At the beginning of this lymphoma nightmare, I spent a lot of time reading and talking with folks about how we should respond to the disease. Pretty much everyone agreed that the chemotherapy was worth trying. Another strong supporting response, in conjunction with the chemo, is to get him on a really healthy diet to help his body fight this disease.

I consulted with his breeder over at Red Bay Bassets, as well as did a lot of scouring of reputable Internet sites. I found one site, in particular, with some excellent (IMHO) info. The site is run by a veterinarian, Dr. Charles E. Loop, DVM. He suggested a specific diet for dogs with chronic illnesses, such as lymphoma.

Between Loop's diet and the recommendations from our friends at Red Bay (thanks Pat and Sandi!), based on their substantial experience with bassets, I came up with a diet for Beau (and Maggie -- try giving them different food...).

I try to get as much organic ingredients as I can reasonably find. When organic isn't available, I get the best I can. The chicken thighs, for example, are no-preservative, no-hormone, grass fed, but they're not organic per se.

Here's the essence of the diet, all cooked in a big crock pot:

1 pack of 4 chicken thighs (skin on, with bones)
1 carton (32 oz) organic chicken broth
1 cup organic whole grain basmati rice
1/2 cup organic lentils
1/2 cup organic rolled oats or pearl barley
4 whole organic carrots, chopped
1 bunch organic baby spinach, chopped

1) Cook the thighs in the broth for several hours, until it is "fall off the bone" soft.

2) Remove the bones, and break the chicken into small bits.

3) Add the rice, and cook another hour.

4) Add the lentils and oats/barley and cook another 30 minutes.

5) Add the carrots and spinach and cook another 30 minutes.

6) Cool and pack into 1-week sized storage container.

At feeding time, I add several supplements including a multi-vitamin, vitamin E, olive oil (a few drops), and a big scoop of plain yogurt.

It comes as no surprise that Beau and Maggie both absolutely devour this food. We hope it's helping, of course, but it is without a doubt making them both exceptionally happy. That, in and of itself, can't be too bad.

Cheers,

Ken

Well, Beau's treatment is back on schedule as of today. His white blood cell count had rebounded nicely after the evil cytoxan and today he got a treatment of vincristine.

He seems to be happy thus far. Week 1 was also vincristine , and he really didn't experience any adverse reaction then, so we're all hoping for a repeat this week as his body works to drive away the nasty lymphoma cells.

By all outward appearances, he's a completely healthy and happy little 8-year old basset hound. I have to continuously remind myself that the chemo isn't a cure for lymphoma, and we're ever so thankful for every day we get.

Just yesterday, Beau, Maggie, and I spent much of the afternoon/evening in front of the fireplace. It's wonderful to see him happy and clearly content. Our family room, with its comfy sofa and its fireplace, is about his favorite spot on the planet.

And, in 2 weeks (coinciding with his 1st scheduled "rest week"), we're taking him and Maggie to the Outer Banks for a couple days to help celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Can't wait to get both of them out on the beach for some nice walks.

Cheers,

Ken

So yesterday was Beau's 8th birthday. Thanks to everyone who sent him email and wished him well. He (and Maggie) had a great day. Caren got him a cupcake to devour. Once bowled, cupcakes have a life expectancy of about 1 nanosecond in our house.

He even got an email from his brother Hoagie, who delivered the news that Beau is now an uncle! What a great birthday surprise. We'd learned a few months ago that Hoagie is now a Champion, and this latest news was definitely the icing on the cupcake. Congratulations to Hoagie and the entire Red Bay gang!

Meanwhile, Beau's urinary irritation seems to finally be showing signs of improving.

Cheers,

Ken

Well, it's been a few days since we got the good news about Beau's lymphoma being in remission. We're still euphoric about that, of course. He's still struggling through the residual side effects of the evil cytoxan, but I think the past 24 hours have seen a bit of improvement.

In the meantime, he's still peeing every couple hours, and it sure looks painful. Those of you who have had urinary tract infections can probably sympathize with him. But imagine a UTI that lasts for (so far) a week and has you peeing blood every 2 hours. Oh, and it's impervious to antibiotics, and the doctor says to you to be patient and it will pass. How can you be patient when you're peeing razor blades dipped in tobasco?!

