Our hero suffers a major setback

Last Wednesday Blue enjoyed his usual swim, but as each day followed there was deterioration in his energy levels.

As first we thought he overdone the swimming but each day he dipped a little more, we consulted the Oncology team, and were advised to withdraw his medication, and monitor him closely.

Each day he would show signs of renewed enthusiasm, only to slip into lethargy worse than the previous day.

Monday morning Sue rang Fitzpatricks, as Blue could not even make it across the road for a wee without full support with his sling, he could barely stand, and was now refusing all food.

We arrived at Fitzpatrick Referrals at 11:30 and by 12:30 we agreed that Blue should undergo an operation to find an abdominal bleed.

Yesterday afternoon, Blue had his spleen removed, and required a blood transfusion until 2:00am the following morning.

Blue will be monitored closely over the next few days, dependant on how he responds to surgery, we all know he is not a good in-patient, and will be keen to get back home.

Blue had been doing so well through the chemo, this has really shocked us, as it will many others.

We don't know how much this will take out of him or whether his remaining time is measured in hours, days, weeks or months, but we will make sure he gets the best of attention.

Forgive me for not going into all the details, it has been hard to share, but the support we have received has been brilliant.

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.

The new chapter begins

Today was the first day in the new chapter of Blue, he had received all of his chemotherapy injections, and returned from a two week stay in the Highlands of Scotland, more on the holiday to follow.

After his final injection of chemotherapy, with agreement of his clinical team at Fitzpatrick referrals Oncology and Soft Tissue (FROST), this visit was the first in a new chapter.

Blue was only ever going to be permitted a number of Chemo injections, between 4-8, that number would be influenced by how he responded to the treatment, and how effective it was on the cancer.

To achieve this visit today is a milestone none of us could foresee back in November, where his life was being counted in terms of coming out of major surgery, to the next hour, the next day, the weekend, the next week, and to this day no further ahead, we choose to treat each and every day now as if it were his last.

We are now living with Blue, who lives with cancer, we have all learnt a lot about ourselves, but more importantly about Blue.

Blues new treatment is now to be in tablet form only, there are a variety of cocktails which will help him live with the cancer, how long for is still unknown, we would like that to be forever, but each day is welcomed and blessed on its arrival.

The medication Blue will be on will consist of 6 tablets a day, this in itself is a game of wits, one that can allow Blue to win the odd battle, but we need to ensure that the days he refuses his medication does not become a habit.

The tablets Blue has taken in the past, have been given in many forms, mixed in with fluids, solutions, foodstuffs and even via a syringe. While we were on holiday Blue had gone from somehow getting the tablet out of the food to under the plate, and when that didn't work, he began storing them in his jowls, as if he was some sort of hamster. Needless to say, a way of giving the tablets is ongoing work in progress, just like a game of chess.

Blue will have to be monitored for side effects, and return in two weeks time for a checkup.

Today was the consultation to discuss the next chapter with Senior Consultant Dr Kelvin Kow, who has been an absolute marvel with Blue, and with us also, we can not sing his praises enough, a credit to his profession.

Blue enjoys a short break, a quick wander out into the carpark

A visit to "FROST" is always an event, and today was no different, this is how it went:-

• Blue was lifted into the car at 9:45 feeling slightly lighter, but with no sedatives
• A journey of just under an hour see us arrive at "FROST" 
• Wearing  his Halti and a muzzle Blue Sue and me were welcomed at reception
• We were directed to the consultation room to await Dr Kelvin Kow
• A number of attempts to weigh Blue confirmed he was around 49 - 50 kg
• Minimal fuss as we discussed the options available for Blue
• Urine sample required for a baseline, this would be fun, out we ventured into the car park.
• Armed with a kidney shaped bowl we sought to gain a sample from Blue
• On command Blue obliged, and Dr Kelvin expertly collected the valuable sample
• We returned into reception, Dr Kelvin carrying said sample, took Blue from us.

