Category Archives: Nice people

Two weeks already

Momma says, Nice people

It is hard to believe it has been two weeks.  We miss you SO MUCH.  If I close my eyes, I can still imagine you here beside me, rubbing your ears and the way your fur felt.  The way it made me feel when I would look deep into your beautiful warm brown eyes.

You were the heart of the house.  We brought you home when we had only lived here for 2 weeks.  I have only a few memories in this house without you.  You are in every corner of this house.

Your bed is still where it was with your pillows in the dining room, but it has been empty for two weeks.  Until today, when I found Lola sleeping on it for the first time ever.  There is a big empty spot in our bed, too.  We all have our most difficult times of the day and for me it is supper time.  I only have to grab one food bowl for your sister and there is not all this stuff that has to go in her food for supplements and meds.  Your bowl stand is still there, too.  We still fill your water bowl.  Lola always drank from your water bowl more than her own anyway.  The first night I stood over your bowls sobbing like a baby.  We all still cry at least once a day.

We’ve been looking at old photos and videos of you.  It seems so weird to see you with 4 legs, especially moving and walking on all 4.  I miss that 3-legged hopping noise in the house.  I miss you whining when you wanted to come up stairs and the baby gates were up or when you needed help up the stairs.  There are endless memories that make us laugh.  The things you did, the times we had, the good and the bad.  (The time you walked around the couch 32 times with a sock in your mouth trying to get us to chase you.)  Almost all good memories.  The only real bad was when we had to make that tough decision to amputate and then at the end, just two weeks ago.  We have no regrets for everything we did.  We really did have a wonderful 26 months.  Every extra day we had you was so worth it all.  You had such a great quality of life for almost all of those 26 months.  The surgery was tough and the last month of your life was tough, but it was all so worth it in between.  Some might say we did too much, and some might say we didn’t do enough.  People always vary wildly on their opinions when it comes to dogs.  But we did what we could, when we could, because we could and because we felt it was right for you and for our family.

We will remember your last night in the back yard for a long time to come.  Even in that time after the first seizure and before the second, you still had such a want for fun.  You ran around the back yard after a ball and I was so sure we had more time left than we did.

Some pictures from our last evening:

A very quintessential Butchey Hudson face.
A very quintessential Butchey Hudson face.
Baaaaalllllll
Baaaaalllllll

IMG_2301

IMG_2329

Dada, Lola pooped over there! Don't let her crawl into it
Dada, Lola pooped over there! Don’t let her crawl into it
Oh no…here she comes!

I have met so many wonderful people through my dogs.  I owe a debt of gratitude to many people who I have met over the years that have mentored and enriched our lives.  The list is long and many.  I am hopeful you all know who you are, as I wouldn’t want to post everyone’s name here on the internet.  But thank you all from the bottom of my heart.  We also are very thankful for all the excellent veterinary care he has received through his cancer treatment.  I’ve never met such a wonderful caring bunch of people.  We could not have gotten through all of this without you and your support.  And, of course to Tripawds, to an amazing support community, a place to blog, a place to vent, and a wealth of information and friendship, thank you all so much.

For 26+ months, I tried to “Be More Dog” and live in the moment and not fear tomorrow and not live in the guilt of yesterday.  But I failed miserably.  I am only human.  But I will still try tomorrow and every day after that.  For Butchey Hudson, I will keep trying.

Always in our hearts
Always in our hearts

Coming off panic mode….for a few days at least

Chemo, Hemangiosarcoma, Metronomics, Momma says, Nice people

Butchey Hudson’s Momma here.  Just a quick update, as we are fresh back from our visit from our oncologist to consult on the Hemangiosarcoma tumor removed from Butchey’s neck last week.

First the good news:  No metastasis to spleen or heart.  They did new ultrasounds and x-rays and no masses were found in those areas.  For this we can feel like we can come off of panic mode, at least for a little while.

There are a few routes we can take for treatment.  We could do chemo treatments using ifosfamide or dacarbazine.  Or we could use Palladia, Palladia/Deramaxx/Cytoxan as maintenance, or go back to metronomic protocol but replace Deramaxx instead of Piroxicam.  Let me footnote this with I am pretty sure I have all the drugs correct, but the brain is swirling and we agreed not to make a decision right at this point in time.  She is going to consult with her other veterinary oncologists and we are going to discuss again maybe this Friday. 

