All Joking Aside…

Those of you who know me know that I use humor to relieve stressful situations. This blog is a good example. To consider the seriousness of Willa’s condition and to dwell on “poor Willa” is not my way. (Don’t get me wrong, I have those moments, quietly, in private, I just try to avoid it in public.) The thing is, I am here at the LSU Vet Clinic with owners of animals who are in the same boat, or considerably worse. Consider the dogs I saw today, of the 12-15 dogs I saw while I waited for Willa, 4 of them had 3 legs, removed due to cancer.

I recognize the other owners now, after seeing them each morning for the past week. We exchange knowing looks, the “How’s Buddy doing today?” nod exchanged by folks who love their aging pets and feel the anguish of the other owners, sharing a moment of hope. That’s what we get here, hope. Hope that even if Willa passes sooner that we all expect, the young Veterinarians will learn how to care for a great dog who happens to have cancer and the passionate owner who wants the very best for his companion, right up to the end. Hope that in learning, lives can be improved, and the precious little time we have together can be extended just a little.

Willa lucked out this morning, Adrienne asked if we could come in earlier for her fourth treatment. That meant that we were done earlier, too. That meant that the Tuna that I brought home from dinner last night with Willa’s Uncle Rod (MJ's brother) and Aunt Vicki went into Willa’s breakfast that much earlier. Dinner was great, I have to admit, Baton Rouge (well the whole state of Louisiana, actually) knows how to cook! The restaurants here are amazing, but last nights dinner was great because of family. We talked and reminisced about dogs we had owned and “family stories”, memories that I have of my “Louisiana Family” as Rod likes to call it.

I have been a part of this family for 22 years. MJ and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary last Saturday, her on the road back from Willa’s first LSU visit, me packing for her return trip. We did take time for dinner together, but I am looking forward to getting home and celebrating.

We have a lot to celebrate.

Slipping into a Routine

Maybe it’s a coping skill, but after the fur-ro-ry, as Bugs Bunny would say, of the past 5 weeks, Willa and I are into a routine that suits us. I guess the weirdest part is how easy it has become to explain to passers-by why my dog has a shaved head and Manson-esque prison tats in blue and green. Willa now sports 5 blue and green crosses, two by her eye and three on the back of her head.

Here is Willa’s routine day:

• 5:30ish jump on the bed and go back to sleep
• 8:00 Wake, get love, try to stay in bed a bit longer while Dad makes coffee
• 8:10 Outside to pee/poo, clear the squirrels temporarily from the yard (do dogs dream of a permanent solution?)
• 8:15 Greet Grandma by picking up Geoffrey and growling gently while circumnavigating her legs. Drop Geoffrey only long enough to administer a tiny kiss to Grandma.
• 8:17 First nap of the day while Dad blogs, talks to Mom and works
• 10:45 Jump in the car and head to LSU
• 11:00 Drop off at LSU, greet Adrienne or Shay with a bit less panting and trembling than the previous day
• 12:30 Bee line it back to the car for Breakfast al-Fresco in the car, Salmon in brown gravy with a side of 300 mg of Clindamycin
• 12:30:25 Head back to Grandma’s so Dad can have lunch and finish his work day. Takes second or third nap of the day.
• 5:00 “Willa want to go for a WALK??” Secure the neighborhood, if only temporarily, from squirrels and pee where others have peed before
• 9:30ish Bedtime #1
• 11:45 Wake and eat dinner (plus second dose of antibiotic)
• 11:50 Outside and back
• 12:00 Bedtime #2

I cannot say enough about all the love and encouragement we have received from friends old and new. I find it truly amazing how “Willa’s People” have rallied around her and support her from afar. MJ and I want you all to know that your kind words of encouragement and love shore us up, and fill us with pride. We know Willa is a great dog, and it would appear that you all do too, thanks for letting us know that.

Mary Jane, Matthew, Willa and Ruby

Grace Under Fire

Willa made it through her first day of radiation therapy. She bounded out of the hospital and was ready to chase squirrels when she got back to Grandma’s. (She does not know she’s sick, I hope to keep it that way.)

There appears to be only one obvious side effect, the number of crosses on her head has multiplied. She now sports 3 targets, one in blue and two in green. I think we’re going to have to create some kind of toupee when we get finished.

I am shifting her feeding schedule so she eats as soon as she get’s home and again just before midnight since I am not supposed to feed her breakfast before she has treatment.

Thanks to everyone who has written, called, and prayed. Willa’s spirit is strong and even though she trembles with fear when I drop her off the nurses say she does very well once she is out of my sight.

