Just a Little Off

Hello everyone, Bear here.  It’s been a while since I last posted to my blog.  You see, I’ve had a rough week.

Well, I had my second IV chemo treatment and the dose was reduced by 20% due to the really bad reaction I had after the first treatment.  Everything went well, at least at first.  Mom and I headed to Scottsdale on Tuesday, February 28^th.  I really enjoy riding in the truck with mom.  She talks to me on the trip and opens the back window for me if we’re not travelling too fast.  On this trip, she popped in a CD of Bruce Springsteen’s audio book, “Born to Run” and we listened to it on the way to the oncologist.  I like when he sings and for his book he did the audio recording, so it was an extra treat to have him ‘talk’ to us during the trip.

The tech in the office was really happy that mom kept a journal of my experiences and asked to copy the applicable pages for my medical file.  This made it a lot easier than mom trying to relay all the information.  They took me in the back and took some blood to test to see if things were OK for me to receive my IV treatment.  Apparently, everything came back just fine and I was hooked up to an IV.

Since I had such a drastic reaction to the first treatment, the oncologist told mom that I would need a blood test seven days after this treatment.  At least I just have to go to Kachina Animal Hospital for that test and not take that long drive to Scottsdale.  We drove home to Bruce Springsteen’s voice again.  I had a great ride home.

I started to get a little picky about what I would and would not eat.  I was still eating my canned u/d with pumpkin, but preferred a delicacy called Trufood mixed with my dry food.  Well, this worked for a few days.  By the second day I started to get an upset stomach.  Mom gave me my anti-nausea meds and things seemed to quiet down a bit.  I was still eating my regular food but was getting a bit tired.

I take some pill medication as well and mom typically wraps those pills in a tasty Pill Pocket and I swallow it whole!  Love those Pill Pockets, or at least I did.  For some reason, things just didn’t taste or smell that good to me and I didn’t want to take my meds.  Mom tried peanut butter, which was OK, but I just licked the PB and spit out the pill.  Unfortunately, mom had to force me to take my meds.  I know she doesn’t like to do it, and I couldn’t really explain why I was feeling bad and didn’t want to take them.  I was getting really tired by the third day after my treatment.

I sort of bounced back a little by day five, but still was not feeling well.  I was still eating some of my dry food with canned chicken, but really only wanted the Trufood.

On day seven I went in for my blood draw.  My temperature was normal, which is good considering it spiked quite high after the last treatment, but I still was not feeling good.  I went downhill from there.  I didn’t want to eat, even the Trufood wasn’t tasting too good to me.  I wasn’t drinking much water either, which concerned mom quite a bit.  I just didn’t know how to tell her I wasn’t feeling well.  She stayed by my side trying to get me to eat and drink.  She even tried spoon feeding me.  I appreciated her trying so I would take a couple bites, but I just wasn’t interested.

Mom went to the store on Friday and bought some huge chicken breasts.  She put them in her crockpot with some chicken broth and let them cook for a few hours.  In the meantime, she made some rice and some plain pasta.  (My mom’s Italian, so there is ALWAYS pasta in the house.)  Well, the rice tasted good, and so did the pasta.  Then the chicken was finished and mom shredded it into a container and gave me some.  That tasted pretty good too.  I think I ate too much.  I sort of got a little upset, but didn’t throw up.  This was a rough day for me, and mom.  She was really, really worried about me.  I don’t think she slept well at all that night.  I was exhausted and spent the entire night in the bedroom instead of roaming the house for different places to sleep.  I know mom was up at least four times that night because she came over to check on me.  She would pet me and talk to me for a few minutes, but I was so tired I barely lifted my head.

I felt a little better this morning, but mom was still worried.  She drove into town to drop off the track & field equipment for Special Olympics practice and let them know she had to hurry home to take care of me.  My mom coaches Special Olympics, not sure you knew that.  She told me she was coming right back so I waited for her.  She was only gone for a little while but to me it seemed like, forever!

I have now eaten quite a bit of fresh cooked chicken today, it’s really all I want.  I’m starting to feel a little better but I’m still tired.  Mom has started wrapping my meds in sliced turkey or sliced roast beef.  She thinks she’s fooling me, but I know there are pills in there.  I’m just glad the turkey or roast beef tastes good so I can just swallow it whole.

I’m hoping I feel even better tomorrow.  Mom said she was going to stay with me as much as possible and that makes me feel better.  I always feel better when mom is nearby.  I hope she knows I’m trying to get better.  She has a special power called love that makes everything feel better.  I feel it in her hands and see it in her eyes, even through her tears.