We have some concerns with going the chemo route again, after doing the Adriamycin last fall.  We also have some concerns with GI upset after having some vomitting issues under the metronomic protocol over the past couple of months.

So our heads are spinning on a decision of what is the best route to take.  A difficult aspect of this is that this isn’t a textbook case of Hemangiosarcoma (HSA).  While we are extremely happy that the HSA hasn’t acted like it normally would and have gone to his organs (and have a much poorer prognosis) there really isn’t much to compare it to.  I believe she told us 5% at best of HSA show up subcutaneously.  But to have two spots is quite unusual.  Her concern is that this is metastatic, of course.  The thought that this was a separate HSA tumor is just too coincidental.  I almost feel like we might be playing whack-a-mole with HSA.  Where will it pop up next?  But these are my own layman’s terms.

In other news, he is doing very well recovering from last Wednesday’s surgery.  He is off the Tramadol now and seems to be in no discomfort, other than itching at the incision site.  We had a bad bout of Montezuma’s revenge over last weekend following the surgery, but that seems to have been resolved.  We are trying to contain his energy and keep him from whipping his toys around and playing too rough with Lola.  However, we think that he might end up being a little sore tonight though, from wrestling with the vet techs for his ultrasound.  But so far, so good.  He is a happy boy, feeling well and still doesn’t know he has cancer (of course).  He thinks life is grand and he’s most concerned with where and when his next piece of cheese is coming from or which squishy ball to choose to lounge on the couch with.

So that is it for now.  We are going to take a long nap now and try to have a relaxing 4th of July holiday.  Well as much as we can with the Butchmeister hating fireworks and thunderstorms.  =0/

Hope everyone is enjoying a well deserved day off!  Thank you all for your good thoughts, emails and kind words.  Time is precious; enjoy EVERY day!!

 

I need a new barber!!

Hemangiosarcoma, Nice people

Hey everyone – Butchey Hudson here.  So last Wednesday, Momma and Dada took me up to see some people I know.  Now, all these people are very nice, but I’ve never gotten groomed there before.  Well I hope I don’t get another grooming there, because look what happened!  They took too much off the back! 

I need a new barber

 I feel a breeze on the back of my neck and something is very itchy now. 

Anyway….Dada says I had another tumor that had to come out.  The report came back and it is a confirmed hemangiosarcoma tumor.  So it would appear my cancer has now traveled.  Momma and Dada are very sad.  I see them crying even though they try to hide it from me. 

Lola just thinks I look funny, and she keeps trying to smell me on my bad haircut spot.  But for the most part she is being very nice to me.  But she’s suspect…something must be up.

Nana has been here a lot, and Mimi was here the other day, too.  Momma has been smelling funny for quite a while now and she has….well….she’s put on a lot of weight, especially in her belly.  Lola has been a bit clingy with her, too.  But Nana and Mimi have been here helping Momma and Dada out.  Nana ALWAYS makes sure I have my food cooked for me.  I am happy she is here to look out for me.  She gives great massages, too.  Here is a nice picture of her and I.  She was laughing about her shirt, but I can’t read, so I don’t know what it says.

So maybe it is a coincidence, but right after the haircut, the pink elephants came back for a visit.  But they are not as numerous as my big surgery a year ago.  Momma says it is Tramadol.  I am doing quite well now though.  But Momma makes me wear a sock on my back leg so I don’t mess up the spot where I they gave me the bad haircut.

Momma says that this Tuesday we go to see my oncologist to see what she says. 

Oh my….I need to go, there are a lot of fireworks going off now and I need to try to sit in Momma’s lap.  It is hard now with that big belly of hers….

We will write more later….I have the shakes and can’t type very well.

 

 

 

Hoppy New Year

CDSP, Little sisters, Nice people, Physical Therapy, Rally-O

Hoppy New Year everyone!  We are hoping 2012 is a great year for all of us Tripawds.  Like the Tripawds saying goes, it is better to hop on 3 legs, than limp on 4!

I had a fun filled December.  I did some more CDSP obedience and Momma even entered me for an APDT Rally trial.  I did my first ever triple Q since becoming a Tripawd.  There is that number 3 again, maybe it is my lucky number now.

For Christmas I got my stocking filled with lots of good stuff.  Here is me wondering why my stocking has not been stuffed yet.  You’ll notice the MonkeyButt Lola waiting on the sidelines to bite me in one of my remaining three legs to thieve my stocking stuffers.

