Some pictures we take, can mean so much, but for others to see, what you see, it is necessary to share the journey that led to that picture.
Blue has today been to Fitzpatrick Referrals for his 3rd session of Chemotherapy, although still drowsy from the sedatives, he is now at home with a bag of treats from the kind Nurse, who has a dog called Erik, that Blue shares tweets with, @PawsomeErik on twitter.
It has been a few weeks since news of Blue has been blogged, there is good reason, Christmas was one and the other, time was better spent enjoying his company.
Back to today, at 10.00am Blue was given his usual 10 tablets of Acepromazine (10mg) we were all ready to go for 10.30 for the trip to Guildford for a noon appointment.
As we walked out of the house the tablets were already having an effect, Blue leaning on anything that came close, walls, radiator, legs anything. We got him to the back of the car, and as we jointly lifted him up into the car, I commented that he has had some Christmas excess.
We arrived in good time, the journey just over an hour, meaning we were a bit early, but decided to take Blue in and await our appointment in one of the receptive pods, ingenious idea. Blue settled quickly, which was good. But as it came to his turn, the sedatives seemed not to be so effective as in the past, keeping the muzzle on was a good idea.
The next part is some on the hoof choreography, this was because Dr Kelvin Kow and PawsomeErik's mum approached and Blue was vocal and alert, suspicious at what was going on. The idea was that Blue would be taken to the treatment room for his Chemo session.
So leading off Sue supported Blue's wobbly back end with a sling, as I lead him out of the pod and in the direction of the door.
It was a cross between a dance and a relay race, seamlessly the Doctor and the Nurse took the reins in mid flow, and guided Blue to the transfer door, and gave little resistance as he walked off with his new dancing/relay race partners.
We waited back at the pod, for about half hour, until Blue returned, with the Nurse and his bag of treats. The Nurse had said that Blue had done well, and was nice and calm throughout his session, the Doctor was soon with us to explain the results.
His 3rd Chemo session was administered without any problems, his blood tests had shown a small improvement in the red blood cell count, lower than normal but better. Blue's weight had gone back up to 49kg.
Dr Kelvin spent a further 10 minutes talking through how Blue was getting on with the chemotherapy, gaining weight, and an appetite to interact and be more mobile were all positives. For Blue there can only be today, but we have to discuss what is on the horizon. Blue is booked in for session #4 in three weeks time.
Dependant on how Blue is, a week before that session, we have to call and advise the Doctor, he will then make a decision about whether Blue will need a CT scan at his next appointment. The scan will determine if there is a return of any masses or tumours, that will then be a crossroads to decide what the next stage is for Blue.
The treatment he is receiving is limited, to 4-6 sessions only, and they normally cease to be less effective beyond the 5th or 6th treatment. Continued usage risks damaging the heart irreversibly, but there is an antidote. There could be a change of treatments, to tablet medication, which attacks the cancer cells in a different way. But to make that decision the CT scan is required, we have said that we will follow the advice and be guided by their expertise judgement.
We shook hands, and it was time to transport the little fella back home. Traffic was light and the return journey was only an hour.
How do you lift a 49 kilo ball of fur out of a car, we tried several ways, each time his head was lolloping out the back of the car door further and further, we both got the giggles, but finally somehow using the sling and kinetics we got him out, good job we weren't being filmed, that would have been a sight.
Since our last blog, Blue has got to walk a little further each week, and last weekend he got to walk a whole circuit of the local park, so for a special treat for all of us we went to the seaside.
Words not needed, you can tell how much Blue enjoyed his trip to Milford on Sea.
Christmas was fun, especially the quality time we had together.
But the one thing that has always been special to Blue, was being able to go swimming.
No comments:
Post a Comment