know some dogs who come out of remission once they are off the chemo, and other dogs who stay in remission. I hope Soleil is one of the later.

Again, THANK YOU to everyone who has made this possible!

For some reason this blog site has a problem showing 5 photos in one blog, so here is the photo of the family from this past weekend.

Demi, Abby, Des, Mickey, & Soleil

We had visitors

2009-08-10T23:06:00.015-04:00

Soleil had an exciting weekend. Mickey's mother and sister came for a visit, and then we drove up to New Hampshire to visit another one of his sisters, so it was the 3 siblings, Mickey's mom and Soleil. We went to a training facility and all the dogs got to work in agility and obedience. Soleil had a blast doing agility. Susan got some pictures of her, but most of them came out blurry because she was going too fast for the camera.

Here are some pictures from Soleil's busy weekend.

Soleil doing the weave poles.

Soleil taking a jump.

Soleil taking the panel jump.

Mickey, Soleil, Abby, and Des.

Good Check Up

2009-08-03T22:09:00.001-04:00

First of all, sorry for the delay in this update. I really didn't think anyone was reading the updates until I received an email asking how Soleil was doing. We had a vet appointment on Thursday, July 30th. Soleil checked out just fine and her blood work was also fine, so she got an IV treatment of Vinblastine. Two doctors saw her today. Her regular doctor saw her, and also a new intern who has just joined NEVOG was also there today. We went home with the Cytoxcin pills which I will give her starting next Thursday.

I was asked to be chief course builder for one of the kennel clubs for an agility trial next month, so I will be entering Soleil in that trial. I get a free entry for working, so it won't cost me anything to run her at the trial. She will be happy to be doing agility again. I haven't been working her lately. Not because she can't do it, but because we have not had very good weather this summer, so our training has been very limited. She still LOVES to do agility! I find her and Mickey chasing each other through the tunnels when they are out playing.

Mickey's sisters Des and Demi will be coming for a visit this week. It will be fun to see the 3 littermates together again. Demi's owner competes in agility and also lives in New England, so Demi and Mickey have played together a lot over the past year. I haven't seen Des since she was just a couple months old, so I'm looking forward to seeing her again. There is a slight chance that one of his brothers will also be stopping by for a visit, but no definite plans there just yet.

The local newspaper, The Foxboro Reporter, ran an article on Soleil. If anyone wants to read it, here is the link:

http://www.foxbororeporter.com/articles/2009/07/24/features/5271639.txt

Another NEVOG visit

2009-07-17T02:21:00.000-04:00

Soleil had another chemo treatment today. We got an excellent report at the vet's. Soleil's blood work was a lot better this week. Two weeks ago her white cell count was on the low end but today it was back up in the normal range. There was a couple other counts that were low two weeks ago but are all back up in the normal range this week. So she was good to go for the chemo today.

She had Adriamycin today which means we have next week off with no vet visits and no chemo treatments - YEAH!!! She has an appointment in two weeks and if everything checks out okay, she will get Vinblastine again in two weeks.

She has become a favorite patient of a couple of the vet techs. She gets spoiled with cookies for every little thing they do to her. They draw blood, she gets cookies. The vet examines her, she gets more cookies. They give her the chemo - yes - more cookies! She gets all excited every time someone finishes with her because she knows she is going to get more cookies!

Yes, she is my spoiled little girl, but she is so well behaved, she really makes me proud. She is very tolerant of anything they do to her and doesn't put up a fuss at all. She is even excellent about taking the Cytoxin pills. Like I have said before, and I'll say it again, she is about as close as you can get to a perfect dog. There isn't one thing about her that I would change if I had the chance. She is so precious to me. Again I have to thank everyone for all the support and prayers you have sent Soleil's way.

All is Well

2009-07-14T18:09:00.001-04:00

Well all five days of the Cytoxin went well. No unusual reactions or changes at all in Soleil. We have an appointment on Thursday morning at 11:30 with Dr. Romansik. Soleil should get the Adriamycin IV on Thursday and then we have a week off of no chemo! YEAH! The Adriamycin has to be given slowly directly into the vein. I don't like her getting this powerful drug, but the alternative is even worse.

My son has promised to help me get the video on my computer. He says he can "fix" my problem. I hope so because I would love for everyone to see what all the love and support has done for Soleil and see how well she is doing. I can't possibly thank everyone enough for everything that everyone has done for Soleil and I. I can't say it enough.

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!!!!!!

Agility in the Rain

2009-07-10T01:15:00.000-04:00

That seems to be all we have here lately, rain, rain, and more rain. I worked Mickey in agility yesterday and brought Soleil along so she could have a little fun. It was wet and very slippery, and Soleil, being the high drive dog that she is when it comes to agility, only knows one speed - fast. So I ended up putting her away because I couldn't slow her down enough where I felt it would be safe for her. I didn't want her getting hurt. She wasn't happy about that!

Mickey on the other hand was much more careful and did great. It was his first time training in the rain, so I was really surprised at how well he did.

