July 15, 2023 Lymphoma treatment

We found a lump under Kudo’s throat and called the oncologist; they wanted to see Kudo immediately.  I mean, it was 11:40 am when we made contact.  They wanted to see Kudo by  2:30 pm on a good day; it takes 2 hours and 30 minutes.  Brad was at work, and I was supposed to be at work at 2:30 pm, but plans changed quickly.  I grabbed clothes for Brad, then Kudo and I loaded them into the truck to head over to Littleton.  At this point, we met Brad walking down the road a little past 12:20 pm.  We needed to make up some time.

The ride across Vermont was challenging through the devastation from the flash flooding last week, seeing everyone’s belongings on the front lawns.  Deep mud covers fields, crops, houses, cars, and roads.  Someone’s car was left on a bridge during the flooding; you could see that this car was hit pretty hard by the water and covered with debris.  Bridges were no longer connected to the road as the roads had been washed away.  Many driveways were completely washed out, with no access to the main roads.  This was very difficult to drive through without stopping to help. 

Brad drove us straight to Peaks, arriving 2 minutes before the appointment. Since we were squeezed in around other appointments, this was our longest appointment so far. 

Kudo’s favorite vet tech came out to get him for the appointment; we explained that we felt a couple of small lumps under his throat about the size of a small marble.  Everything else was going well; no issues with anything else.  Shortly after Kudo entered the hospital, the oncologist came out to speak with us; she was shocked that we found this lump.  They asperated both lymph nodes to confirm Kudo’s lymphoma was back, but it was very early to the point where the team was questioning whether to start treatment the same day or wait.  After the lead oncologist reviewed the sides, it was determined that we needed to decide on which treatment to begin. 

We resumed the same protocol since Kudo handled CHOP well the first time.  Kudo’s first treatment was yesterday, Vincristine.  Next week we will do chemo at home. 

Today Kudo is playing with his friend, Honeybee.  He is a bit mad at us as it happened to be bath day. 

I really hate that Kudo is dealing with cancer and these treatments.  We are family and in this fight together. 

 We will fight as long as Kudo is still fighting and enjoying his everyday life. It’s really about the quality of life for the dogs. In dogs, the goal is to treat cancer to remove traces in the blood, not to the point of completely killing the cancer cells.  This gives dogs with cancer a better quality of life, even during treatments.