tovarisch

My five year old 120 pound rescue doberman (he and five litter mates were found in a dumpster at a convenience store when they were five days old) was diagnosed with lymphoma two weeks ago.

There are no trials in our area; his lymphoma is in his neck and leg nodes; I declined additional testing for internal involvement; I am unable to afford either chop or cop style chemo and instead am doing an in home regimen of pred + leukeran. I also swtiched diets - just spent $175 at Winn Dixie - they have been collecting the mark downs for me and the butcher guy grinds everything for me.

My pharmacist has given me the best discount he can on the leukeran but it is still going to be over $270 a month. I ordered two bottles of K-9 immunity, but at 11 pills a day (due to his size) it is looking like it is cost prohibitive.

I have him on fish oil - at a rate of 1,000 mg per ten pounds
garlic
grain free kibble - taste of the wild - 1/3 to 2/3 meat blend
colostrum
amino acid brew (arginine, glutamine, etc.)
Omperazole daily
echinacea
probiotic

I am getting ready to add
aloe and spirulina plus bee pollen

Cost wise I am going to have to make some adjustments - the options I am considering include:

He is on his chemo/pred regimen every other day - change that to every third day; giving his body a longer break, plus saving some $

Cutting out the K-9 - I have tried to get an ingredient listing to see what is included, especially in light of my other supplements, but thus far have NOT been able to find one -

Reducing the K-9 - every other day at full strrength, every other day at half strength, etc.

Buster is asymptomatic and LOVES meal time - he has had some weight loss which I think we have stopped;

I do plan on taking him to the vet every few weeks for CBC's but do not see the benefit of additional testing, nor does his vet and various of my animal and other vet friends.

My final beef - what really gets me are all these articles that say - "Lymphoma is highly treatable...etc." When you read the fine print, the highly treatable seems to translate to if you give him a variety of drugs then he will possible/probably live x number of months longer than without them. How is that highly treatable? I think they should rephrase their information to what all the medical practitioners (my vet, various best friends who are vets, two relatives who are vets) who essentially say,
"He is terminal - there are things you can do to turn his last weeks into months some of which are more expensive than others; all of which will entail changing his diet and giving him a variety of toxic substances while you try to help him withstand the onslaught of not only his cancer but the toxins you are using against it by giving him a brew of potions, herbs, and prayers.

I'm not sure this posting thing is for me - I feel myself getting angrier and angrier - not only at his cancer but at the merchandising and retail market that is attendant to dealing with it.

So - if anybody has any ideas, thoughts on my approach, please advise.

ering

I think it sounds like you're doing great. Check out the other sections in this forum (Cancer Supplements; Food and Nutrition; etc.) for other advice. Someone said RM 10 Immune System Food from Garden of Life was a less expensive substitute for K9, but I haven't tried either.

My puppy also has lymphoma and I'm constantly looking for new therapies that will extend her life span. DCA is a cheap, unpatented drug that is being tested in humans, but I haven't been able to find out much about it's use in dogs.

Best of luck,

Erin

ladyj

I can identify with your frustration. There is so much information out there, it is overwhelming, with everyone wanting to sell you their product or treatment. I am on a fixed income and can't spend a lot of money trying different things, so I had to sift through all the information and see what appeared to be helpful. I talked to my vet and she went on-line to a site for vets and asked about the supplements, etc., that I wanted to try. I did not opt for surgery or chemo for my girl. My vet recommended Piroxicam to treat her cancer, with something for her tummy and stuffy nose, milk thistle, DHA (omega 3), and fish oil. I found a mushroom supplement locally that I am using. The ingredients of K9 Immunity are mushrooms and they are listed on the web site.

I share your anger at this terrible thing called cancer. I want to scream and hit and roll in the floor, howling at the unfairness of it!!! I want to shake someone by the throat until they say, "okay, okay, we can cure this!" But our best is all we can do and we have to hang in there and do that for our best friends. You have to think about what you CAN do, not what you CAN'T.

God bless.

Jeanette

Benpaws

I can certainly understand your anger with this dreadful BEAST, CANCER! I was beyond angry when Benny was diagnosed with Mast Cell Tumour Cancer and in our case it was complete negligence on the part of the vets. I noticed a very small, hard lump on Ben's side when he was not quite 4 years old, took him immediately to the vet, got our vet's partner, was sent home and told "keep an eye on it." We "kept an eye on it" and it grew quickly. Back to the vet, same thing........to make a long story short, by the time Benny was in surgery (1 and 1/2 years after I noticed the first lump), the TUMOUR was huge and the surgery unsuccessful. We researched the web, found very reliable help from a girl who had lost her own Golden Retriever to Lymphoma at age 6. Benny went into remission for 8 months and the cancer returned. No operation this time, no chemo EVER or RADIATION ever, just a good diet (Canine LIFE Muffins) and lots of supplements. He lived 9 months more and died needlessly on April 2, 2009 only 6 years old. My HEART still hurts. The vets eventually OWNED up to their mistake but BENNY was GONE!