His schedule was pushed back by a week on Monday, because his white blood cell count was too low to take a dose of vincristine. The doctor says that's no cause for alarm and happens often after patients take the evil cytoxan. He's expected to be fine to continue with the vincristine by this coming Monday. I'm doing my best to help him build up his strength via the home made organic diet I have him on.

But, we are still incredibly thankful for the remission. We'll all rest better when the bladder irritation subsides, though.

Thanks to all of you who have been sending Beau your well wishes and prayers. We all really appreciate the outpouring of love.

Tomorrow is Beau's 8th birthday, as I said. He loves his birthday cupcakes every year!

Cheers,

Ken

I just got off the phone with Beau's oncologist. She is ecstatic about his response to the chemo--well, not the bladder irritation part, but I'll get to that--and said that his lymphoma is, "in complete remission already". This is outstanding news. He'll still press on with the remainder of the 19 week program, but the fact that he responded so quickly to the chemo is an excellent sign.

Now, his bladder is highly irritated from the evil cytoxan. But there's no bladder infection, which is good. We're working to reduce the symptoms of that and holding patiently for the irritation to pass, which should take a few days.

So naturally, we're all ecstatic about Beau's reaction. It'll make his 8th birthday celebration this Thursday a special one indeed. (Yes, he'll get his birthday ritual cupcake to devour sans snood, as normal.)

Enough for now. I'm off to go pick him up from the vet...

Cheers,

Ken

Since we've been spending most of the weekend--day and night--helping Beau through the side effects of the Cytoxan he had last week, I thought I'd do a bit of reading up on the other medications in the "CHOP" program he's going through. I wanted to be as informed as possible on all of these and to have an idea of what sorts of other "surprises" we should prepare ourselves for.

CHOP basically consists of 4 cycles of 4 weeks each, with a rest week in between. Each of the 4 cycles go like this:

Week 1: Vincristine
Week 2: Cytoxan
Week 3: Vincristine
Week 4: Doxorubicin

There's also Chlorambucil listed on some of the Cytoxan weeks.

None of these sound like a walk in the park. At least two of them are themselves believed to be carcinogens. Great. Well, I suppose if they continue killing off the cancer cells, then they're better than the alternative.

We'll just keep taking one day at a time. Beau is still having frequent, urgent, and strained urination today, although I haven't seen any blood in his urine for a few hours now. Fingers crossed. Tomorrow is his week 3 vincristine dose.

Cheers,

Ken

Spoke too soon... For the past day or so, Beau has been battling one of the common side effects of the cytoxan--a bladder infection. It started Thursday night when we noticed a drop of blood in his urine and that he was peeing "urgently" and often. His behavior was identical to when Maggie has had her urinary track infections in the past.

After speaking with the doctors at SouthPaws, they decided to run a culture to find out just what it is. So it was off to SP again yesterday afternoon. In order to get a clean sample, they had to stick a needle into his bladder. You can imagine how much fun that was. Now we have to wait 72 hours for the culture to do its thing in some petri dish in a lab somewhere. In the meantime, he's on a pretty strong antibiotic, "Simplecef".

Needless to say, he's not a happy guy today. He and I were up about every 1.5 hours last night, and then he'd pee until there was nothing to pee. It must be something akin to peeing razor blades. This ain't no "sport piddling" to cover up after the Yorkies, that's for sure.

We're hoping that the antibiotic is going to start really doing its voodoo later today. The vet says it will take 24-48 hours to really have an impact.

So, we're not straying far from the back door today. But, I have the fireplace going and when he's not peeing, he's quite comfortable cuddled up on the couch.

He's also lost a couple pounds in two weeks, so we're not holding back on giving him treats and full portions of meals when he wants them. Oh, and the crockpot is cranking again today with his next batch of the organic food I've been making them. He and Maggie both absolutely love their new diet, which is nice to see.

Keep those emails and well wishes coming, please. If any of you got a bounced message when you tried sending Beau an email (beau@vanwyk.org), I've fixed the problem. Please try again.

Cheers,

Ken

Quick Beau update today. He's had no bad side effects from the cytoxan thus far. Since many humans react badly to cytoxan, we were worried that Beau would experience some of its documented side effects (e.g., "Side-effects include chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), bone marrow suppression, stomach ache, diarrhea, darkening of the skin/nails, alopecia (hair loss) and lethargy. Hemorrhagic cystitis is a frequent complication, but this is prevented by adequate fluid intake and Mesna (sodium 2-mercaptoethane sulfonate).")

