Weight Gain

Coby has gained 1 pound in the past week - all thanks to his new homemade diet!! :-) He's too skinny & needs to put some weight on. Thankfully the only cooking I do is for Coby - it's exhausting cooking his special recipe diet!

A special thank you also to Chris, Greg & Kassi for the Christmas card & donation! Thank you so very much for all the support!

Improvement Continues

Coby had another CBC drawn today & the lab values are continuing to improve.

Hct 32.3
Platelets 261,000
WBC 4.45
Neutrophils 2.6

We will be able to give Coby his lomustine pill tonight. Coby will have another CBC checked New Year's Day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas!! Thank you for all the support & prayers over the past year & especially this past week!

Repeat CBC Results

Coby had another CBC drawn this morning. We got the results & his lab values are continuing to improve - which Dr. Sisson predicted!!! They are still a little low, but are rising slowly & improving. We will have another repeat CBC done Sunday to determine whether or not we can give the 5mg lomustine that night. We will be resuming the nightly 10mg leflunomide tomorrow.

LAB RESULTS:
I think the lab values are correct, but it's difficult to read the clinic's results & interpretation.

Sunday, December 19th (Date of Admission)
Hct 30.8
Platelets 75,000
WBC 0.26
Neutrophils 0

Monday, December 20th
Hct 27.5
Platelets 44,000
WBC 0.4
Neutrophils 0.12

Tuesday, December 21st
Hct 28.3
Platelets Clumped & unable to get adequate reading, but appears < 50,000
WBC 0.6
Neutrophils 0.23

Wednesday, December 22nd
Hct 30.5
Platelets 75,000
WBC 1.6
Neutrophils 0.67

Friday December 24th
Hct 30.8
Platelets 127,000
WBC 2.5
Neutrophils 1.03

In addition, it has been 7 months since Coby's GME diagnosis AND he has been prednisone free for almost 1 month!!!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to Everyone!!!

Hospitalization "Wrap Up"

Coby's final diagnosis was Neutropenia (drug induced). The final cost for those 4 days = $1924. The severe neutropenia was caused by the chemo & immunosuppressant drugs - mostly from the synergistic effect from the cytarabine & lomustine. Sepsis was a high risk, but thankfully Coby didn't actually become septic like we initially thought. His recovery was slower than expected, but he made it home after 4 days. He is on 2 different antibiotics for the next 7 days (Amoxicillin & Baytril) & his Leflunomide is on hold until his next CBC. We will get another CBC drawn tomorrow - those results will help determine our next step - whether or not to restart the chemo drugs. We will eventually resume all the chemo meds, but the doses will be much lower. Hopefully Coby will only have another 5 or 6 months worth of chemo. He continues to be prednisone free. :-) It has also been 7 months since his GME diagnosis. Coby is also receiving a "homemade" diet now. With Coby's weight loss & extreme pickiness when it comes to dog food, we decided a special homemade diet (recommended by Dr. Sisson) was our only way to get him to eat. And, as expected, because it was not dog food, but rather chicken & rice, he scarfed it right up. There are a few more things mixed in the food for additional vitamins, calcium, etc. Hopefully Coby will put some weight on soon.

Hopefully this experience has decreased Coby's chance for a GME relapse in the future! Maybe this is why it happened....so we don't have to experience a relapse & Coby can live a full, healthy happy life! Only time will tell....

Finally home

Coby's home! He's doing good - eating good, playing a bit & catching up on his rest! We go back to the clinic tomorrow for another CBC to make sure his neutrophils & platelets are continuing to improve (as expected).

Coby's Home!!!

Coby is finally home! He is a ball of energy & looks much better!! Will write more tomorrow!

Coby's Coming Home

GREAT NEWS!!!! Coby is able to come home today!!!!!!

AM Update

Sorry for not posting updates yesterday - it was an emotional day of differing opinions regarding Coby & his labs. Coby's white blood cells/neutrophils are slowly improving. Platelets are very low. Dr. Sisson said he is not worried about it & Coby will pull thru this - it's just a matter of how long it will take him to recover. I went to visit last night - Coby was more alert & active than our Monday night visit. I received an update this morning from the hospital & Coby did fine overnight - no problems or complications, vital signs good & eating well. Lab work will be done around 9am. That is what we are all waiting for - those lab results. Hopefully his labs have improved over the past 24 hours. All I want is to have Coby home with us for Christmas....what a wonderful gift that would be. Thank you for all the support & prayers - Coby certainly needs them & I greatly appreciate them. Will update more later.

Afternoon Update

Just got a update from the clinic on Coby.

He looks good, active, eating well.

Temperature is still high - 104.4 degrees

His WBC were up to 400 (I think they were 260 yesterday).
Neutrophils were 120 (I think those were at zero yesterday) - goal 1000-1500.

Blood sugar & blood pressure good.

Repeat CBC tomorrow.

We are going to visit Coby tonight!!

Hospital Update

one night in the clinic & this is the update from our neurologist who called the clinic this morning:

"Coby's temperature is still elevated but down to about 104 degrees. There has been no further vomiting or diarrhea. His blood glucose became a little low so they gave some IV glucose to correct that. He is continuing on IV fluids & antibiotics. He would not eat any dog food so they fed him a little cooked steak & rice. For this stage of treatment that all sounds good for now. Hopefully within another 12-24 hours the fever will fully resolve."

More updates to come when available.....

Coby has been hospitalized

Coby has been hospitalized with a fever of 105.7 - he has caught an infection & is now septic. Thankfully, we caught it early enough today from the symptoms he was exhibiting - shivers/tremors, diarrhea, vomiting, lethargic. I knew in my gut something was wrong, emailed Dr. Sisson (our neurologist in Boston) who suggested bringing him to the ER. We did just that & if we had not, Coby would have died. Coby had a fever of 105.7 indicating sepsis. He is currently at the hospital where he will remain for a few days. He is receiving 3 different IV antibiotics and IV fluids. They ran blood work and as Dr. Sisson predicted, Coby's white blood cells/neutrophils were very low. The normal "low" (for neutrophils I think...I don't have his lab work with me) is around 5500...Coby's level was 260!!! Either way, it was SUPER low!!! The goal is now to get them back to normal, get rid of this infection & hopefully be home by Christmas. Coby will be off all his chemo medications for right now & only on the zonisamide for his seizures.

I am not sure of the medically correct reasoning for what has happened, but it has something to do with Coby no longer being on prednisone & because of that, he is unable to handle such a big chemo load like last month. It was confusing when I was explained that over the phone, so I apologize if I am totally wrong. Once I have a correct answer, I can repost.

On a positive note, there is a "silver lining" to the situation according to Dr. Sisson: His chance of relapse is lower because the cells causing the disease were severely damaged the same way his normal cells were which made him sick.

I will continue to post updates as I receive them! For now, positive thoughts & looking forward to having Coby home for Christmas. Here are some pictures of him this morning when I thought he was only shivering b/c he was "cold".

WebMD pets

Check out Web MD's pet health website & see Coby's picture on their "Winter Pet Photos slideshow! Slide 21. :-)

http://pets.webmd.com/slideshow-photos-winter

Quick Update

Coby has been prednisone free now for 11 days & continues to do well. He still receives his other medications: zonisamide twice a day, leflunomide once a day, lomustine once a month & cytarabine injections 2 days every month (twice a day = 4 injections). Coby's next cytarabine injection is this friday (the 10th & 11th of every month) - I still hate giving those shots.