Gabi – January, 2006
JANUARY, 2006
AN UPDATE FROM THE HEAD DOG
Many of you have been wondering where Gabi and I have been. On November 4th Gabi was diagnosed with cancer – a soft-tissue fibrosarcoma in her upper left muzzle. As many of you can understand, I was initially devastated. After a few weeks of talking with Purdue, a surgical center here in Indianapolis, a radiologist in Chicago, a holistic doctor in N.Y. and a surgical and radiology center in Columbus, OH I narrowed down the choices for her initial treatments to the MedVets group in Columbus. Gabi also is working with the Smith Ridge Veterinary Center in S. Salem, N.Y. Dr. Alexandra Barrientos has been advising me on Gabi’s health and enhancing her diet with different supplements and medicines. Both groups and doctors have been great through all of this including Gabi’s day-to-day vet, Dr. Sharon Kunkler at the Stony Creek Animal Clinic.
Most of the other doctor’s did not give her much of a prognosis. Dr. Deb Prescott in Columbus gave Gabi a 50% chance of remaining cancer free for three years (which is considered long-term cancer control for dogs) if we followed a protocol of surgery followed by radiation treatments; however she also gave no guarantees on her future, cancer is cancer. On December 8th Gabi had her operation to remove a good portion of her muzzle while attempting to remove the gross tumor. She came through the surgery great and her recovery and attitude after the surgery was awesome. She was even trying to play a couple of days after the surgery.
She then started her radiation treatments on the 27th of December. The treatments were completed on Friday, January 20th. I stayed in Columbus with Gabi during her therapy. She had a total of 19 treatments during the therapy where each treatment required her to be put under to keep her still during the actual radiation part of the treatment. This has taken quite a bit of energy out of her but she still seems to be strong, in good spirits and still has a large appetite although her side effects, including mouth ulcers, have started. The hair has been minimally affected to this point but will show more wear as the next few weeks go by.
I trust you can understand why either of us has been around DogDayz much in the past couple of months. There have been a good number of you that know our situation and have been asking about Gabi’s health – Thank You! I will attempt to put updates on the webpage as news is available. Thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers for my girl. She still has a large battle ahead or her, and can use all of the support she can receive.
Brian