We got magic mushrooms (no, not that kind) from Santa Paws.  Here is me trying to figure out how to get the cheese out.

Now I like to lay down with these puzzles and try to work it out.  Lola just took hers and rolled it around the entire house, crashing and smashing it into everything.  Walls, chairs, whatever.  She sure can make a raucous.

Momma & Dada also took us to get our picture taken with Santa Paws.  But this isn’t the REAL Santa Paws.  This is Dr. Tucker (who incidentally did my amputation surgery) dressed up as Santa Paws.  He didn’t give me back my leg for a Christmas present though.  Ha ha ha!  He took very good care of me, and it was nice to see him again without any surgical tools.

And here another picture, so you can see how Momma humiliates us.  Oh the shame…

 

What else?  I went and did some PT work and hydrotherapy swimming.  I played with a ball in the pool and had a really fun time.  Here is me trying to get Momma to come and play in the pool, too.  But she must have not have had a floaty, because she didn’t come in with me.

That is all for now.  Our new years pawsolution is to post a bit more.  =0)

Catching up…Sleepovers and Scans again

Hemangiosarcoma, Little sisters, Metronomics, Nice people

Well, we’ve had a lot going on here at the Hudson household.  First we got a snow storm in late October!!!  Yipee, I love snow!!!  But because all the trees fell down, we lost power for several days.  But it was OK, because we packed up and went to my Nana’s.  Ugh…Monkeybutt Lola came with us.

So Nana is Momma’s Momma, and she is lots of fun.  She hides cheese around the house for us, but we have to wait to find it until she tells us to.  We had a sleepover at Nana’s for about 4 days.  Now Dada’s Momma is Mimi, and we went to see her too when we didn’t have power.  My “cousins” Kayla and Tori were there at Mimi’s, too.  They lost power as well.  We played and I gave them lots of kisses.  They are a lot of fun.

So now we are back at home and all is good.  We did have to throw out a lot of food from the fridge.  I could have cried.  What a waste.  But it is all restocked now.  My food, my cheese sticks, and of course….My Eggs.

So this past Tuesday I had my belly shaved (I hate that) and ultrasounds and a chest xray.  They didn’t find anything, so Momma & Dada were very relieved.  Momma says she’ll trade a shaved belly for clean scans any day.  Now I am on a metronomic protocol.  I get Cyclophosphamide 1x day, Piroxicam 1x day, and Doxycycline 2x day.  But it is all in my food, so I don’t notice it.

I have a busy weekend coming up.  Momma has entered us in another CDSP Obedience trial on Saturday.  I’m not sure why, but Lola is coming with us.

That is it for now.  Hope all you Tripawds and Monkeybutts are having a nice autumn.  The weather here is warm again.  But it is rainy here tonight.

 Oh, Momma’s camera was broken and in the shop…so no new pics.

Living Large

Eggs, Little sisters, Nice people

So last Friday night we stayed at a hotel in the big city Boston.  Me & Lola got to have steak from a really nice restaurant called Grill 23.  Here’s a special woof-out to Jason, Yannick & Justin for taking care of our very special treat.  Thanks very much!  These guys are nice people!  I give them 3 paws up!  I’d give them 4…but…I only got 3 to give.

Here we are demonstrating our very nice “Leave It” manners.  I actually did sneek a piece in when I thought Momma wasn’t looking, but she caught me.

Momma forgot the good camera, so Dada took this pic his cell phone camera and Lola looks like she has CRAZY EYE.  But then again, she IS crazy.

When we were headed out for a potty run in the big city, I met this nice fella in the lobby of the hotel.  He wanted to greet me.  Well, generally during a greeting I like to have my butt scratched.  I tell people this by trying to walk through their legs and leaving my butt out there to be scratched.  Seems pretty clear, right?  Anyway, he seemed a little shocked when he realized I was missing a leg in back.  Oh well.  I guess somebody should have warned him.  But please people, don’t be afraid to scratch the bum of a Tripawd!  Don’t be afraid of the bum!

We took our very first elevator ride and Lola got nervous and had to lay down.  Not me, I did fine on 3 legs, too.

So they have this thing called “room service”.  If I had known about room service, I would have been calling them everyday!  Because, look what we got!

I love eggs…..I wonder if we have “room service” at home….?

