Thursday, August 13, 2009

Numbers With Wings

Jake started a different chemo drug called Lomustine (CCNU) on July 24th. Although it appears to be working, there are also many possible side effects and regular blood tests are required. We took him to Aspenwood Animal Hospital on July 31st for a follow-up blood test with Dr. Hedlin. Unfortunately, his neutrophils (white blood cells) were low and his ALT count (liver enzymes) was high. We waited a week and retested on August 12th. As you can see in this report, almost everything is back in the normal range with the exception of the ALT. Lomustine can cause chronic irreversible liver failure in dogs so we really want to be careful. He was scheduled to take his second dose tomorrow but the oncologists up at the CSU Animal Cancer Center want to delay it until his numbers get back to normal. We’ll retest again on August 20th.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Lunch Break

Late lunch today so we could try something different. We went downtown to the Pooch Power Hour at Panzano’s. It’s an upscale Italian restaurant located in the Hotel Monaco (another pet-friendly hotel). The promotion runs every Sunday from 2:30 pm – 6:00 pm until further notice. The patio is right on 17th Avenue and I think every table had a least one dog sitting by it. We talked to everyone sitting around us. People are so chatty with complete strangers when there's a dog at their side. We ordered sausage sliders from the outdoor grill and a couple Stella’s on draft. Jake enjoyed his house-made Peanut Butter Pupcakes.