Spencer went in for chemo treatment number 9. This was a Vincristine week. Only 6 treatments to go – 2 more of his mitox doses and 4 more vincristines. I have never noticed much of a difference in how Spencer acts after a treatment. Maybe he sleeps a tiny bit more that day; but nothing big. Today he seems much more tired. When my husband got home with our son tonight Spencer just hung out on his bed, no going to say hello. 🙁 He seems to be just worn out today. Does anyone know if this is normal? For a dog who has normally had little to no reaction from chemo to suddenly seem more tired? Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t lethargic. When I fed him tonight he came with tail wagging. And when we went down to the school bus stop he was happy to go; but he also seems very happy to sleep today…
And other questions… Are there many grade 3 soft tissue sarcoma folks out there reading this? If so, did you do chemo? And… if yes to that, how did things go once the chemo ended? How soon after did you do anything to see if the cancer was still around? Today our oncologist said that we would probably wait 8-12 weeks after chemo is done before doing an x-ray or ultrasound as long as Spencer shows no symptoms. Is this how your doctor handled things? After chemo was over, did your dog have more energy, or did things just seem the same? Not saying that Spencer doesn’t have energy now, just wondering if things are different after chemo…
And on to the next questions… has anyone out there gotten their dog certified (is that the right term) to be a therapy dog? I’m not talking about a service dog, rather just a dog who visits hospitals and nursing homes. Spencer is very friendly and social, so I was thinking about looking into this once he is done with chemo. It is my understanding that he has to do a canine good citizen test. It looks like there might be more than one organization out there to get certified through. Which one is best? Also, when out and about, Spencer is VERY social and sweet. BUT… on his home turf (at our house, our cabin and in our car) he is protective. he will bark at people until he has been introduced to them and given the OK. He doesn’t do this at all when out and about though. They don’t do home visits for certification do they? Any other advice on getting your dog certified as a therapy dog?
Thanks for any advice on any of my many questions!!