At this point it was a terrific feat achieved by Dr Kelvin, walking along with said sample, and an un-sedated Blue, all was going well until Blue realised we were no longer with him. How the good Dr managed to hold Blue, who was making his best efforts to return to us, and not spill a drop amazed all onlookers, eventually he handed the sample to a nurse, and him and Blue disappeared through the doors to the treatment area. 

Sue and I waited for about 40 minutes, until we recognised those familiar sounds of paws on tiles, pulling a heavy load, sure enough, it was Blue coming back with Dr Kelvin, and his assistant.

The reports were good, he was no longer anaemic, and all other counts were where they needed to be.

Blue had become stressed, this was a concern of Dr Kelvin, and said that for Blues next visit, perhaps he should have sedatives, but only 5 not 10 as previous visits. Blue when anxious will not settle and his breathing is very rapid, while we waited for his meds to be prepared, I took Blue on a tour of the reception area, this helped calm him a little but not a lot.

Blue is a beautiful dog, and often receives admiring looks and comments, today was no different, but there were two special ones today.

Blue exchanges tweets with @PawsomeErik, who's Mum works as a Nurse at "FROST"  she popped out to say hi, passed comment that Blue was doing well, and gave Sue some gravy bones for Blue.

The other was from Laurent, the surgeon who removed the mass, which filled Blue's abdomen, Laurent commented on how well Blue was looking, we thanked him for the major part he played in helping Blue.

Dr Kelvin returned with Blue's meds, and was very complimentary, even though it sounds he may have pulled a muscle in his shoulder while holding Blue earlier. We all said that we could do with a rest this afternoon, wished each other well and said good bye until the next time.

Blue waited patiently at the reception desk while Sue paid for todays visit and set the appointment for a fortnights time.

Since we have been home Blue has enjoyed a play in the garden, a bit of rest and then a 30 minute walk.

At the start of this blog I mentioned we had gone to Scotland for a two week break, below are a few pictures of our holiday with Blue, I will follow this up soon with a blog dedicated solely to our holiday.

Blue says "Thank you for caring".

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 #5 & a CT Scan

Today Blue attended his Chemo session number five, how quick the time goes by. It hardly seemed three weeks that he had his last session.

We have slipped nicely into a routine, learning more each visit and continuing to monitor Blue while ensuring he gets as much opportunity to feel self-satisfied with his life.

This visit is different, Blue is to have a CT scan to see how the cancer is affecting him internally, and for that reason we are a little more apprehensive, but determined for Blue's sake not to show it.

To help approach today in a positive frame of mind we have done things a little different, the buster collar and muzzle were placed in the car last night, it did seem that Blue had began the last session a little apprehensive.

One other thing we did was to take Blue out for a longer drive in the car at the weekend, a visit to Cheddar, where he enjoyed a 50 minute walk around Black Rock Nature reserve. (*more on that later).

Back to today, the morning commenced without breakfast for Blue, only a solitary sardine to help the sedatives go down, still 10 required, after he had a short walk in the local park, to do his business.

We set out for Guildford at 8:15 to make our 9:30 appointment. Soon after our journey began the A329(M) was at a standstill, so we cut though Wokingham, to get to Bracknell. The journey then see the sat nav warn of stationary traffic along the A31 into Guildford, reset the sat nav to follow a diversion, but this was not needed in the end, our journey was completed just after 9:20am

Blue needed scooping out of the back of the car, and attempted to walk through closed glass doors, not waiting for the mechanism that slides them open to operate, safely through those two obstacles we were soon parked in the pod awaiting our call.

The Oncology and Soft Tissue unit of Fitzpatrick Referrals is now a far busier unit than when we first come here in November last year, Blue quickly settled, and only gave a hint of interest when Dr Kelvin and the Nurse came to collect him.

This didn't go exactly to plan, as a few steps away from us Blue turned 90 degrees and planted his bum firmly on the floor, looking straight back at Sue and me. It only took me to walk over to where Blue sat and urged him to walk, and he stood up and walked Dr Kelvin through the door to the business part of the unit, not even a backward glance to see if I was still with him.

Today was a big big day, the CT scan would present a true image of what was going on inside of Blue, we were all going into the unknown. We knew today was going to be a long day but emotionally, how do you prepare yourself?