Also took the dogs to the chiropractor today to get adjusted. There is a wonderful chiropractor close by that adjusts animals for free. He wants the animals to live long and healthy lives. My dogs have been going to him for many years now. Soleil has been seeing Dr. Peter since she was a little pup, and now Mickey is going too. I think keeping them in alignment really helps extend their agility careers.

Today is day 3 of the Cytoxin. So far, so good. No problems at all from the chemo. She doesn't go back to the vets until next week.

Day 1 of Cytoxin

2009-07-07T14:30:00.000-04:00

Soleil has been doing great all week. No setbacks at all. She is running around playing with the puppy. I was contacted and interviewed by a reporter from a local paper a couple weeks ago. She called me again yesterday and told me the article she wrote for the paper is going to be printed this week. So, Soleil will be famous in our little town.

I start giving Soleil the Cytoxin today. I give it to her when I feed her in the evening. There are five pills total and I give her one pill a day until they are gone. I can't touch the pills with my bare hands, so I have to wear hospital gloves when I give her the pills because the chemo is absorbed right through the skin. The last two times she has had the Cytoxin, she has gotten just a tiny bit of an upset stomach on the third day. I will watch for it to see if she has the same problem this time. I have given her one Reglan (metoclopramide) pill to settle her stomach and then she has been fine after that. I may just give her the Reglan for her stomach in advance on the third day this time to see if that helps. The chemo has never affected her appetite. The only chemo drug we had a problem with was the Vincristine she got on the second week of treatment. That made her very sick. I'm glad she doesn't get that anymore.

This is week 11. Only 7 more weeks to go!!! We are over half way through.

Another NEVOG visit

2009-06-30T23:42:00.001-04:00

We had an appointment at NEVOG (New England Veterinary Oncology Group) today. Soleil didn't see her regular Oncologist because he is away this week. She saw Dr. Philibert today. Her regular Oncologist is Dr. Romansik.

The doctor said her blood levels were just a little low, but said it was nothing to be worried about. I thought she was going to get chemo every other week, but I was wrong. She will still be getting chemo every week, she just doesn't have to go to NEVOG every week. She will have a week off every time she gets the Adriamycin. So she still remains on a 4 week rotation schedule. Week one is the Vinblastine intravenous (IV). Week two is the Cytoxcin (5 pills over a 5 day period). Week three is the Adriamycin (IV) followed by a week off. Last week was our week off, so we are back to week one in the rotation today. She got an intravenous (IV) injection of Vinblastine today. I was also sent home with a dose (5 pills) of Cytoxin. I will give her the Cytoxin next week.

I mowed the back yard when I got back and Mickey was there helping me the whole time. After mowing, I was throwing the ball for Mickey and Soleil decided to chase the ball and steal it from him. She beat him to the ball a few times. She is able to catch it in mid-air whereas Mickey is not that coordinated yet and usually runs past it before he gets control of his rear legs. So it looks like she is feeling just fine after her treatment because she wouldn't have been out there chasing the ball and stealing it from Mickey if she were not feeling well.

So the good news is we do not have to go back to NEVOG next week. The bad news is she still gets chemo next week. After our last visit, I thought she was on an every other week schedule. I guess she is for actual visits, but she still has to get the chemo at home next week. Oh well. Dr. Philibert said she will still get the chemo every week with the one week off after the Adria, and it continues like that for the 18 weeks. I think he said this was week 10, so we are now over half way through. YEAH!!!

She still remains in remission. I hope the remission lasts for a very, very long time!

Off to the vets tomorrow

2009-06-29T20:01:00.000-04:00

Soleil has a vet appointment at 1:30 PM tomorrow. It has been two weeks since her last appointment. She had Adriamycin (IV) at the last visit so I expect she will get Vinblastine (IV) this visit.

The second chemo drug she got was Vincristine and she had a bad reaction to it so they substituted it with Vinblastine at the next rotation. She has done great on the Vinblastine. I was glad there was an alternative drug to the Vincristine. She got very sick and stopped eating when she got the Vincristine. She had to go to the emergency room for a shot for the nausea, and fluids. She bounced right back after that, but I don't want to go through that again.

I will let everyone know what the vet says tomorrow. She will have blood work done and then get chemo meds if her blood work looks okay.

Soleil Update

2009-06-28T14:35:00.000-04:00

I know a lot of you have asked about how Soleil is doing. I am happy to report that 2 months into the chemotherapy, she is doing great. It is an 18 week series, so we are only about half way there.

This past week has been our very first week without a trip to the vets since March. She is officially on an every other week schedule. YEAH!!!

Soleil and I attended an agility trial in Maine (I was working as the scorer for the trial). This was the first time Soleil has competed in agility since the Nationals. She had a blast! I will post the video to YouTube and to my website soon. I will also try to post it here if I can figure it out. If not, I will post the link to the YouTube video.

I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support Soleil and I have received. I can't begin to thank all of you enough for everything you have done. Thanks to the Beauceron community around the world and to the agility community. I don't know what I would have done without the outpouring of support I have received.

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!!!!!!