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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / February 2004Buttercup update.
First of all let me apologize to the new people who may not understand why I am making a post here about a dog. When I was diagnosed in April 2003, and then RRP in August 2003, I was active on the ng and there were quite a few people who responded favorably to my posts about out new dog, Buttercup. A photo is on Linda's web site if anyone is interested (I lost the web address when I got the new computer, can anyone help, please?). Anyway, she was a rescue, an abused dog, and this was our first experience in that area. It has turned out to be trying. The second night we had the dog my wife tripped over her and broke her, the wife's, foot. In early December my wife fell on the ice while walking the dog and broke her ankle, the wife again, in two places, requiring surgery to pin it all back together. The cast came off last week, but she has a dead hunk of flesh and bone at the end of that leg. She will require weeks of physical therapy to get back to normal walking ability. So, the latest on Buttercup is that last week I noticed that the water bowl was not down when I changed it each day. By my count she has not drank (drunk?) any water since last Wednesday. We had snow this past weekend, and she did eat snow and lick the ice, so she did get moisture that way. She has stopped eating unless we put gravy or the like on her food. She does eat treats, e.g., Milk Bones. On Monday we called the vet and he thinks it is a mental versus a physical problem. I am taking her in tomorrow for blood work. If that does not show a physical problem he is going to prescribe a medication for treating anxiety. I guess after living with us for six months the dog need Valium. Go figure. God bless those we lost in the past couple weeks. Thank you. David S. Doggie Valium is not uncommon. Lots of dogs and cats are on it. Who knows what she has been through before you got her. This is her first year with you and so far her loving mistress has had two bad breaks and it's Buttercup's fault. Does she understand that? Does she understand crutches? Does she understand being left alone while "Mommy" has physical therapy? She just knows that things are not right. She doesn't understand - she has a very little brain. Just love her. (Have her teeth checked while at the vets.) (Also keep the lid down on the toilet - seems they will balk if there is anything in their water bowl and then they will go drink from the toilet! Gawk!!!) Bev > First of all let me apologize to the new people who may not understand > why I am making a post here about a dog. When I was diagnosed in April [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Thank you. > David S. Bev: Good to hear from you. It has been a long time. I took her to the vet today and he did a thorough exam and found nothing wrong. He said that she does not show signs of being dehydrated, but we have to wait for the lab results to know for sure. The prescription is for clomipramine hydrochloride, or "Clomicalm" (Novartis). He told me to not start it until we get the lab results. It will take a month or two to show signs of improvement, and this is not something that she will be on forever. Six months or so maybe. When we got home she drank from the streams of water that are outside coming from the melting ice (thank God). But I cannot see where she has taken a drink from her water bowl. The vet told me to try a second bowl with a couple ice cubes. He said that sometimes they will play with the ice and then drink the water as they melt. No luck there so far though. She is eating though, and she did urinate this morning and this evening. Not sure where that is coming from. The lids are down on all the toilets. Maybe it is the immaculate hydration that I am witnessing (ha). So, more gray hair for me. Thank you. David S. You're a good dad, David! Here's the website: http://www.weaselmama.com/the_faces_of_prostate_cancer.htm Here's the photo of the happy family (well, mom and dad are happy, Buttercup looks stoic): http://www.weaselmama.com/Buttercup_Aug2003.jpg Larry > First of all let me apologize to the new people who may not understand > why I am making a post here about a dog. When I was diagnosed in April > 2003, and then RRP in August 2003, I was active on the ng and there were > quite a few people who responded favorably to my posts about out new dog, > Buttercup. A photo is on Linda's web site if anyone is interested (I lost > the web address when I got the new computer, can anyone help, please?). > David S. Thank you for the link(s) Larry. Yes, sometimes I think Buttercup thinks we are the two that are nuts and she is the one with all four paws planted firmly on the ground. Maybe I am the one that the vet should have given the anti anxiety pills to (ha). Thank you again. David S. > You're a good dad, David! > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > > David S. Dave, We had a dog that would not drink from her bowl for the longest time (loved the white porcelain), our vet suggested keeping her water bowl fresh and close to the toilet and leaving the toilet open with some vinegar in it. It took less than a week to change her preference of water bowls.As you haven't had Buttercup since she was a pup, you don't know what her old habits were. Good luck with her, I hope all the two legged creatures in your home are out dancing soon. Tom > Thank you for the link(s) Larry. Yes, sometimes I think Buttercup > thinks we are the two that are nuts and she is the one with all four paws [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > > > > David S. I found a soup mug was a great drinking cup for a dog. It was easy to reach down and grab the mug - no spilling of a full bowl, etc. and there is something about that china they seem to like better than a plastic bowl or even a stainless steel. And I think they know they are drinking out of "our" cups. LOL Bev > Dave, > We had a dog that would not drink from her bowl for the longest time (loved [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > > > > > > David S. This reminds me of when we had our cat Rocky. Every time I took him in for any procedure, the vet had to give him valium because Rocky would get so crazy at the vet's. He got bone cancer in 1999 and I had him put to sleep 2-1/2 months after he was diagnosed because he was suffering. Natasha our other cat was