Many on this site have contacted Dr. Robert McDowell in Australia and had great success with his herbal remedies and he is legitimate and trustworthy and reasonable.

This is his website if you would like to get in touch with him:

`Lymphoma or Lymphosarcoma Cancer Support . Herbal Treatment Programs for Cancer Patients, Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy Support with Herbal Medicine and Information on alternative (herbal) treatment for cancer in people, horses and dogs.

GOOD LUCK! I completely understand your frustration!

Blessings,
Joanne & Shadow

Meesh

Hi Buster's mom/dad,
Everyone here has great advice. I just wanted to add that my Hamlet was diagnosed with lymphoma - stage Va B-cell, which means bone marrow involvement - at the end of January. We decided to go the chemo route with holistic treatment as a compliment. Hamlet acheived full remission at the end of April and all through chemo has had very minimal side effects. He's been the happy, playful dog he was pre-diagnosis. I belong to another support group specifically for lymphoma dogs undergoing chemo and I have to say that lymphoma IS highly treatable NOT necessarily curable. There is a difference. Ultimately, the bottom line is quality of life. On the flip side, there are several dogs in that group who have been in remission for 4 or 5 YEARS! Some of those are first remissions. So I choose to believe that Hamlet can be one of those dogs. And, there's no reason Buster couldn't be either. Numbers are just statistics; never give up hope. I wish you and Buster the best in this fight!
Michelle, Rufus & Hamlet
Dx 01/29/10 Tx 02/01/10
FULL REMISSION 04/26/10

tovarisch

I appreciate your reply and kind words - I am begining to question my decision to use the pred and the leukeran - the tumors appear to be the same - no further shrinkage - sometimes I just don't think I can bear it.
Thanks again

tovarisch

I appreciate you taking the time to write me - some days are better than others. this day is one of the others. thanks for the info.

tovarisch

Thanks for directing me to that site - I had noticed it in other posts and had already checked it out - I was unable to figure out the dosage for Buster's weight and how many bottles I would have to buy, etc., -- all I saw was that everything cost $65.00, no specifics on dosage. I guess I need to go back. I did order some tremisinsims - I'm sure that's not even how it is spelled - at this point I've ordered so much stuff I don't even remember what anything is supposed to do. some native indian ground up roots arrived yesterday. desperation, thy name is buster.... sorry for your loss as well.

tovarisch

can you give me the contact info for that particular group - you are the first one to indicate that such a length of "remission" is possible. I hate to sound jaded, but it is so much more difficult a pill to swallow with a dog that hasn't even turned five years old yet although the tears have flowed just as voluminously for the countless other loves of my life who have left me. thanks for taking the time to write me.

Meesh

I sent you a private message with the other support group but in case you're having trouble navigating this site, here it is again: on Yahoo it's called LymphomaHeartDogs. (There's also a LymphomaHeartDogsAngels for dogs who already crossed the bridge but you want the non-angels site.) Also, google Magic Bullet Fund; they help with financing options, i.e. donations, for pet parents who can't afford chemo, surgery and/or radiation therapies. There's another group that does that also but the name escapes me - I'll try to find it this evening.
It's extremely overwhelming getting a diagnosis of cancer and don't EVER apologize for the emotions you feel during this time. That's what we're all here for - shoulders to cry on, ears to vent to, and minds to mine for information. Whatever you do, try not to let Buster see you upset (easier said than done, I know). Remember, he doesn't know he's sick but he can pick up your energies; you want him happy so you need to put on a happy front.
Also, try to understand that the nodes don't always shrink immediately and sometimes not much at all. The important thing is that Buster is comfortable. Hamlet's neck nodes are still somewhat prominent but they're soft and regularly shaped. Some dogs' nodes shrink after one treatment; it took 6 for Hamlet's to START to go down. Ask whatever questions you have. I'll try to answer them and if I can't someone else here should have some advice or recommendations. I promise once the shock of all this wears off, you'll fall into a routine and it won't feel so dire.
Michelle, Rufus & Hamlet