The 'eyes' have it

Tia developed a sticky discharge from her right eye Wednesday afternoon.  Thursday morning she woke up and could hardly get her eye open.  It looked like some sort of conjunctivitis.  The vet just checked her eyes thoroughly on Tuesday and they were fine.  Go figure.  So off to see Dr. Leah again yesterday afternoon.  She did another tear test on both eyes and the results were unchanged.  Right eye is almost normal.  Left eye is dry as a bone.  We can't figure out why though.  The right eye should be the dry one.  She also did a dye test on the right eye.  Everything is fine.  No ulcerations.  She put Tia on an antibiotic ointment, which I am using in both eyes.  Maybe using it in the left eye will help with the dryness.  Dr. Leah gave poor "starving" Tia some treats because she was such a good girl, and so darned cute, of course.  She won't feed her from her hand anymore though.  Tia put an end to that on our visit earlier this week.  She really needs to learn not to bite the hand that feeds her, but at this point in her life I doubt she has much incentive to learn!

Last night is the first time in months that Tia has not had to take any meds, other than the eye ointment.  We have been tapering down her prednisone, so she only takes it in the mornings.  I decided not to give her any pain meds last night, as she didn't seem to need them.  She was fine without them.  Also, her last dose of Baytril was yesterday morning.  This morning Tia seemed almost back to her old self!  Barking and playing a bit, as she always has before I let her outside.  It's nice to see her making such progress.  I'm thinking of taking her to the LEAP agility club meeting and run thru's on Sunday.  Maybe we'll do a couple of runs at a very low jump height, if she's up to it. 

Update... just talked to Dr. Rosen at NEVOG, since they wanted an update on Tia's eye issues.  She wants me to start using Genteal eye ointment in Tia's left eye, as opposed to the antibiotic, since it is measuring so dry.  Also, since Dr. Leah mentioned that she thought the tumor area was looking a little puffy last night, she wants T back on the Baytril at least until she see's her again on Tuesday.  At least we've made progress by stopping the pain meds, and soon we'll be tapering down the prednisone to once every other day.

Tia visits Dr. Greenberger

We went to see Dr. Leah at Ellington Veterinary Center tonight.  We've been meaning to drop by since Tia's radiation treatment ended.  Everyone there was happy to see Miss T.  Dr. Leah checked her mouth and it was nice and clean.  Tia's weight was a little down, probably because of the liquid diet she has been on.  We also have not been giving her ANY treats for fear that they will get stuck in the hole.  While we were there Dr. Leah gave Tia a treat and she was so excited that she practically took the Doctor's hand off!  Yes, that's our Tia.  I forgot to warn Dr. Leah about that.  She also checked Tia's eyes for dryness and found that her right eye is almost normal, but her left is really dry.  That seemed strange, since we expected the dry eye to be on the side of the tumor, which was on the right.  We'll have Dr. Rosen check them again next week at our NEVOG follow-up and see if there has been any change.  We will continue to check in with Dr. Leah so she can monitor Tia's progress as well. 

While we were at Ellington Vet I took another photo of Tia's face.  This picture shows the fur loss and healing over the tumor site, and if you look closely you can also see an area of healing around her lip.  Tia continues to enjoy sticking her face in the snow whenever she goes outside.  It obviously feels good to her.  She doesn't seem to be doing any damage, and I haven't noticed that she rubs her face hard.  On New Year's Day I decreased Tia's prednisone from two tabs a day to one, but some of her side effects came back so I upped it to 1 1/2 tabs and she did better.  Today I decreased the pred to one tab a day.  We'll see how she does with that.  Tonight Tia seems more herself and Rick, Brian and I agree that she seems to be feeling better. 

We are so lucky to have such great veterinary care for Tia.  Everyone really cares about our T, and has gone above and beyond in providing her care.  We can't thank you enough!

A better photo...

Here is a better shot of what Tia's face looks likeat the moment.

Healing...

Not much news to report today, except Tia continues to lose the fur around the tumor site and the side effects are lessening slowly.  Tomorrow we start reducing her prednisone.  I've already lowered her pain meds and she seems to be ok.  These photos aren't very good, but you can sort of see how she is coming along.  The photo above shows some of her hair loss in the tumor area.  The photo below was taken looking down over the top of her head.  There is a slight bump visible on her profile, but nothing like it was about 10 days ago.  The surface of the skin on her face actually looks worse now even though the tumor has decreased in size, but Dr. Rosen assures us everything that is happening is normal.  Tia continues on her liquid diet which she doesn't seem to mind at all.  The thing that she does mind terribly is that Rick doesn't give her treats while he is cooking!  She stands right by his side and looks up longingly, waiting for him to throw her something.  We can't give her anything solid yet, until the hole in her mouth begins to heal.  Poor Tia!

