Monday, June 20, 2011

Greta update

So while I was in the hospital,  Greta had another appointment for her cancer treatment last Monday.  It absolutely broke my heart that I couldn't go with and be there for her, but Jamie and my mom took good care of her.  We were halfway through chemo, and before they did round 4, they had to do a chest xray to see if the cancer had gotten to her lungs.  They also xrayed her right front arm (sight of origin) to see how things were looking there. 

Greta's chest and lungs are still crystal clear!  Her arm has not changed since the original xrays in March!  (This is a good thing- what's there is there and will not go away.  We just wanted to stop it from getting any bigger or spreading elsewhere.)  So, that being said, Gretty had her fourth round of chemo.  She goes back on July 5 for her last bone strengthening treatment (pomidronate) and round five of chemo.  Studies are showing that there may be a difference in pets that get 5 or 6 chemo sessions, so we are going for 6. 

My understanding is that once we are done with all treatments, we'd basically do a follow-up in a few months, unless we notice any changes before that.  While the radiation does "kill off" some cells, it is primarily for pain management.  If Greta started to really hurt and her pain pills just weren't cutting it, we could at some point do more radiation.  The catch there is that the second round only seems effective for half the time as the first round.  So, if Greta went 4 months before showing us she was hurting, the next round of radiation would likely only get her about 2 more months pain free.  It's a lot to consider, but for now we're celebrating her success! 

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