Blood test today

Blue attended Fitzpatrick Referrals today for his follow up blood test. This is following two weeks of medication in tablet /capsule form.

We are all becoming anxious with each visit, but in truth Blue continues to pull us all through, continuing to prove what a remarkable character he is.

Today he had 5 sedatives, to take the edge off ahead of his visit, these make him wobbly, but aware of what is going on.

Leaving home just after 2.00pm we were being guided through reception into the consultation room, to the welcome greetings from the ladies on reception, who instantly recognise Blue as we enter.

Weighing in at 50.8kg Blue soon settles and waits, the sedatives doing the job, even when a curious dog stands the other side of the door looking in through the viewing glass, Blue remains calm and comfortable.

Change occurs when Dr Kelvin Kow enters with a nurse, but soon subsides to a few sighs and puffs of his cheeks, Blue that is.

We talk through how Blue has been, namely less energetic, more sleepy, but with bouts of energy bursts, appetite is fine and with credit to Sue, not one tablet missed. (Thin chicken slices or ham wrapped around each one soon sees them down the back of Blue's throat).

Dr Kelvin explains that once the blood tests are done, he will have a better idea of if the dosage requires increasing or decreasing.

As Dr Kelvin held out his hand to take Blue's lead, Blue objected, but accepted a split second later, they were building their bond of trust with each other, that on it's own should not be underestimated as a significant change.

No sooner had Sue and I settled in the reception pod, and Blue was back, his paws scurrying across the floor, but not with the Dr, but the nurse, either those sedatives are working abnormally well, or the hard work and patience of the whole "FROST" team was paying dividends. In my opinion it has taken both, but the FROST team have really begun to win Blue's trust, even to the point where the Nurse said that she had stolen a kiss on the top of Blue's head, we all smiled.

We had to wait longer than we should have for the blood results, and during this time Blue even allowed a dog in the next pod to look at him without reacting to protect us.

The results as always are delivered in person by Dr Kelvin, this time the white blood cell count was slightly down, no anaemia, but it was still too early to tell if the dosage is causing the periodic lethargy or it is his body getting used to the new medicines. 

Blue will return in two weeks for another blood test, and dependent on the results, if all is well his visits could be extended to a month interval, looking further forward he could have two of those, and in two and half months from now we will have a decision to make. That decision will be whether to have a CT scan to see what is happening inside of Blue, but it is not a decision that we have to make yet.

We have heard the phrase #frostfamily and we are in no doubt all the staff that work there are like one big extended family, that welcome you all, and share every moment with you. Dr Kelvin is viewed as a friend of Blue, and us too. He explained that the day Blue laid on the operating table, he was consulted on his condition, and is so genuinely pleased to see where Blue is today compared to that dark afternoon in November last year.

Blue is a reward to all those that have helped along this journey and those that will ensure to see him get the best he can, from life.

Tomorrow Blue will be swimming at Aquadoggies, last week it invigorated him so much, he did not settle until 3 hours after getting home.

On a lighter note, Sue and I have been set a challenge, to get a wee sample for his next visit;

This will take a bit of strategy and a steady gloved hand!

Thank you for following Blue's story

Scotland 2016

Who would of thought it would have been possible, given everything Blue has gone through since the car accident last September, and the discovery of the cancerous mass in his abdomen, but in Scotland we shared what could be Blue's last holiday away, but who knows what is around the corner....

To put some perspective to it, our journey from Reading to the Highlands of Scotland, some 650 miles or a 12 hour journey is not for the feint hearted.

Below is a google map of our journey, and  a couple of images pinned on the map which are clickable. Feel free to zoom in to see the location of the images, on the top left is menu for specific selection. (If you lose your place, simply refresh the page).





Our journey was without incident, and as always, Blue travels well, there are times you have to remind yourself he is in the car.

Whenever we indicate, Blue pops up to have look, are we there?

The main reason for the holiday at this particular time, Blue's Chemo injections were completed, and three weeks later he was to begin chemo in tablet form. This was a chance for the three of us to recharge our batteries before we commenced with the new chapter.

Two weeks in Shieldaig, located on the West coast of the Scottish Highlands, affectionately well known and loved by us all.

Our holiday in pictures;

Our home for the next two weeks, with the red car outside.

These are but a few, more will follow and some more will be added to the google map.

