Chemo is no fun for anyone

Last I posted, Arlie was gearing up to meet with his oncologist, Dr. McNeill. Due to the fact I'll be talking about Dr. McNeill so much on here, from this moment on I shall call him "M". You know, like the James Bond "M"....the same that is the head of the Secret Intelligent Services. The very one that determines the cases that James Bond takes. Therefore, I shall be James Bond. Or better yet, Greg can be Bond and I can be a bond girl (hey! hey!!)

At any rate, "M" decided to start Arlie off on a low dose of chemo due to the fact we were going out of town for the holidays. I think he also knows that I am VERY skittish about this treatment and am worried we are torturing my dog for the last year of his life in order to keep him with us as long as possible. "M" is very caring and understanding and does a great job of calming me down (as shown in the multiple email responses that I have sent him in a panic).

Unfortunately, Arlie is very drug sensitive so this little amount of chemo partnered with the anti biotic he has to be on did a number on his little tummy. He has shown no interest in his food or even his favorite treats (insert stressed mommy here). We decided to go with our stand by of chicken and rice and luckily he ate that.

Today when we brought Arlie in for his weekly bloodwork, the scale showed he lost 5 lbs (or 10% of his body weight!!!!). That is significant for a dog this size in only one week. Again, insert calming "M" here to tell me that they will switch the anti nausea meds and take him off the antibiotic right now until his appetite returns. We are also giving Arlie an appetite stimulant.

We gave Arlie the meds this morning and he has eaten his food and then gobbled up his dinner! Better yet, he brought us a squeaky toy!! Here's hoping he keeps his appetite up after we wean him off the meds.

In the meantime, here's a dose of Arlie cuteness for you. This was taken the day after chemo (the bad symptoms didn't start until roughly 3 days post chemo). But check him out only 4 weeks post amputation!!!

These two are gearing up to tour:

Lastly, here's another reason why our "first born" is amazing. He loves his little brother so much and is putting on such a brave face for his "brother" and "sister". In return, they are giving him so much love and attention to show Arlie how much he means to them.

Oh...it's been BROUGHT

I know it's been sometime since I have posted an update on the schnoo. I'm reporting good news though!!!

We took Arlie off of all meds last Tuesday. I had no idea how much the pain meds were dulling Arlie's personality. As soon as he went off them, he started bounding back the the Arlie we know.

And here is Arlie reunited with his favorite furry friend, Cooper.

And finally....time for a song...

Look whose smiling again!!!

Arlie and Greg will meet with his new oncologist, Dr. McNeill on Friday morning. It will be an intro as to what to expect and if it's agreed upon, chemo will start right after. It has been almost a month since I want my little fur face there to help me drop my Jackson off for his first day of Kindergarten and to be there when he gets off the bus.

Until Friday...

Love and Paws,
Andrea and Arlie

Results are in....

Got a call from Dr. Taylor yesterday. The results of Arlie's "staging" of his arm are in. The lab confirmed that Arlie does infact have osteosarcoma. Any hope of any other cancer is now gone. The good? news is that they found the lymph nodes were clear of cancer thus far.

So off to our oncologist, Dr. McNeill, next Fri to start the first chemo treatment. My poor little baby boy. It's as if he knows and keeps looking at us for help.

No leg....no stairs...no problem

Well, we learned that Arlie can not only go up the stairs, but down as well. Sat morning Greg walked out of the shower to see a schnoodle laying on our bed. You might think...."awww....how cute he walked up the stairs!"  What I haven't mentioned is that we had blocked the stairs with 2 very large chairs, put a chair on the stairs landing, AND had blockages on the top of the stairs. I have no idea how the schnoodle maneuvered around those obstacles. But, he was stealthy and did it. Props to him.

After a chuckle and an "our dog is the most brilliant dog in the whole world" congratulatory hug, we then pondered how will he get down the stairs. Guess we have to carry him. Then, the doorbell rang. Before we could pounce on him to not do his typical barking and running down the stairs the schnoo JUMPED off the  bed, RAN down the hallway, and went DOWN the stairs all the while with Greg and me running after him screaming for him to stop. He got to the bottom and looked at us as if to say, "Bring it stairs" and he ventured to the family room to rest.

I'm afraid to tell the docs at his follow up this Thursday that our Arlie is NOT a direction follower.

Ladies and Gentlemen....we have lift off!!!!

He peed outside!!!!! I know to most people this isn't exactly newsworthy info, but for Arlie it is. It took almost 5 days but he finally figured it out. He can't lift his leg anymore. He's now a squatting dog and although he isn't thrilled about it, he is doing it.

Another great bit of news...we finished our antibiotic!! He's only on one pill a day and after taking almost 11 a day, this is big.