We’re Meant to be Here

Willa slept very well last night and will go to LSU this morning for her first full day of treatment. I just spoke to the nurse who will admit Willa and “today is the last long day”. Tuesday through Friday I’ll be able to wait while she is treated.

It is not lost on me that there is a reason for everything. Seemingly unrelated events, one after another, that, in time, reveal a pattern that, in the 20/20 vision of hindsight, make perfect sense.

Consider Willa’s life involving Louisiana:

• Raised by Mary Jane an amazing, loving LSU graduate (Geaux Tigers!)
• Aunt Cheryl, also an LSU grad, lives in Slidell, LA (St. Tammany Parish)
• Trained as a Search Dog
• Advanced Search Dog Training in St. Tammany Parish by LASAR Dogs. (Still THE single coolest event I have ever attended.)
• Responded to Slidell, LA following Hurricane Katrina to assist in the search for victims
• Returns to Slidell, LA to teach the kids about SAR Dogs and volunteering in 2007 and again in 2011
• Contracts cancer and needs the best available treatment, LSU Cancer Treatment Unit is ready for us

We’re in good hands.

Off to LSU

The team at Heart of Texas Veterinary Specialty Center (we call them HOT Vets) has been over-the-top communicative about the progress and options for Willa’s treatment. Deanna, Willa’s Oncology Tech, has been keeping us apprised of the availability of the radiation treatment machine at Texas A & M Vet School. They are installing a new one, and the installation is not going well.

On our second visit to the HOT Vets for Willa’s vaccine and a checkup, we decided to pursue options other than TAMU. We needed to get Willa's treatment started. Mary Jane has family in Baton Rouge, so it has always been in the back of our minds that LSU Vet School was an option. LSU has the latest technology for treating Willa’s kind of tumor.

From the LSU Vet School Web site:

Radiation oncologists use radiation to kill cancer cells locally. This allows cancers that cannot be cured with surgery alone to be treated effectively. With the incorporation of radiation it is often possible to perform a less aggressive surgery than would otherwise be necessary, while still achieving a high chance of cure. The radiation oncology service of the CTU uses a linear accelerator to deliver a high energy beam of radiation to the tumor. The LSU CTU is one of the only veterinary school in the country that uses a multileaf collimator to perform intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This technology allows the radiation beam to be tightly conformed to the tumor contour, sparing normal tissues in the radiation area. This permits precise delivery of a high dose of radiation to the tumor, while sparing critical normal tissues.

All we needed was an appointment to get started. Deanna was on it.

Just another Thursday Morning

Following a great morning of Agility with Willa and Ruby, we got a call from LSU Veterinary Oncology that they could take Willa immediately for her CT scan and then prepare her for 5 days of radiation treatment. They just needed to know when we could get there, suggesting Monday. MJ did not hesitate to ask “How about tomorrow?”. 

MJ packed herself and Willa, and I prepped the truck, they were off in under 90 minutes. We go to Baton Rouge all the time to visit family, so we know the routine. Willa LOVES “grandma’s house” (except for this one grey squirrel). MJ’s mom and step-father did not hesitate when we let them know Willa was coming. Many of you know from our videos that MJ’s sister lives in Slidell, LA. I gave her a call to let her know that MJ and Willa were on the way and she made plans for she and Jaci (MJ’s niece) to spend the night to help MJ and Willa in any way. That’s how great everyone has been. No hesitation, no problem, just “What do you need?”

Friar Willa

The first step in the process is for LSU to get a clear picture of the extent of the tumor. Mary Jane took Willa for her CT Scan so that the Oncologist can determine the course of treatment. This will also be the most definitive look at the tumor for us, so we can really KNOW what we’re up against. The results of the scan will also help the technicians pin point precisely where to point the beam. They take careful measurements from a reference point on Willa’s head, the top of her head…right…..about…..there!

It Takes a Village

If ever I wished I could talk to animals it’s now. I wish I could comfort her and tell her this is so she’ll have a great quality of life, so she’ll get to go swimming and chase squirrels for a few more years. We, thankfully, have the comfort of family, and so does Willa. Where words fail, a gentle caress, scratching that o-so-special spot (5th rib, right side, that makes her back leg twitch), and the love of Willa’s “special people” like her “cousin” Jaci. Jaci has known Willa her whole life. Willa (dubbed “Willa Jean” by Cheryl) was so excited to see Cheryl and Jaci at Grandmas house. They greeted Willa with open arms and a new “giraffe-looking” toy immediately dubbed Geoffrey.

