More prayers and snuggles for Fawkes..and you too Gina!

Gina,
I'm so glad he's doing okay and the injection went well Continuing to keep you both in my thoughts & prayers

Gina, I just wanted to say my thoughts and prayers are still with you and Fawkes. It seems like I know a disproportionate number of gliders who have had cancer relative to the number of dogs and cats (and humans) who have had it. I just hate that! You hang in there. I'm with ya all the way and I think your decisions have been excellent all the way through!

Well, I just now got to log back on, so he has already had his magnet therapy for tonight, but I won't do it again until you think it's ok.

I am picking up his prednisone after work tomorrow & he will start on it as soon as I get home. I can't remember what the dosing was - I know its one dose for five days, then it changes for 21 days. We will go over it again when I pick it up tomorrow.

I got Fawkes to eat 1/2 a moth & a yogie after his magnet therapy - I know it's not the best snack, but it'll have to do. I'm hoping his appetite will improve quickly.

One thing I will have to ask the vet is how fast it would affect his energy levels, because the boy has been in his wheel non-stop. And he did something that made me stop and do a double take - he head rubbed Cino! I haven't seen him head rub anyone or anything since shortly after he was neutered, and that was about 2 1/2 years ago!

Also, I spoke to Bourbon this evening & his therapeutic wheel will be on its way in a couple of days.

Linda - should I wait to put the wheel in?

Oh ya, and I spoke to Dave the Pharmacist - he has a concoction that he thinks will hide the herbals, he wants me to come taste it tomorrow. It's a mixture of acacia syrup & vanilla flavoring...so stay tuned...

When I got up this morning, the boy was still out playing! I don't know what has gotten into him - maybe he is just feeling better, I dunno. I wonder if it could really work that fast...

He still won't eat - when I say that, I mean he won't take anything from me, I don't know if he's eating at night when I'm not in there. He did refuse to take a moth this morning, which is concerning.

He will start the prednisone this evening, which should increase his appetite *crossing fingers*

I think I'm going to start weighing him daily now, just to track his progress now that he is starting the steroids.

Gina, any sign of improvement is good news. I'm glad to hear taht he has energy to play! Good boy, Fawkes. I think he's going to keep you on your toes. Keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers, hun.

Well, maybe with all this playing he will be hungry later. Energy is good, and I am hoping it is a sign he feels better. I don't know how that chemo works, but if he is feeling good after getting it, focus on that! Prayers continue.

All chemo works differently - this particular one works by cutting off his supply of asparagine, which is an amino acid essential for cell growth. His normal body functions can happen with the amount of asparagine that his body produces itself, but then he gets more from the food he eats, and this is whats feeding the cancer. The Elspar is an enzyme that will convert the extra asparagine into aspartic acid & ammonia. The ammonia byproduct is what makes the chemo toxic.

By cutting off the "food" that the tumor needs to grow, the tumor cells should start to die. The catch is, is has to be lymphoblastic leukemia, and there is no way to tell the type without a biopsy. We can't do a biopsy because cutting into the tumor could aggravate it.

I believe milk thistle is in Priscilla's vitamins, but since I'm not sure hes eating, I am going to talk to Dr. Kate about starting Fawkes on milk thistle today to help with the possible effects on his liver.

I've been lurking, too, but letting you know I'm sending thoughts and prayers your way and for Fawkes, too.

Fawkes had his first dose of prednisone tonight. He gets a high dose twice a day for 5 days, then a maintenance dose twice a day indefinitely. She said we may need to adjust it here and there depending on how he and the cancer react to it. It is raspberry flavor & he really doesn't like it.

I also got the concoction that the pharmacicst came up with - it tastes kind of like molasses when it's all mixed up with the herbals - not yummy, but WAY better than before. Big down side - the smallest amount he could hide the taste in is 2ccs! Thats quite a bit...

I will try it, but I'm going to wait until Fawkes has gotten through his first five days of the high dose of pred, then we'll see how he's feeling & how his weight is. Since he's not eating right now, I know he won't take it willingly, no matter how good it tastes - And I'm not going to stress him further right now.

I'm about to make a little buffet & see if I can get him to at least nibble at something...

HE ATE!!!!!!!!

I made him a buffet of about 10 different things, and what did he eat????? 3 peas, about half of 3 kernels of corn, and shhhhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell, a bite of pastrami.

Now I know this isn't good glider nutrition, but I'm going to take what I can get right now. Hopefully this sparked his appetite & he'll eat a bit of his normal diet throughout tonight *crossing fingers*

When I gave him his prednisone, I stopped halfway through because he was wheezy, like he had to catch his breath. He seemed fine, so I gave him the rest of the dose. But twice tonight I've heard him doing something that sort of sounds like a cough. I'm wondering if I made him aspirate the pred. It is really thin and I wasn't expecting it to be. I kinda thought it would be like syrup, but it was watery.

Fawkes ate!!! Yay Gina!!! I'm so happy he is eating for you, let's hope he keeps it up! (with all that yummy food on the buffet, he will!!)

How is he feeling? Still playing good?

If he keeps sounding like he is coughing, you can have his doc check his lungs. I bet he's just fine though!

I'm so glad he ate something for you, I hope he keeps it up (and you know what, if he eats it, I say give it to him!)

