Re: [PyrNet-L] HEALTH: Clondike the Chemo Star

["Dianne Migas" <jdmigas@email.msn.com>]

David, Nancy & Ms Clondike

Great news - she is simply amazing!    Our positive thoughts and prayers are
always with you.

Dianne Migas - NJ
jdmigas@email.msn.com

Have you hugged your Pyr today?  Gunner's off to the "Fat Farm"
and Murphy's still ROTF laughing!  Ha! Ha! "FAT BOY"

-----Original Message-----
From: David P Kintsfather Jr <kintsfat@kutztown.edu>
To: Great Pyrenees Discussion List <PYR-L@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Cc: LGD-L@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM <LGD-L@APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM>;
pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org <pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org>
Date: Saturday, May 22, 1999 12:23 AM
Subject: [PyrNet-L] HEALTH: Clondike the Chemo Star


>Clondike, the 11 1/2 year-old Pyr bitch who has been undergoing
>chemotherapy for lymphoma for almost a year now continues to surprise the
>vets.  After one treatment of the DMAC protocol she is well on the way to
>her third remission.  DMAC uses two combinations of drugs, alternating on
>a one or two week schedule for up to 16 weeks (8 cycles).  Clondike
>achieved a full remission after only 3 treatments (1 1/2 cycles) in
>February and was able to hold it for 12 weeks without any chemo.
>
>By using injectable Centrine for nausea and diarrhea control she got
>through this first treatment with only some soft stools and a little
>queeziness that caused her to reject 1 meal and only eat half of another.
>
>24 hours after the treatment our regular vet thought her nodes were back
>within normal limits, but her spleen was still slightly enlarged--common
>with lymphoma, the spleen acts like a big lymph node.
>
>Thursday night, 8 days after the treatment, our vet checked her again and
>found her nodes down about 1/3 from the previous week, spleen unpalpable
>(which is as it should be), and her color and heart rate very
>satisfactory.  Unfortunately her white count was down to 2,400 (6,000 is
>low normal), but this is an expected side effect of this particular drug
>combination.  She is on antibiotics and today the oncologist gave her a
>shot of neupogen, a very expensive and exotic drug that stimulates the
>bone marrow to produce white cells.  Clondike responds very rapidly to
>this drug.
>
>On a positive note, after some lethargy Sunday and Monday, Clondike was
>very perky on Tuesday, and visited the groomers for a bath which removed
>most of her undercoat (not sure if the chemo hastened this blow or if it
>was normal seasonal shedding).  Standing for 2 hours for a bath and comb
>out usually tires her out, but she was still pretty perky Tues. night and
>she was a monster on Wed.  By Tues. she was having perfect poop and by
>Thursday she was back on dog food along with meat (round steak,
>actually--she's spoiled) and a rice gruel.
>
>Based on notes our vet made and my memory, we think Clondike is responding
>to the DMAC protocol almost identically to the way she responded the first
>time.  This is much more encouraging that the results we got when we tried
>to re-induce a remission with the traditional first-line drugs.
>
>Today I asked the oncologist for some sense of how well Clondike is doing
>and she basically said we are in totally unknown territory.  She
>reiterated that DMAC is a rescue remission protocol intended for dogs
>refractory (non-responsive) for the first-line drugs.  She said that for
>some dogs it "doesn't do squat" (I love this technical talk), and for
>others she is seeing positive results.  The research clearly shows shorter
>remissions with DMAC than with traditional protocols, but how many times
>you can reinduce remission is just not known yet.  We feel very lucky to
>have achieved a 2nd remission with DMAC 75% as long as the first remission
>when the conventional wisdom is that each successive remission is only
>about half as long.
>
>Clondike will be re-evaluated next Friday and will probably be ready for
>DMAC 2, a treatment that gave her moderately severe vomiting and diarrhea
>last time around.  It also made her lymph nodes all but disappear!  We
>hope that using injectable Centrine before the symptoms occur will greatly
>reduce the severity of her reaction.  Keep your fingers crossed.
>
>I know some people who have experienced dogs with lymphoma are especially
>curious about the DMAC protocol that seems to be doing so much for
>Clondike.  I asked if the research has been published yet and the
>oncologist doesn't think so.  I would guess that the Ohio State Vet School
>could probably answer specific questions that vets or oncologists might
>have.  Just keep in mind that apparently Clondike's success is "not
>typical."
>
>Thanks again for all the good thoughts and prayers.  Clondike continues to
>enjoy life and to teach us to live "in the moment."  I'll keep you posted.
>
>David
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
> David Kintsfather              | PHONE:       (610) 683-4497
> Dept. of Telecommunications    | FAX:         (610) 683-4659
> Kutztown University            | INTERNET:    kintsfat@kutztown.edu
> PO Box 730                     |   "We need not think alike to love
alike."
> Kutztown, PA  19530-0730       |                Francis David
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>
>
>To unsubscribe, send a message to esquire@pyrnet.org with
> unsubscribe pyrnet-l
>as the BODY of the message.  The SUBJECT is ignored.
>