Curly's Lymphoma Treatment

[helsonwheels]

I said it numerous times, it is extremely important what you feed your dog when you bring them home. Same as humans. Raw is the best way to go but if you don’t want raw go dehydrated raw or at least feed a grain free kibble n half raw. Raw has tons of minerals. Bad rashes? Get you Sulfur (ex:NuStock) out mix it with coconut oil. It will reduce inflammation. Some simply don’t believe in raw. I truly understand as there is so much BS out there about raw which is not rocket science as it’s all companies like Purina, Royal Canin or Science Hill feeding the readers their false BS they’re putting out there. If you do the math, raw comes out to the same price as a quality kibble. You definitely feed less raw than kibble. Yes you need to be a tad more caution when using raw as it’s up to YOU to NOT contaminate your own human food with the same knife or counter space. It’s called clean up everything properly after handling raw. Not just dog raw but also human raw. Yes much easier to simply just dump a cup of kibbles in a bowl n get it over with but if you want your furball to stay healthy throughout their lifetime, feed them what they were born to eat in the wild. My 2 cents on damm meds vets knows it’s horrible on side effects and prescribe like it was candies. $$$$$$$

Bookmark this link below and read it 100 times if you have to. It’s one of the best explained link on what to do.

Alternatives for Prednisone

https://pethelpful.com/dogs/alternatives-to-steroids-for-dogs

 

[cefe13]

Glad to hear that Curly is doing well now and he does look great in the photos. What a beautiful face! Castor sends his best wishes to Curly.

 

[Manydogs]

Sending a BIG Smooshy kiss right to Curly's lips! I am so happy to hear the good news! Now for a good attitude change,so he can stay in Co. where he loves it!! Definitely will keep the prayers going for you, Curly@

 

[nubonics]

Curly is currently 2 months in remission post chemotherapy, which is great, however, about 2 weeks after chemo ended, his back broke out and his elbows were swollen. It was really bad. His hair completely fell out. He normally has seasonal allergies, but never this bad - his back was practically bald. We took him into the normal vet and he was given antibiotics and steroids. I decided to not give him the steroids. He had already been on steroids for about 6 months during chemo.

His back cleared up by the first week of October, but suddenly broke out again. So I ended up pushing up his ONC appt because something else was def. going on. His cancer check came back A-OK but they wanted us to go next door to see the dermatologist to ensure that there wasn't something else going on (infection, sarcoptic mange, calcinosis cutis). Fortunately, there is a huge snow storm hitting CO and there were a bunch of cancelled appointments at the dermatologist, so we were able to go in immediately.

Long story short, since Curly's immune system had been suppressed for so long, his allergies did cause an infection and he needed to be on stronger antibiotics for a longer period of time (i.e. the infection never went away). He has to be on antibiotics for a month.

The concerning part for me was his elbows. They had been swollen and bleeding - not typical of any type of allergic reaction in the past. This concerned the dermatologist too - she said that she wants to see if the swelling goes down with the antibiotics, and if it doesn't, then she suspects a mild case of calcinosis cutis.

I had mention Jewel to her @rjisaterp . She said that bulldogs are prone to calcinosis cutis (I didn't know this!) and IF Curly has it, it is mild and only mild because he had a shortened chemo treatment and didn't need to be on steroids for as long. We have a follow up appt at the end of November to see how the antibiotics have healed him up

All that in mind, next spring she wants to do cytopoint injections - a biological therapy that contains antibodies to neutralize the proteins that make dogs itch, which makes it amazing to use with dogs who have/had cancer. She said it is important to make sure that the lymph nodes avoid battling infections as it could cause him to come out of remission (i.e. we need to stay on top of him come allergy season).

The derm also said that she wants him to avoid steroids in the future and the only time he should be put back on them is if he comes out of remission.

 

[nubonics]

Here are a few recent pics of curly too...including two of him video chatting with my husband. The pic of Curly in the snow is from this morning

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[rjisaterp]

Curly my man you look marvelous darling. Cytopoint injection worked wonders for Jewel. Kept her itching in check.

Jewel saw the Dermatologist yesterday and he was amazed at how she has responded to treatment.

Hang in there Curly. I'm pretty sure you are going to be ok.

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[2BullyMama]

He looks great... love the pictures!!

Sorry for all the issues... I pray he is all cleared at his next appointment. Thanks for documenting all the info, it will sure to help someone in the future


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[nubonics]

He looks great... love the pictures!!

Sorry for all the issues... I pray he is all cleared at his next appointment. Thanks for documenting all the info, it will sure to help someone in the future


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I really hope so! I was lost when I was trying to find info out when he was first diagnosed.

One thing I keep thinking is how he never had any health issues except his seasonal skin allergies and here we are. I am still in contact with his breeders (the separate owners of mom and dad), some of his litter mates, as well as some half siblings. Curly, not only is the biggest among all of them (none have his long body and legs), but the only one who has lymphoma be (mom and dad have passed but it wasn't due to cancer). That's makes me believe that the cause of his is potentially environmental.