Two weeks after setting off we returned home, rested and relaxed, ready for the next chapter.

Chemo #6

Blue today attended his sixth session of chemotherapy.

Those three week intervals come and go, we greet each one with apprehension, fingers crossed, clinging to any positive vibes we can.

Each visit we are 100% focused on Blue's well being and welfare, if this is his world, we share it together and live it each and every moment.

Complacency, granted, planning and many similar words have long since been removed from our vocabulary.

They are now replaced with today, hope, medicine, chemotherapy and admiration.

Straight to todays appointment, this is Blue's sixth and final Chemo session. We have now got this off to a fine art. The night before Blue gets a good play session in the garden, slightly longer than other nights, he has his anti-sickness tablets, and enjoys a good nights sleep on his own duvet, in the bedroom, where sometimes a contented, gentle snore will be our lullaby to sleep.

In the morning after an extended walk of about 20 minutes, we returned home for breakfast, mixed in are the daily tablets of gabapentine and yunnan baiyao which Blue shows no interest in until, he is spoon fed.

Blue was given 10 sedatives around 8:45 in preparation of his 11:00 appointment.

We set off around 9:50 and were confident as we lifted Blue into the car, that the sedatives were already having an effect and he was not feeling any lighter.

When we arrived at Fitzpatrick Referrals Oncology and Soft Tissue Centre (Affectionally referred to as "FROST"), reception was a busier place, but we confidently walked through to our waiting pod, Blue quickly settled.

As we waited we realised that something was missing, oh dear, Blue was muzzleless, this was soon remedied it was on the back seat of the car, no one noticed our error. Walking Blue into an occupied area without his muzzle to wait for a vet is unheard of.

Dr Kelvin Kow came out to see Blue and us, and introduced us to a new member of the team, his new right hand man, although she is actually a woman.

Dr Kelvin now feels confident to take Blue's lead and with his now, three assistants walks away with Blue, who spares a couple of concerned glances our way as he is lead off for his treatment, as they were yards away from the door, Blue goes to ground, but is soon persuaded to stand up and carry on. At least he didn't resort to his crocodile death roll, which he has perfected over the years with us.

Time for a coffee and people / dog watch as others come and go, some we have seen before most are new, but a much busier place than when we first attended this new unit in November last year.

The wait was just over an hour, Blue with his entourage returned back to us, although heavily sedated, walking without his support sling.

They reported that Blue has been unsettled today, slightly agitated, but co-operative, for Blue.

His chemo was administered without a problem, his blood levels were where they needed to be and he had gained weight, now up to 50.7kg

Blue has now had his final session of chemo, we have been told that only one in five dogs can handle what Blue has gone through, and we appreciate all that has got him through to this stage, much more than words could share.

Blue will have a three week rest before he begins a new chapter in his life, this will be though medicine administered by tablets, chemo, but in tablet form.

Those tablets will be measured through a specific formula to suit his weight and needs, they will be required daily for the rest of his life, how he will respond, we will have to wait and see.

Blue lives for today, and in the moment, and we look forward to sharing each and everyone of those days with him, ensuring all his needs are catered for, as best we can.

As I write this blog, Blue lays behind the sofa, contently sleeping off the sedatives, what he is unaware of is that on Sunday we will travel to the Highlands of Scotland, for a two week holiday.

We had not considered a holiday, since this all began, but it is now the right time, we all need some quality time together.



If it works, here is a short video of Blue out walking on a frosty Sunday morning.

Blue has continued with his swimming and extended walks, playing with footballs in the garden, his jollyball is unrecognisable as a ball these days, not bad considering he has had it for six years.

Blue has started to look for something to carry while out walking, I used to give him a bottle to carry, Sue now gives him something to carry when he wishes, recently it was his own extending lead.

Time to go and give Sue and our furry friend a huge cuddle, we all need it...............

You can always keep up to date on twitter look-up @BluetheGSD & @Bluesmummy

Chemo Session #4 (and a new job)

Sedated but always aware.......

Today was Chemo Session #4 for Blue, which has become a routine that Blue finds quite relaxing, but that is on Blue's scale. Any other dog you may feel Blue is far from relaxed, but trust us when we say "he is relaxed".