diagnosed in early October 2001 with lymphoma. Cats sometimes live a long time with this. She was on Predizone alone and did fine until August 2002 and then started loosing weight again so the vet added Leukeran. She was again doing fine and got a good report from the vet in May 2003. That was also when John had the 2 borderline high PSA results and I shared this with the vet. It was in June when the cancer was confirmed with John. The week before his surgery in July, Natasha slept on the bed with us at night and purred like she was trying to comfort us. She normally liked to lay on the couch at night but I think she was sensing we were scared. She started deteriorating again after John's surgery. However, she didn't really get bad until the end of October when she stopped eating entirely. I then had her put down November 6. > Thank you for the link(s) Larry. Yes, sometimes I think Buttercup > thinks we are the two that are nuts and she is the one with all four paws [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] >> >>> David S. > First of all let me apologize to the new people who may not understand >why I am making a post here about a dog. When I was diagnosed in April [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Thank you. >David S. David, Haven't been doing to well. Even M. D. Anderson doesn't really know how to get at the core of the problems - the outrageous, almost criminal negligence of the doctor who did my RRP and left about 80% or more of both the seminal vesicles in me. One is cancerous and both are being re-absorbed by my body so the cells of PCa will be all over my body, if they are not already. ANYWAY - about Butercup: Try putting her bowl up on a Rubbermaid foot-stool (or something like it), higher is necessary, so it will be just below her head that when she bends her head to drink it will be just below her head. Do this for the food bowl as well. If I remember correctly she is a yellow Lab or Lab-mix. If she is big as my lab mix - 105# - then she may not like bending over to drink and eat. As an aside, this is why they drink out of the toilet. And my vet said that he had been taught in school (recently) that if a dog can eat carrion and droppings without any side effect, they can surely can take the toilet water unless it is blue or has vinegar in it. Let her drink from the bowl until she calms down, THEN train her not to do so. Hope you are doing well. Jim Jim (AKA BillyBob, but only to newsgroups!) jjoy_DONT_USE_THIS_PART@austin_DONT_USE_THIS_PART.rr.com Pre-op. PSA: 5.1 11-2000. Age 56 then Biopsy 1-3-2001: 3+3=6, only 10% diffused cells, left side only. Left Sem. Ves,1-8-04: 4+3=7, 20% difused cells RRP: 3-12-01, 20% diffused cells, 20% capsular penetration, neg lymph & Sem. ves. Erection - 6 weeks and earlier; 6 wks.; first decent one PSA's - .5,1.1,.5,.3,.4,.7,.7,.6,.7,.7.,.9,1.1 Nov.4 03, 1.1 Jan. 8, 04 NO ONE, not even my med school Pathology Prof. Step-Sister EVER said "radiation" - "Wait until it gets to 2.0, i.e. serious." (Last - Quote of urologist who did RRP!) Can't beat that deal at ANY price! AND I have a 30 year old car with only 26,000 miles on it that a little old lady only used to drive to church on Sundays. Want to buy that as well? Jim: I don't know what to say about your plight post surgery. Hard to believe in this age that a surgeon can screw up that bad. Criminal is a good word for it. Biggest problem(s) here is the continued incontinence and impotence. Getting used to the pad routine. Do not know what I will do if a year from now it is the same. Stopped using the Viagra, Cialis, etc., because it did not work and I was tired of popping pills for no reason. We bought a raised bowl set for Buttercup, part lab part spaniel supposedly, 50 lbs., but so far she will no even go close to it. Anything "different" is a problem with her. The first time I tried to put the leash on her when I was wearing a hat she backed off and wanted nothing to do with me. That was after we had her a couple months. She notices the littlest things and reacts like it was a threat of some kind. The anti anxiety medication she is on now should help that, but the vet said it could take a couple months to work. We will see. I'll keep you in my prayers. If you can't get help down here maybe someone upstairs will. Don't give up. Thank you. David > David, > [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > 26,000 miles on it that a little old lady only used to drive to church on > Sundays. Want to buy that as well? > ... Anything > "different" is a problem with her. The first time I tried to put the leash [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > medication she is on now should help that, but the vet said it could take a > couple months to work. We will see. I once saw a dog trainer on TV show how to pick a dog for a pet from a litter. He took a bunch of keys out of his pocket, held them low to the ground and watched what the puppies did. One came over to investigate. That's the one he picked as being curious, intelligent, friendly, and non-neurotic. He said many people will pick the puppy cowering in the corner because they feel sorry for it. But they soon find they have a more difficult pet than they hoped for. >Jim: > I'll keep you in my prayers. If you can't get help down here maybe >someone upstairs will. Don't give up. > This is what I am hoping and praying for. 59 is not the age you want to begin to die. Heck, I still haven't even figured out what my true purpose is ! I am doing as Winston Churchill suggests "Never, Never, Never ever give up." Thanks for the encouragement. Jim Jim (AKA BillyBob, but only to newsgroups!) jjoy_DONT_USE_THIS_PART@austin_DONT_USE_THIS_PART.rr.com Pre-op. PSA: 5.1 11-2000. Age 56 then Biopsy 1-3-2001: 3+3=6, only 10% diffused cells, left side only. Left Sem. Ves,1-8-04: 4+3=7, 20% difused cells RRP: 3-12-01, 20% diffused cells, 20% capsular penetration, neg lymph & Sem. ves. Erection - 6 weeks and earlier; 6 wks.; first decent one PSA's - .5,1.1,.5,.3,.4,.7,.7,.6,.7,.7.,.9,1.1 Nov.4 03, 1.1 Jan. 8, 04 NO ONE, not even my med school Pathology Prof. Step-Sister EVER said "radiation" - "Wait until it gets to 2.0, i.e. serious." (Last - Quote of urologist who did RRP!) Can't beat that deal at ANY price! AND I have a 30 year old car with only 26,000 miles on it that a little old lady only used to drive to church on Sundays. Want to buy that as well? |
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