Then, the next morning when we were leaving this other nice fella (a different nice fella) comes and knocks on our door.  He takes all our bags that Momma & Dada packed up and then we go to leave.  He asks about my spare leg and Dada tells him the story.  He says I look great and happy and then he goes back inside and gets these two stuffed elephant toys and gives them to me & Lola.  What a nice fella!  But Lola’s got 4 legs, so I’m not sure why she needed an elephant, too.

4 Month Ampuversary & My 7th Birthday!

Eggs, Nice people, Physical Therapy

Must mean I’m getting eggs!  Although I do miss pumpkin treats, Momma says flour can’t be a part of my diet for now.

So today is my 4 month ampuversary and tomorrow I turn 7 years old.  Momma & Dada can’t believe I’m going to be 7.  But time flies when you’re chasing balls.

I am doing pretty good after my 5th chemo treatment.  My doc just called with my day 10 CBC results and I am going to have to get rechecked again in 3 to 4 days to make sure my white blood cell count and my neutrophils go back up.  I might need to stay on Baytril a few extra days because I am at risk of infection.  She is very nice and she called late on a Friday to tell us.  Momma says my doctors are nicer and call more to check on me than her doctors do for her.  Ha ha ha!

Momma got me a peanut from FitPaws and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that.  My sister Lola tries to out perform me, but she forgets that she has 4 legs.  Showoff!  I still work with my balance disk, but we needed to do a bit more.  I’ve also put on 2 pounds, so Momma & Dada are relieved that I am gaining back some weight.

Me on my FitPaws Balance Disk

We’ve been looking at booties for me for the winter.  We were looking at PAWZ (pawsdogboots.com) and at ruffwear.com at the Grip Trex or Polar Trex.  If anyone has any feedback, let us know.  Momma is particularly worried about me on ice this winter.  We live in Massachusetts and I LOVE the snow.

We also had some sad news.  One of my fellow Rally-O doggie friends, Amy, is sick with cancer.  They are not sure if it is melanoma or lymphoma yet.  I think they find out on Monday at her vet appointment.  My Momma and her Momma always hang out together at Rally trials.  Please keep Big Sweet Amy and her Momma in your thoughts.

 

Today was FUN and other catch-ups

Amputation, CDSP, Chemo, Eggs, Nice people

My Momma says that her Dada had a saying when he had cancer.  The saying was “When you get up every morning and both feet hit the floor it is going to be a good day”.  Well I guess I can say the same thing when all THREE of my feet hit the floor!  You also know it is going to be a good fun day when your training bag is packed and Momma is cutting up a steak and cheese into little pieces at the kitchen counter and putting them into the doggie cooler.  You say Potato….I say Cheese.

Today WAS a good day.  Me & Momma did our first obedience trial as a Tripawd.  There is this venue called Companion Dog Sports Program (CDSP for short).  They allow for exercise modifications for dogs like us so we can still strut our stuff in the ring.  I could get an exercise modification for my slow pace, because that is harder for me to slow down now.  For the recall over the jump exercise the bar could be on the ground.  You know I can’t do everything as perfect as I could before, and some exercises are harder for me now.  But we don’t get fussed over crooked sits and perfect performances, we just like to have fun working as a team!  Momma says we weren’t going to care if we Q’d or not, just as long as we had a good time.  And I had a good time!  The Judges and other teams were super friendly and everyone didn’t smell all stressed out like they have at other obedience stuff I’ve been to when I had four legs. 

Let’s see…what else?  I had my fourth chemo treatment this past Friday.  Momma and Dada are not sure yet whether I will continue on for a fifth or sixth treatment.  They are a little weary of the cumulative effects of the chemo drug.  I get Adriamycin every 3 weeks.  My scans that were done just before my third treatment didn’t find any masses.  So that was good news, but it doesn’t mean that the hemangiosarcoma isn’t anywhere else in my body.  We go back again in 3 weeks and I get an ultrasound of my heart to make sure that is okay and then we will talk to the nice doctor who has great knees about how to proceed with treatment.

I’ve been having some problems with skin irritations and allergies, but we don’t know if that is chemo related or not.  I was on Benadryl, but now we are trying Hydroxyzine.  Dada had to get the Hydroxyzine prescription at the drugstore pharmacy.  It came with a warning to not operate heavy machinery or drive a car.  How can I drive a car with only 3 legs???  I won’t get into the details of my diarrhea on Friday either.  It is not a proud moment in a dog’s life when our person has to clean our bum…in public.