Why yes...that IS a tennis ball in his mouth

Putting his best foot forward

Both of my boys. One is explaining why he loves the other so much

3 steps forward....

I did it!!!!!!! By jove....I've done it. I have outsmarted the schnoodle!!!! How you ask??? Dr. B had told me that maybe making a "meatball" out of bread and giving it to Arlie might disguise the pill. I tried that. He laughed (the way a dog can) and walked away. Then I thought...meatball....disguise....I raided my fridge and pulled out...

That's right. I went all American baby. I stuffed the pills in a cheese meatball, hyped it up to the point that Arlie was licking his lips and went in for the kill. Arlie put it in his mouth and spit it out. Then he decided to give it a go by showing me that I can't fool him and ate the top layer, convinced the pills would pop out. But NOOOOO....I went in DEEP for this meatball. He looked at me, picked it up again and licked it and spit it out. Looked at me....then GOBBLE .....ONE BITE!!! Went down the hatch.

If the above show could have been done in our family room, we would have been front row. Greg and I were literally jumping up and down...high fiving eachother....calling people...telling them WE DID IT!!!!!!!

The next day I started thinking....uh oh...can a dog eat this much cheese? Quick email to Dr. Taylor and he said we were in the clear. One problem, we ran out of American cheese. I ran to the store and got more Kraft slices, not reading the label. That night, I put his pills in our cheese meatball and gave it to him. Then, something horrible happened. He sniffed the meatball and turned his head and when I ran to the package I noticed I bought swiss cheese!!! What was I thinking???? Clearly this dog goes all American!!!! Luckily I had bought reinforcements. I got some meatballs, extra yummy for Arlie and stuffed the pills in there. He ate the meatball and then spit out the pills. I was so frustrated I took my pill gun and put them down his throat. Problem solved.

Great news is that today Dr. Taylor told us we could wean him off 2 of the pills leaving just his antibiotic (which he will be done with in one more day) and another pain pill that can now go every 12-24 hours with pain. Wooohooo!!!!! Insert celebration fireworks when he told me that.

Now, we have another issue. Arlie has forgotten how to go to the bathroom outside. He was a leg lifter and by habit he still lifts that side and falls. He's tired of falling. So he's given up and has had 2 accidents in the house. Today was beautiful so I was outside with him the whole day. Walked him every hour. No luck. This has been going on since we brought him home but we were so concerned about the pills and were so convinced he would finally get it, that I didn't blog about it.

So now, I'm onto the next outsmarting method. Two steps forward.....

Arlie has become quite a little celebrity. We are getting such nice notes from schnoodle owners and those that are also going through this horrible cancer with their pooches. He's even gotten some get well cards and gifties!

Cousin Jessie

BFF Cooper

Wonderful cards from his cousins. Notice that the dog in the pic also has 3 legs and a poofy tail. Love it.

Yummy treats and a squeaky toy

From his girl Lily

 

He also got a great card from his Mima and Pop Pop. Unfortunately my kids got to it as well and it's one of those cards that sing so they cardnapped it. Arlie heard it though and loved it. Thanks Mima and Pop Pop!!

Arlie is walking so much better too!

More videos to come! Thanks for stopping by Arlie's blog!

Love and paws,
Andrea and Arlie

Curse you pill gun!!! Cuuuurse youuuuuu!

Arlie before pill dispense:

 

 

Arlie during pill dispense:

Any ideas???? Anyone?????

On another note, this afternoon I stepped away for about 5 seconds and came back to find that Arlie had jumped on the couch to take a snooze. I'm pretty sure the docs would frown on this and we might need to "Arlie proof" the house. I was just in the next room!!!! Two days past amputation!

I told Dr. B today when he called that when we got Arlie we thought it was great to have such a smart dog! I mean...a mix of a Giant Schnauzer and a Poodle. This dog will be brilliant! That's wonderful right? Yah, I'm thinking that maybe we might be getting outsmarted by a dog. Greg is very smart...he has his Masters in Law and I went to grad school for teaching....yet, we continue to be outsmarted by a schnoodle. (shaking my head)

Day 2 and running races

Last night we had sort of a rough night with our Arlie. He has to take 3 different pain meds and one antibiotic. Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones in which your dog doesn't mind taking pills. Not our Arlie bear. He clamps his jaws shut and looks at us as if to say, "Are you sure you want to do that?" Then after a battle I feel so victorious because I thought that he swallowed the pills. I am then crushed to see that the little stinker had managed to hide the pills in his huge cheeks and then when it started to disintegrate he spit it out.

Enter...the pill gun. I'm going hard core now.

 

His next round of meds are at 2:30. It's me and the pill gun vs. the schnoo.

Now, here comes the best part. You remember how he was walking in yesterday's post? Here's day 2!

From that point on....."I was runnin!!!!"