Proper glider nutrition when dealing with a health issue really isn't crucial. I'm just glad he ate for you That's great news. Hopefully the coughing will have cleared any little bit of the prednisone he may have aspirated. If he's still coughing this morning though, I'm sure you'll get him into your vet right away.

Gina, eating ANYTHING is good! Timmy survived most of his ordeal on just mealies chopped into pieces! I could not get him to touch anything else. Praying very hard for this little guy. You both are fighters and giving it all you have. God bless you both! (And saying extra prayers for having a big appetite tonight!!)

Hang in there, you and Fawkes are in our thoughts here. I'm really glad to hear he's feeling better

He ate again yesterday - more peas and corn, still no bugs, but plenty of peas & corn. He wasn't picking at it either, he was grabbing one right after the other!

This morning he ate a little bit off bananas supreme baby food - still no bugs.

The couging is limited to when he actually gets the prednisone now. I tried giving it in really small amounts to be sure I wasn't making him aspirate it, but he still coughs every time I put it in his mouth & for a few minutes after I'm done. So, I tasted it. It's kinda like one of those cough syrups that is a little tingly, so I think he just doesn't like that feeling on his throat & the coughing is his reaction to it. I will still ask Dr. Kate about it on Monday.

I weiged him about an hour ago & he was at 150g - that's down 6g from Thursday. Hopefully he will start gaining now that he's eating.

I'm going to try to get pictures of the wound under the tumor so you guys can see what it looks like. I never saw it open - when I noticed it, it looked like a scab, but its weird, not like a typical scab. Its totally smooth and black. Anyhow, I'll work on pics today...

That's wonderful news. Predisone has a tendency to increase appetite, so this is a great help. He's probably tired of 'bugs' by now, and is so happy to see some of his old favorites.
Many prayers and blessings.....



I am anxious to see the picture. I'm thinking that this could very well the tumor starting to necrose. If so, this is fantastic news!!!

Wonderful news G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wonderful news! Go Fawkes!!!

I'm so glad he's eating for you, that is great news!

Great news gina I have been one of your lurkers. I am so glad he is eating now. If it makes you feel any more relaxed when I would give Ariel her one medicine she would caugh also she just didnt like it and would try and caugh it out. I hope this is what fawkes is doing. It is probably his way of saying mom I can't take this medcine anymore see it makes me caugh just like a little kid would.

Has the tumor decreased in size at all?

Gina, there is a baby food called Country Breakfast, I think made by Beechnut. Dr. Williams approved it for Peanut when she wouldn't eat. It has lots of protein, NO garlic or onions or anything bad in it. She gained weight eating it and LOVED it.

Gina - does he like snuggeling in a pouch?? if so - then being the kook I am I'd pouch him and carry him every where I went to make sure he was okay and mommy was with him - Just my thought

I will pray for him and hopefully these treatments will work and he'll be back to his old self shortly

Sue
Mommy to Junior
and other 2 and 4
legged babies

Wonderful news that Fawkes is eating. My prayers are with you both. You are a FANTASTIC glider mum and all of us here are with you and Fawkes all the way.

Big, big (((((HUGS!!!)))))

Ok, sorry it took so long, but my camera was dead, blah blah blah... This is a clickable thumbnail, so you can make it much larger.

Fawkes is still eating. Our new routine is - I put him in his carrier with a bowl of veggies, he picks out all the peas & corn, then he comes out & tells me he's done. Then he gets his meds - this part sux! He coughs the whole time, no matter how little I give him. I get to lower his dose Wednesday evening, so I look forward to that. Then I put him back in his rept with another bowl of veggies & he takes turns running in his wheel & munching on peas & corn. Still no bugs...

Linda - that was my thought to, that the tumor was necrosing from the outside - I just didn't know it could do that, I thought if & when it died, it would do it inside his body.

Even though this looks like it was a big wound, there was NEVER a wound. It started as what looked like a very small scab, and has steadily grown to what you see in the pic (which was taken about 30 mins ago). It is crusty and hard, but not like a scab - like, I don't think I could pick it off - not sure if that makes sense. Also, I don't know how many of you have ever had one of your sugs find a scab on your arm or something, but they ALWAYS try to take it off for you - none of Fawkes family has touched this or messed with it at all!



I will have to get the Country Breakfast - I have built up quite a stockpile of different foods for him (since his tastes were changing daily).

The tumor looks smaller to me, but nt drastically smaller like I would have expected if the treatment were working. I am not giving up yet, he still has a couple more days on the high dose of pred, and maybe he just takes a bit longer. Dr. Tristan did say that it may take 2 treatments to work. Still, I believe there has been some difference, not just in the size of the tumor, but definitly in his appetite and energy level, so I think it was worth it.

Thanks again for tuning in & all the advice (((HUGS)))

Gina, glad to hear Fawkes is doing well. At least he is eating now. Have you tried to sprinkle his veggies with HP Wombaroo powder by chance?

So I am taking this to mean there has been no ill side effects from this treatment right? That has to be a good sign.

If you were to do another treatment, when did you say you would have to do it?

You should also try to measure the width of that from the outside to keep an eye on it and check it to make sure it is shrinking.

sounds positive so far though.