All in all, life has been good.  I enjoy playing ball in the backyard just like I used to.  Stairs have gotten easier for me now.  I’m a little afraid of walking too far from my own house, but we are working on that.  I always get excited when we turn around to walk back home.  Momma says pretty much that the only things I can’t do now that I could do before are scratch the right side of my face and mount my sister.  Somethings you do need 2 back legs for…

Momma says this Wednesday, September 14th will be my 3 month Ampuversary.  I’ll take her word on it, because I can’t read a calendar.  That should be a good day, too.  I bet I’ll get eggs for breakfast!

Busy busy fella

Chemo, Eggs, Hemangiosarcoma, Nice people, Physical Therapy

So I had a busy couple of days! 

Friday I had my second chemo appointment with the nice doctor whose knees I like to lick.  You can tell a lot about people by the way their feet smell.  This lady is busy busy busy and very nice.  So far, I have been feeling great after my treatment.  AND Momma is making me fried eggs again.  I am scheduled to back to NEVOG again in 3 weeks, and this time they will do an ultrasound and x-ray again.  Momma says she will be nervous.  I don’t like they way she smells when she’s nervous.  She also said I am going to have to get my belly shaved again for the ultrasounds.  Oh well….it is nice being cooler with no fur on my belly in the summer.

Then later that afternoon I went to see my holistic vet.  She is very nice and her feet have been very busy, too.  I had a good appointment, but the only thing was…..my little sister tagged along.  I like Lola, I do, but sometimes she gets in the middle of me trying to get my sweet on with somebody.  Always butting in…..I suppose she means well.  Anyway, the people there are very nice and I like to pee in the park next door.

On Saturday I went for my first Physical Therapy appointment (no Lola tag along, yeah!).  That was a lot of fun.  I met new people and they were very nice.  Their feet smelled busy as well, lots of dogs.  We did a lot of fun stuff!  Serpentines with cones (just like rally!) and jumps and ladders, oh my!  After I did all these activities, the nice lady gave me a rub down.  That felt really good.  Momma & Dada got me a balance disk that will help strengthen my back leg.  I get lots of treats when I get both front paws on it at the same time.  And guess what…this place has a pool!  Just for doggies!  But I can’t go in yet.  Momma says my sore needs to heal up completely before I can get in the pool.  My sore keeps getting smaller and smaller, but chemo slows the healing process down, so I still have to wait a little while.

So I’ve been a good boy, taking all my medications that Momma & Dada give me.  I’ve been eating all my suppers with all of my supplements.  They keep taking my temperature, which is not so much fun.  But Momma says it has to be done so they can tell if I am getting sick again.  I hope not, but at least I got eggs last time when I was at the ER Vet. 

It also seem that Nana comes and stays with me after I get chemo, too.  She likes to make sure I am doing okay and that I am feeling well.  She is good company and a very good ear massager, too.  My Mimi was here the other night, too.  She brought new toys for me and Lola, and there were hidden treats in them!!!  Mimi likes it when I lick her shins.  I like both my grandmommas a whole lot.

My cousin Kayla send me a nice note after I had my surgery.  She is only a few months older than I am, but she writes a lot better than I do.  Of course, she does have thumbs, and I don’t…..

 
Kayla's note to me =-)

 Kayla and her sister Tori are a lot of fun.  I like it when they come to visit me.  They like to feed me treats.

 Momma says we know lots of nice nice people.  I know I like the vet techs a whole lot.  They like to give me treats.  And some I know from the doggie gym, too.  The vets are very nice and even call to check on me.  One of them used to have the nickname Butch when he was younger, too!  Momma says that my doctors keep in better touch with me than her doctors do with her.  I think she needs new doctors!  I hope she at least gets treats when she goes to see them. 

The other doggie Mommas are nice too.  They sent this nice package with lots of toys and treats.  It even had Chuck-it balls!  My sister and I were playing with the armadillo today.  I remembered Momma cried the day it came.  I got very excited and wanted to sniff through the box.  I guess I hadn’t gotten up on my own in a couple of days until this package came.  That day I was catching balls in mid air again.  Momma cried.  She cries even when she is happy.  She says we are very lucky to know such nice nice people.

Momma says she hopes to type my blog for me more often now that I am doing better.  Maybe we can put up some pics of me on my new balance disk.