Blue began the day the evening before, let me explain. Ahead of Chemo, Blue is required to take anti-sickness tablets, these were lovingly crushed in a pestle and mortar, sprinkled and mixed in with a tin of sardines. Once sniffed, for any nasties, Blue wolfs it down, and proceeds to clean the bowl of all evidence that it was ever used to dish up food.

So back to today, we all had a lie in, and Blue went and done his business in the park, before coming home and having a hearty breakfast, unaware of what lay ahead, until 10 minutes before we left, he spotted the muzzle on the stairs. But there was no fuss, that might be in part to the sedatives that he was given at 8:20 am
The previous session the sedatives did not seem to kick in within the prescribed 2 hours, so we gave him them a little earlier so they would be in his system and working before his 10:30 appointment.

We left home shortly after 9:00am needing to get fuel for the car and a minor diversion to Asda to exchange a DVD, a completely different story.

 Reading to Guilford is just over 30+ miles and at this time of the day, very little traffic was encountered meaning we were there at 10:20am As we opened the car door, Blue was not up and alert ready to go, so a bit of coaxing was required, but once his paws were on the pavement we were heading for the door, well Blue was heading for the door, we did well to keep up. The push button on the sliding doors activated before Blue could ram it with his snout, and the same with the inner door. We made our way to a waiting pod in reception, where Blue quickly settled, to await our turn.

Once in the pod with Sue and me, Blue quickly settles, and is very relaxed, although he has been here before many times, he accepts it as a safe place, that is a credit to the Staff, team and designers of this state of the art unit. 

Bliss was disturbed with the arrival of Dr Kelvin Kow, and his assistant Nurse Emma. Moments later Blue settled back down, giving us the chance to recall how Blue has been since his last visit.

We told how Blue had been improving to the point that he had gone for two swim sessions and an hour plus walk at Queen Elizabeth Country Park in Hampshire. Also he retained a healthy appetite and was on minimum pain relief.

There was some concerns about Blue that we had agreed to share, it would be in Blue's interest long term. That concern was since Blue had undergone the major surgery to remove the mass from his abdomen, to date we had seen improvement in various different ways. That changed on Sunday, Blue was being playful and boisterous, and rolled over on his back, and gave a yelp. We then noticed he was "hovering" his back leg. From there on in we have tailored back his walks and avoided getting him too excited.

Dr Kelvin suggested we did not jump to any conclusions, let's see how he is. With a bit less than usual handling Blue went with me and Dr Kelvin to the door through to the business part of the building, where Nurse Emma and Dr Kelvin took Blue for his session and checks.

Sue and me sat in our Pod, accepting the offer of coffee while we waited, the 30-45minutes.

Sue recognised Blue was approaching, before he had turned the corner and come into view, Blue was coming straight back to us, with Dr Kelvin on the other end of the lead, doing well to keep up.

Blue quickly settled down enabling us to be updated; Dr Kelvin Kow was pleased on a number of counts, blood tests were normal for Blue, based on previous tests. Although there would be concern for blood results returned in a healthy dog, these were causing no concern in Blue. His weight has gone up about 300grams. 

There was a twist though, not only was the Dr pleased with what he had seen, but was taken aback at how well Blue was walking, and his strength, we joked and said "Blue knows where Blue wants to go" and he said he started to protect me like I was one of the family, when a Nurse approached them.

Sue said, welcome to an exclusive club, fancy that Blue protecting the vet, which made us all smile.

In three weeks time Blue will return to the Oncology and Soft Tissue Centre of Fitzpatrick referrals where he will have a CT scan, this will determine the next stage.

Blue is not following a well defined path, his treatment is bespoke to him. The permutations are endless, even as we were consulting with the Doctor, you could see he was working out options that would best suit Blue and his condition. 

Blue has gained a new friend in this process, one he is keen to protect, and that is Blue's new job.

Blue was even presented with his own file box, to keep his paperwork up together..........

We arrived home safe and sound around about 12:30 and once again found it difficult to scoop Blue out of the car, I said to Sue, we could do with one of them tipper trucks.
Blues medicine for the next three weeks.......

 If you have found this blog interesting, enlightening especially the progress of Blue and his fight against cancer, you can learn more of what this practice does on 4th February 2016

World Cancer Day is the subject of a forum from 6-7pm

https://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/services/oncology-and-soft-tissue/

Blue stayed awake for one more picture before getting his head down,the eyes say it all!!