I am happy overall with his health at the moment, despite the skin issues. Stu believes that Curly will surprise us all and live to 100 lol.

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[Manydogs]

Stu believes that Curly will surprise us all and live to 100 lol. I do believe that Stu is correct!! Curly is determined! Everyone loves Curly!

 

[2BullyMama]

I really hope so! I was lost when I was trying to find info out when he was first diagnosed.

One thing I keep thinking is how he never had any health issues except his seasonal skin allergies and here we are. I am still in contact with his breeders (the separate owners of mom and dad), some of his litter mates, as well as some half siblings. Curly, not only is the biggest among all of them (none have his long body and legs), but the only one who has lymphoma be (mom and dad have passed but it wasn't due to cancer). That's makes me believe that the cause of his is potentially environmental.

I am happy overall with his health at the moment, despite the skin issues. Stu believes that Curly will surprise us all and live to 100 lol.

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I like Stu thinking! Environmental for sure... all the crap we humans put in the environment has got to be the cause of all these illnesses


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[Tate2020]

How is Curly doing now? We just got back from the vet with a potential cancer diagnosis and are trying to balance the quality of life vs cost problem. our EB is 10 years old, relativity healthy but has def slowed down the past 2 years. Any advice?

 

[nubonics]

How is Curly doing now? We just got back from the vet with a potential cancer diagnosis and are trying to balance the quality of life vs cost problem. our EB is 10 years old, relativity healthy but has def slowed down the past 2 years. Any advice?

So far so good! He has a cancer check on Tuesday so we will see what his blood work says.

There are two variables that I feel made a difference with curly... 1 - age. Curly was 4 months shy of his 6th birthday when he was diagnosed. 2 - we caught it really early. He was just at the vet a few weeks prior and no physical signs of cancer. Then he had bloody diarrhea (he NEVER had diarrhea either) and that is when we took him back in.

Curly was otherwise a perfectly healthy bulldog before this, so it took us by alarm. Had he not been healthy, "young" and had we not lost another dog unexpectedly 6 months earlier, we probably wouldn't have done chemo.

So my advice would be take into consideration that chemo might just be a bandaid (for example, lymphoma normally comes back about 6 months after chemo is complete). From what I heard from other owners who were taking their dogs through chemo is older dogs tend to have stronger side effects (most owners I encountered at the clinic dog's were 8-12 years and they complained about their dog appearing to be more sick than before). Also, how far along the cancer is might impact his response to chemo/quality of life too.

It's a tough decision and with a 10y/o dog is even tougher. At the end of the day, there isn't a wrong or right decision; it is whatever you are mentally prepared for too.

I wish you all the best and please keep us posted.


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[nubonics]

Sorry for the few day gap - work has been busy.

On Tuesday, Curly had his 4 month follow-up visit to the vet since completing Tanovea, and he is still in remission! I asked the vet how many months he has been in remission, because I really couldn't remember, and she said that technically he is 6 months remission (remission start once they cannot detect the cancer cells, during chemo) and 4 months remission since completing Tanovea. She also said, that he is doing exceedingly well after treatment and if the lymphoma does come back, she would recommend Tanovea again.

In short, she said that it is low incidence for a dog to have failed the Madison-Wisconsin protocol, switch protocols to Tanovea and still be in remission for as long as he has been in remission. Since Tanovea was his second line of treatment, the expectation was that he might not be in remission for more than 6 months. She has seen one other case and from that experience, the cancer cames back and the dog was treated again with Tanovea, its remission period was even longer than the first - which is the opposite of the norm, as mentioned, the norm is remission is less with each line of treatment. She thinks Curly's lymphoma might be a similar case...

Again this is very hopeful news, however, Tanovea is really expensive, and while he is doing great, I really think it has been the luck of the draw. IF the time comes, we'll give it a lot of thought but right now I'm just excited that he is still hanging in there strong

On another note - I've been watching those commercials about Roundup causing non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and I keep wondering if the owner of the house we rented in VA used Roundup in their yard at some point (the home owner, by trade, was a landscaper). I have other dogs who don't have lymphoma and lived in VA along side Curly. However, there are genetic cues that make some more susceptible to certain diseases if environmentally exposed to things that could cause it...just a thought that keeps running through my head each time I see those commercials.

 

[helsonwheels]

[MENTION=9956]nubonics[/MENTION].... Remission!!! Yay Curly!!! Our little trooper! Love great updates. They’re da best. I’m so happy for you

Regarding roundup, I’m 200% with what you’re thinking. I don’t trust anything from Monsanto. I’ve been looking on n off for a cottage along waterfront back home n many nice ones came up but a lot are close to golf courses. Hell there is no way I would ever buy anything near or along a golf course. They don’t have a beautiful green grass cause the pick every dandelions by hand. My partner loves to fish n why we want waterfront. Also the pups will be playing in the water. I heard Costco here will not be selling roundup anymore. That will be a good kick in the butt for Monsanto/Bayer.

 

[rjisaterp]

Glad to hear Curly is doing.

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