Quite possibly the saddest day of my life - April 18, 2008

Jesse could no longer sustain his beautiful, vibrant and happy quality of life after an 11 month journey with lymphoma. Although 95% of this time was truly a gift in that he enjoyed life to the fullest with no pain or discomfort, in the beginning of April that started to change. On April 17, 2008 it became apparent his discomfort and inabilities outweighed his quality of life and I had to help him stop the progression. On April 18, 2008, I lost my rock, my love, and one of the most precious beings that has ever blessed me with sharing life.

Beautiful Boy - 1990 t0 2008. I miss you so, and forever would not have been enough ...

(PLEASE VISIT JESSE'S MEMORIAL WEBSITE AT: http://jessejames.pets-memories.com/)

Rosette

Thank you to whomever left Jesse the anonymous heart Rosette.

You made his mommy smile and I will be sure to tell him!

Such a roller coaster ride ...

A few weeks ago Jesse really started to decline; his lymph nodes were huge, visible without even touching them. They were so large it was making it hard for him to breathe. We tried a shot of Elspar (10,000 units) and within 48 hours they were almost all GONE and only 2-3 were palpable - they were less than an 1/8th of what they were. (He only had 1 side effect from the Elspar and that was that he threw up once.) Since his Leukeran was no longer keeping the cancer at bay, I had a lot of research to do on Lomustine as it is not as mild of a drug as Leukeran. I decided to try it (30mg every 3 weeks protocol), but I am not sure it's working as his lymph nodes are getting larger again. Please keep little Jesse in your thoughts, he loves all of his fans!

(BTW, lymph node enlargement is the key way to tell the progression of lymphoma. Plus, his energy and alertness level is rather apparent too.)

UPDATE: His Lomustine seems to be working. His lymph nodes have held their size for a week now. On Monday his blood will be tested and if his WBC is high enough he will get another dosage of Lomustine - however - it will be a lower dosage as his first blood test revealed a slow recovery of WBC. So far, he has had no side effects from the Lomustine.

On May 15th, 2007 I cried for a week ...

Jesse was diagnosed with lymphoma. I was devastated; from everything I read and was told, he only had 2-4 months to live - and possibly less if I did nothing as far as treatment. I had a very difficult decision to make and I had to make it quickly. Full out chemo with 6-9 months to live or at home mild chemo with 2-4 months to live. The decision was hard at first as you automatically want to give them the most time possible. But I realized quality was most important - and he hated being at the vet. I decided to do the very mild at home chemo - which are pills; 2 mg of Leukeran every other day and 5mg of Prednisone twice a day.

It is now Novemeber 9th and I cannot believe I am writing this to say that Jesse is doing so very well - actually better than he was before treatment. He is happy, playful, energetic and almost like a puppy at times. He has had very, very little side effects from the medication (off and on diarrea) and his Prednisone has been reduced to once a day instead of twice a day. An added benefit to the Pred is that it tremendously helped his limp that I mentioned in a previous diary entry. Unfortunately, shortly after I wrote that entry, his leg got much worse - almost to the point where he could not walk and I had to carry him everywhere. But he RUNS now!!! I know he has limited time, but I am so thankful for the time I have had with him, and more than anything I am thankful that he has felt so good and is enjoying life.

Say a little doggie something for Mr Jesse ... I wish I could have him forever.

(This was one of the Diary Entries of the Day on 11/10/2007.)

Update 2007

Jesse is doing well. He is regulated for his Cushing's Disease and his Hypothyroidism. He has developed a limp and even with XRays the vet does not know why. He has no arthritis or masses of any kind. It's possible a specialist can pinpoint the problem, but fortunately for now it doesn't seem to hurt him or hinder him much. AND, no more seizures at all - thank goodness he only had that one in 2004.

January 6, 2006

My little sweet pea has not had another seizure at all which is wonderful.

BUT, for over a month now he has been undergoing test after test for Cushing's Disease. A couple of years ago the vets thought he would develop it but he tested negative at that time and had no symptoms. About 2 months ago he started exhibiting symptoms (especially the aggression, eating and drinking) so I took him in and the testing started ... everything from ACTH to an ultrasound. Although the traditional tests still show negative (about 10% of dogs still test neg even when pos), the cortizole pee test showed he had over 3 times the amount of steroids in his body than he should have. Due to several tests, the symptoms, and the ultrasound, the vet is convinced he definitely has Cushing's and we are about to start treatment.

So, anyone who knows anything about this disease ... I welcome your advice and comments. I know Lysodren is serious business and I also know it's not a cure but more or less given to help quality of life.

So Far So Good

It has been almost 3 months and no other seizures have been noted. Looks like it must have been one of those fluke things!

:)

Update - 9 Oct 04

Jesse had his systolic blood pressure taken today and he is 138 - completely normal!

So, let's just hope he doesn't have another seizure ever again. So far so good - it has almost been 2 weeks and he has been fine.

Please send your "kisses and hugs" thoughts his way. Thanks!

Update - 4 Oct 04

My regular vet discussed Jesse's free T4 (thyroid) levels with the pathologist and concluded that even though his levels are on the low end of normal (3.8), his levels are not low enough to cause a seizure (usually seen in .3 and below).

What is suspected at this point is hypertension (seizures are frequently seen in hypertension). Unfortunately, hypertension is another sign of Cushing's Disease. But, there are worse things. If he is found to be hypertensive, he will be put on medication and should be fine. If the hypertension was left untreated it would cause major problems.

Partial Seizure?

Sep 26th, 2004 (Sunday) Jesse was on the couch. He got up to jump down and was frozen in that position and he began shaking uncontrollably. I ran over and put him on the floor and ran to get a few things before rushing him to the emergency vet. As I ran to grab these things, he tried to follow me but couldn't - he was completely incapable of doing anything voluntarily. He was stiff in very unnatural positions while being totally disoriented and shaking constantly. The shaking itself lasted about 4 minutes, then for another minute or two he seemed very confused. Then, he was fine. The emergency vet did blood tests to confirm that he did not have any organ failure - which he did not. They felt he probably had a partial seizure. He has not had another episode (that I know of).

My regular vet is testing his thyroid levels to make sure his medication dosage is adequate. After that, it's wait and see. My vet has suspected for some time that he may develop Cushing's Disease as he has enlarged adrenal glands - equally, which points to pituitary cushing's. Additionally, he has a slightly elevated ALKP (liver enzyme). He has had the ACTH stim test and it was negative.

If anyone has any advice or thoughts feel free to pass it along to me. Thank you so much - Jesse and I appreciate your time and good wishes.