Sunny days, Blue days

Blue is a very fortunate dog, who is rewarded in so many ways for his loyalty,companionship and love, which in fairness could never be rewarded enough.

We have been enjoying walks at weekends in the beautiful grounds of University of Reading, Whiteknights campus where Blue loves to walk through the wild meadow, we tend to keep away from the lake, as Blue and nesting birds don't see eye to eye.

Last weekend we set off for our annual excursion to get some flowers and shrubs for the garden, out came the trailer, in the trailer went Blue.

All though we had other idea's Blue seemed to settle in quite quickly.

But with a bit of a fuss he agreed to shake paws with Sue and agree to vacate.

It would have turned a few heads if we would have driven down the road with Blue sat in the trailer, though it is likely he would have soon bailed out at the first sign of a C-A-T or anyone that would dare speak to him. He soon settled in the back of the car, and enjoyed the trip out in luxury.

Gardening and Blue do not always mix well, last year, half of the plants had been "Blue'd" before they had been planted, so this year he was kept separate from the plants and the planting.

Given the glimmer of an opportunity, Blue decided that if the plants were out of bounds, the containers needed his attention, and in a blink of an eye, their fate was sealed.

So the damage was much more limited this year, but Blue does enjoy helping, so even if the planting out passed him by, the watering needed his close supervision.

and whenever we are in the garden, all activity has to end with a game of ball, though his "Jollyball" no longer resembles a ball.

and the flowers in the garden are beginning to flourish, with Blue's assistance

Morning walks are more like morning drags, Blue will happily walk to the local park, but once we begin road walking, the paws dig in, and the pass goes in reverse, after a while he does move forward but all be it behind you. Until he knows that he is homeward bound or returning to the park, where the pace increases significantly.

Daily exercise is important, it ensures he gets good movement on his joints, and in fairness looking at the pictures below you can see where he is happiest.

Yesterday I went to Asda, while there I picked up the No1 CD by Florence + The Machine

When I got home, I noticed how apt the title was;

HOW BIG HOW BLUE HOW BEAUTIFUL

Until the next time here is Blue 

enjoying his holiday 

in

 Scotland this year.

Normal service has resumed

Blue is back in the swing of normality, the need for a cat nap in the afternoons is surely a sign of slowing down now he is the ripe old age of seven, equivalent to being 56 in human years.

The title is normal service has resumed, because of what happened during his afternoon walk, a glove needed his attention. Why we do not know, but Blue must shred any stray glove that he finds. Today he converted the latest victim into a finger less glove. When I say fingerless, that is in the singular not plural.

Today only the tip of the index finger was removed, and Blue kindly posed with his trophy;

Blue has returned to his weekly swim, and gets good exercise, and helps him with his back. Although it is over six years ago, Blue has never fully recovered from the spinal surgery, we do notice how he can be a little wobbly on his hind legs, and rarely jumps into the back of the car, we have to lift him in, I get the sharp end and Sue gets the tail end, he sometimes looks at us in an indignant fashion, but that is part of his character.

On holiday this month in the Scottish Highlands, we avoided some of the high level walks and kept to those walks which were less challenging, and avoiding the need to scramble over rocks and boulders, though happily walk for nine miles.

This morning on our dawn walk, we came across a fox, within the grounds of the local university, just stood on the edge of the "wilderness" watching me and Blue walk along, not a murmur from Blue. This is very different to 3.00am Wednesday morning when Blue needed a wee, I took him into the back garden on his extending lead, without being attached to a lead he would wander round all night, barking at anything and nothing in equal measure, I digress, well he had his wee and then as we approached the back door, it happened.

Bold as brass stood by the car on the front drive was a young fox, that was the cue for Blue to bring out the big guns. I did well to hold him, but could do nothing about the ferocious barking, the fox retreated to the end of the drive and just stood and looked, wondering what all the fuss was about.

They say things come in 3's so out there is one more encounter waiting for Blue.

I mentioned we have just returned from Scotland, a lovely place in the Highlands, Inveralligin set on the northern shore of Upper Loch Torridon, so just a few snaps of Blue's holiday pic's until we blog again....

Making good use of the local furniture

The obstacle course, that had to be negotiated on the North Face Trail to Ben Nevis

It's a long way down!!!

Stunning views