I went to Sweet Pea in South Windsor to buy more canned food for Tia last night.  Did you know that they actually make the equivalent of Ensure for dogs and cats?!  I've been kidding about making her Ensure meals by putting canned dog food and water through the food processor, and was quite amused to find that there is a special product just for them. 

Re-check

Tia and I took another trip up to NEVOG today for her first re-check visit since the radiation treatment ended.  Dr. Rosen checked her mouth and said it was nice and clean.  No food stuck in the hole.  That was music to my ears!  The process of rinsing Tia's mouth out after each meal is very cumbersome.  Picture trying to keep her mouth open with one hand while squirting the rinse in with the other AND making her stay on the grooming table at the same time!  As compliant as she is, it is still not easy.  I'm getting the hang of it, but won't mind one bit when we no longer have to go through this!  Tia is to remain on a liquid diet until our next appointment in 2 weeks.  We are going to start lowering her pain meds and cutting down the prednisone slowly. 

Dr. Rosen is pleased with the progress Tia is making.  The radiation side effects should now level off and begin to improve.  I've already noticed that she isn't drooling as much, and I'm pretty sure her tongue doesn't hurt as much because she was licking my hand earlier today; something she hasn't done in awhile.  Her tumor seems to get a little smaller every day.  The skin over the tumor site isn't quite as pink as it was, but it is beginning to look a bit dry and her fur is getting very thin.  No signs of a corneal abrasion, which is one side effect I've been praying she would not have.  Her eyes both look good.  No signs of dry eye.  All in all, Tia is doing very well!

A very special Christmas

Tia came home on Christmas Eve!  What  a WONDERFUL Christmas present.  She was obviously happy to be home, and so were we.  Her radiation treatments are finished and now we wait while she heals.  I was very excited to see that her tumor is smaller, even just 4 days after I had last seen her.  The fur around her tumor site has started to thin and the skin underneath is quite pink, like a bad sunburn.  Her tongue is very red too, which makes it painful for her to eat.  It doesn't stop her though!  We are feeding her wet food diluted in lots of water, because the Honest Kitchen food has many little food particles that cannot be ground down any smaller, and get stuck in the hole in the back of her mouth.  After her meals we have to use a special oral rinse, to help clean things out.  It is not easy to direct the squirt to the right place, and Tia hates it.  The vet told us that the next week or two would be messy, and she wasn't kidding!!  Tia will also continue to drool a thick saliva until things start to heal.  We've put a doggie shirt on her to try and keep her clean.  Otherwise her rough gets all gross.  She's a real trooper, and is handling things well, but during the healing process we are not supposed to let her rub her face on or in anything.  Tia has always LOVED the snow.  She loves to throw herself in it and make "Sheltie Angels", and she also loves to stick her face in it.  (This was before her radiation treatment!)  Now we have to be sure she doesn't rub, until the tumor site has healed.  She continues to take Prednisone, Baytril and Tramadol, and we return to NEVOG for a re-check on Monday afternoon.  Good thing we are nearing the end of the year, when vacation time starts from scratch.  I am all out of time for 2009!

We are so grateful to the NEVOG staff for the wonderful care they gave Tia during the 14 days she spent with them over the past 3 weeks.  If any of you ever find yourselves in need of a canine (or feline) oncologist I highly recommend them.

Almost done!

I'm excited to say that Tia's last radiation treatment is tomorrow morning.  I had a long chat with Dr. Rosen tonight and she reported that they have started hand feeding her small pieces of wet dog food, which they find doesn't get stuck in the hole in her mouth like her regular food.  They have increased her prednisone so she is hungrier than ever, if that is really possible!  Dr. Rosen said the next couple of weeks are going to be "messy".  Tia will continue to drool for awhile, which gets all over her fur.  She suggested that we put a T-shirt on her to keep her clean.  I have the perfect outfit ... something I bought for Emma a few years ago.  The radiation side effects will continue to increase over the next week or so, and then begin to subside.  There is still a chance that Tia will develop a corneal ulcer in the right eye, and this is something we need to watch for very closely.

Dr Rosen said Tia is an incredible patient.  They have really enjoyed having her around.  She has been extremely tolerant of all her treatment.  She is so well behaved that they don't even leash her when she is out of her kennel. 

Tia will have to return to NEVOG on Monday for a re-check.  They want to be sure her mouth is kept very clean and that she is still doing ok on her meds.  She will remain on the Tramadol, Baytril and Prednisone for now.