So far, so good

It's been a month an 4 treatments, and Leo is now feeling good. We've had dinner with Grampy, a ton of wandering around Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and now a hike back in Fahnestock State Forest on a most beautiful fall day.

I was very concerned with his reaction to the first chemo treatment(s) - especially the lack of energy and the GI distress.  It really wouldn't be worth it to continue treatment if that was going to be his fate. The good news is that he rallied, and along with my lobbying, we got the Vincristine cut down a bit and he's been fine since. In fact, on Sunday at Fahnestock, my hiking companion noted that he might have more energy now than he did in the summer. Now, that's not entirely because of the chemo - I'm sure it being 60 degrees on Sunday, vs. 80+ in July, had something to do with that. But after his initial "oh, wait, we're not turning around here?" moment that he has on every hike, he was consistently ahead of us.  He grubbed for food, and even had a play moment at the top of the hill during the lunch break, where he was jumping around and biting at my heels. When we returned to the car, he jumped into the back seat and proceeded to make his bed - moving the cushion around to his liking in a way that only he can. In short, he's being Leo.  This makes me happy - both to see that he's very happy, and is quite obviously feeling well, and that despite the insult of chemotherapy, he's still able to get out and go.  And that's why we're doing this, right? This whole exercise is so he CAN get out and go some more, if only for a little bit.