The Beau Diddley Diaries

Did somebody say TREAT?!

You want me to WHAT?

Greetings all. Rest week went flawlessly. Beau and Maggie thoroughly enjoyed their romping around at “Camp Yorkie” and then their weekend in NJ. Well, to be honest, Beau didn’t much enjoy the driving, but he was a trouper about it.

This past Monday began his fourth and final 4-week cycle in the CHOP program. All systems go with the vincristine, with no bad side effects noticed. Whew!

I’m pretty sure that South Paws is going to need to re-shingle their roof, though, as Beau probably knocked the shingles a bit loose when I arrived to pick him up. Although it’s more than obvious he doesn’t like his clinic visits, he’s always so very happy to go home. His Ken is there (usually) and he gets a treat.

And then, the nurse handed me a prescription for next week. It was tough to hear her instructions over Beau’s vocalization, but I’m quite sure I heard “these are for you to administer to Beau for his treatment next week”. WHAT?!

I called back from home when I could actually speak with them and, sure enough, they want me to administer his chemo next week. It’s an oral (pill) format, so “no big deal”. (Words that I don’t think should ever be used to describe
any chemo treatment...)

But, I got the prescription filled and will be administering 23 tablets of chlorambucil to him on Monday. Gulp. Wish us both luck!

Cheers,

Ken
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Ahhh, some R&R up in camp yorkie

Here we sit up in Pennsylvania at "camp yorkie". We're well into Beau's third rest week of the 19-week CHOP program, and so far so good.

Beau and Maggie have been enjoying a few days up here. They have a big back yard to play (and "sport piddle") in here, as well as three yorkies and a Himalayan cat to play with and torment. The weather is cold, but has finally cleared up nicely. Today, we went for a nice walk around the block with Ouma and the Yorkies--which, by the way, would be an excellent name for a band.

This weekend we'll continue the rest week with a couple days' visit up in New Jersey. No yorkies there, though. Just a couple toddlers to return the tormenting favor. But the forecast is for sunny and warm weather, so we're looking forward to it.

Next week, we're back to the final CHOP cycle. Fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Ken
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And we're in the home stretch

Well, I'm home from Singapore and it's Monday, so this morning, still in a 12-hour time zone shift haze, I climbed in the car with Beau and took him to South Paws. All went well with his treatment this week.

This completes the third full cycle of his CHOP treatment. He gets a rest week next week, as normal, and then it's on to the last cycle. For his rest week, he and I will be spending a couple days up in Pennsylvania at "Camp Yorkie".

He was in great spirits today after his treatment. In the South Paws lobby, he was his usual vocal self. Then, when we got home, I directed him to the back door so I could let him out for a "leg stretch". On the way to the door, he played his old "nip at Ken's ankles while he walks" game--a sure sign that he's happy and in a playful mood. Talk about a great home coming gift after being on the road so much for the past few weeks!

(Also, I'm experimenting with a "talkback" feature here. As of this Beau Blog entry, you should be able to post comments if you choose. Note: nothing you wouldn't want Beau to read, as I'll be moderating the entries...)

Cheers and Aroooos to all,

Ken
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What, no Beau Blog this week? Perish the thought!

Ok, I've been slow to get an update here, sorry. Blame it on the 24 hours' flight time to Singapore, the 12 hour time shift, the Tuesday chemo treatment, whatever -- but I'm sorry.

Beau did have his treatment this week, on Tuesday (after a longish weekend with Caren's family in New Jersey). All went well. No nasty side effects noted thus far, so we're all relieved and happy.

Next week is the final week of the third complete CHOP cycle. Just one more cycle to go after that, following a rest week and a couple days up in Pennsylvania at "Camp Yorkie".

Keep those positive thoughts, prayers, and aloha nui loa thoughts coming!

Mahalo,

Ken
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