So, fingers and paws crossed, we continue on.

Thanks, too, for those of you, and your pooches, who have sent Beau emails (beau@vanwyk.org). While he's not much for reading these days, we greatly appreciate all the well wishes, and we always "deliver" your emails in the form of hugs to Beau. Keep those emails coming, please!

Cheers,

Ken

I dropped Beau off this morning for his second week of chemo treatments. Week 1 was a chemical called "vincristine". This week's dose is "cytoxan". Week 3 is vincristine again, and week 4 is "doxorubicin"; then he gets a rest week and the 4 week process starts over.

The technician at SouthPaws asked how he did in his first week. No nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, which she said is a good sign. Also, as I reported here already, his lymph nodes had drastically reduced in their swelling, which she said is "an excellent sign".

So, paws crossed, we continue fighting.

Beau was in great spirits. He's been perky and happy all week. This morning, he was confused because he wasn't allowed any food after midnight. While we were waiting at SouthPaws, he smelled the bag of food I'd packed in a ziplock bag and had in my jacket pocket. (SouthPaws gives them food when they're finished their treatments, and they encourage you to bring the dog's own food.) Once he'd latched onto that familiar smell, he was like a heat seeking cruise basselope. The whole clinic knew he had successfully tracked his prey.

And, of course, the lab techs at SouthPaws have all been fawning over him. He doesn't seem to mind the attention too much, although he did mind me not giving in and feeding him. (They say, too, that a healthy appetite is another good sign.)

Cheers,

Ken

Greetings. These sure aren't the circumstances that I was hoping for in launching "The Beau Beau Blog". You see, in January 2008, Beau was diagnosed with lymphoma. As you might imagine, this was a horrible blow to us, and to all who know Beau. It's tough enough just writing about it here, but I thought I'd take a few moments to post occasional updates here, so that all those whose lives Beau has touched can hear how he's doing.

First off, we were referred to a specialty veterinary clinic by Beau's primary care vet. The clinic, SouthPaws, is here in northern Virginia, and seems to us to be as good as any around. No one should experience what Beau and his food slaves are going through, but if you must, then it's good to have a team like SouthPaws on your side. Their exam rooms are set up like living rooms, with comfy chairs, a rug, etc. It was clear that Beau was comforted there from the moment we walked in the door.

Among other things, SouthPaws has some excellent documentation on their web site, where you can learn about your pet's ailment and its treatment. I did a lot of reading before we took Beau there last Monday.

After an examination and consultation with Beau's veterinary oncologist--something I'd so dearly hoped he'd never need--we opted to go with a 19 week chemo therapy treatment program. The program, called "CHOP" for the chemicals they use, kills off the cancer cells. Some 85% of the dogs that go through CHOP respond positively and their cancers go into remission. (More details on CHOP are available on the SouthPaws web site.)

It's now been 5+ days since Beau's first chemo dose. He seems (to us, who have absolutely no veterinary training at all) to be responding well, I'm cautiously happy to report. The swelling of his lymph nodes under his chin has gone down significantly. He also seems quite perky and happy--a critical component of the treatment program.

Next, after doing a ton of reading, searching, and comparing notes with Beau's breeders at Red Bay Bassets, I'm starting him (and Maggie) on a nearly 100% organic diet. This is to help his immune system fight this systemic cancer as best as it can. After the results we got with Elvis years ago, I'm convinced that preparing all-natural food for them will help significantly. And even if it doesn't help against his cancer, I'm positive he'll love the food and it will make him very happy. Again, that's as important to all of us right now as anything else.

We don't know just what the future will hold. Lymphoma is a horrible systemic cancer for which there is no known cure. Our goals are to fight it aggressively, and do everything in our power to make Beau comfortable, happy, and loved. Every day with Beau (and Maggie, for that matter) will be--and has always been--a treasure.

So, please keep Beau in your thoughts, your prayers, or whatever positive energy you can send in his direction. I'll do my best to keep posting updates here as often as I'm able to.

Cheers,

Ken van Wyk