We chose to stay and wait, not really in the right frame of mind to go into Guildford and look around or drive home to sit and wait, time to sit and wonder, and finish off my book, Cloud Atlas.

A couple of hours later, Dr Kelvin Kow came to share the news, the early signs were very encouraging, the mass that had filled Blue's abdomen was not clearly visible, not gone, but only further examination under the trained eye of a radiologist may pinpoint any current tumours.

This news was far better than anything we could of dreamt or prayed for, Blue was now being prepped for his chemo session #5

I found this news hard to take, saying very little due to the dry lump in the back of my throat, we all three looked at each other and had a small smile, and thanked heaven for this.

Our news could not be shared with Blue for a further 3 hours, in which time several nurses came out to say how good Blue was being and thought how great his news was.

Finally nearly five hours after watching Blue walk out the door, he came back to us pulling Dr Kelvin with him, and Nurse Jen following behind with his med's.

Our destination was to be a consultation room where we were told a bit more of Blue's condition.

The CT scan takes upward of 4,500 images which enable detailed examination in black, white and various greys in-between of Blue

Dr Kelvin was keen to show the images to demonstrate the change that was within Blue. He guided us through how he was now, showing his organs where they were and no signs of cancer affecting the lungs or kidneys etc. We then see the images of Blue pre-op, these were shocking, how large the mass in his abdomen was and how it was pressing on major organs such as displacing one of his kidneys, and placing pressure against the spine.

We were told that there will likely be cancer still within Blue, but for now the treatment was proving effective in subduing it's growth.

Blue has now reached a stage very few dogs achieve, it is unusual for them to get to 5 sessions of chemo, and the CT scans have given everyone a very pleasant surprise.

When we said about it would be nice to give Blue a holiday, but perhaps Scotland would be too far, Dr Kelvin said, why, he will be fine go and enjoy it.

Blue has really been a model patient, and has found a new bunch of friends, he will continue to live for today and enjoy the moments as they arrive.

We have often mentioned Dr Kelvin Kow, and he was kind enough to have his photo taken with Blue and us before carrying on with his busy schedule.

One other thank you is to all the staff both on reception and behind closed doors for the tremendous work they do, looking after the animals and people that come through the doors of Fitzpatrick Referrals.

* Remember a while ago I said we went to Cheddar at the weekend, it was wet, it was cold, it was muddy it was tiring, but it was well worth the trip.

While I have been writing this blog, Blue has had a good sleep in front of the fire and the only sign that is evident of his trip today is the shaving of his port above his hind leg....

Blue has grown a number of followers to his @BluetheGSD Twitter account. He has had toys, gifts, best wishes and prayers sent his way, neighbours ask after him, he is in the thoughts of work colleagues.

Blue is a special dog, we know because we live with him, and those that meet him he will have an impact on and share those same thoughts.

Blue takes what life throws at him and deals with it, truly inspirational.

Support #WorldCancerDay

Blue is today living with cancer, thanks to a lot of research and dedicated people, some brave souls no longer with us today.

Blue was diagnosed with a tumor that was cancerous last October, he has so far had life threatening major abdominal surgery and four sessions of Chemotherapy.

Cancer in animals is not as rare as one might think, but as with humans they can contract many different forms, Blue has a cancer that could ultimately cost him his life, we do not know when or how that day will come.

We were once told in a tweet that "Blue does not know what tomorrow is, he only lives for today".

With that thought in our minds we help Blue live for today, and ensure no matter how many more days there are, that each one will be the best it could be.

Both my wife and I lost our mothers to this dreadful condition, and this has helped us in our understanding caring for Blue.

Our heart felt thanks extends to all those dedicated Staff that help people and animals afflicted with a condition that knows few boundaries, is relentless and non-discriminate.

We give special thanks on behalf of Blue to Fitzpatrick Referrals, who have had the dedication and foresight to set up their Oncology and Soft Tissue research unit in Guildford Surrey.

In our Support for WorldCancerDay we proudly wear Unity bands from Cancer Research UK