Groggy Doggy

Every visit, every conversation with the vets and technicians involves a flood of information for you to process and make decisions about. Cheryl and Jaci attended the initial consultation and follow-up with MJ to be an extra set of ears, to help MJ process all the information. All of the info was relayed back to me in Austin. Great caring people at LSU, lots of things to be hopeful about. Just need to get the test results.

The first CT scan results came back with encouraging news. The tumor is not invading the jaw bone and appears localized to the tissue of her palate. This is great news for treatment. MJ, Cheryl and Jaci picked up Willa, still groggy from anesthesia, and brought her back to Grandma’s house to sleep off the day’s treatment and get the meal that she had to skip because of the anesthesia.

MJ is back in Austin with Willa now, tomorrow I’ll pack up and head back to Grandma’s house for the week of daily radiation treatments.

Good News in the Bad

You can imagine that it is important to understand the extent of the cancer, to understand how best to treat it. Our team at Heart of Texas Veterinary Specialty Center did a great job answering our questions and letting us know “What’s Next”. The first step was to get a chest X-ray and test Willa’s lymph nodes. If the cancer was spreading, we’d see it in her lymph nodes. If the cancer was in her lungs, we would have fewer treatment options.

The initial test of Willa’s lymph nodes shows nothing abnormal. Her chest X-rays are clear too. This is the first good news in days. It gives us the hope that aggressive treatment of the tumor will extend her life.

We have started Willa on the Melanoma Vaccine. The goal of the vaccine is to help her immune system fight the cancer from the inside. The vaccine is administered in a “loading dose” of 4 injections 2 weeks apart, then every 6 months for the rest of her life.

I am thinking she’s going to need 20 injections…

The Word You NEVER Want to Hear

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. They started with the words “Malignant Melanosarcoma”. To be honest, I stopped listening after “Malignant”. It all started as a growth on her nose that would bleed when she rubbed it. We quickly scheduled surgery to remove the growth and, since she was already under anesthesia, a dentistry. I LOVE my vet and they tolerate me, so I took the day off to be with my unconscious dog while they ministered to her teeth and lumpy nose.

As Chris began the dentistry she pointed out the growth on Willa’s palate that, without the dentistry, we never would have noticed. Willa has a black palate, this was a 1.5 cm white squishy, spongy spot next to her molar. We showed it to Brent, Willa’s surgeon, and his face gave me a glimpse of what I was in store for the next few weeks. If we were playing poker, Brent’s face told me we did not have a winning hand. He said “Let’s biopsy that and see what we’re up against.” but his face said “We’re up against something bad.” Having a backstage pass to your dog’s procedures has it’s drawbacks, the professionals don’t have a chance to temper their responses when a dog they have come to love run up against mortality. At that moment he was a friend giving another friend some hard news.

This is the spot just after the biopsy, so it looks a bit worse than before we messed with it.

Surgery

The surgery was uneventful. Brent skillfully removed the mass on her nose and biopsied the spot in her mouth. During the dentistry we discovered a broken front tooth, so we removed that too. Everything was sent into pathology for testing so we would know what we’re up against.

The Phone Call

I always wanted to be a Vet. Life had something else in mind, but while I was a Vet Technician I witnessed the hardest part of the job, over and over again. That part where the professional has to deliver the worst possible news, add some hope, and temper it with options and reality. Then cut through it all with love and a PLAN.

Willa’s Vet is Angela, she has known Willa since she was 6 weeks old. Willa was 6 lbs. and could fit in my cupped hands. Angela loves Willa, she takes pride in her accomplishments and brings her children to see Willa when we do our public demos at the Austin US Heroes Air Show. Angela had to deliver the news of Willa’s test results.

The Bad News: It’s Cancer.

The Good News: The bump on her nose was removed and has clean margins. The one in her mouth is small and there is a great doc nearby who has had success treating this kind of cancer. I have already talked to her and she will see you right away.

The Oncologist

It’s hard to classify folks who choose a career where all the news is bad. Some news is “less bad”, but the reason you are talking is because it’s all bad. Had I met Raquel at a cocktail party I would say she is a bit quirky with a delightfully dry sense of humor. She’s very Texan, with real stories about real animals that she has loved through the years. She wears her heart on her sleeve and fell in love with Willa on sight.

We reviewed the situation from every angle and talked about every outcome. She was adamant that one thing not change: LOVE YOUR DOG! Willa has no idea that she is sick, that should not change.

We talked about options and decided on a combination treatment of a Melanoma Vaccine, which has been developed for dogs, and radiation. Texas A & M is installing a new machine, but they are not up and running yet, so Willa is going to return to Baton Rouge, LA to the LSU Vet School for her radiation treatment under the supervision of Dr. Geiger, DVM.