Camping!

Well, thanks to the efficacy of the Vincristine and years of collecting camping gear, I was able to take Leo camping to our spot in the Willowemoc Wild Forest this weekend. It was a lovely day and night for camping. Not too cold, not too warm, and not too crowded - well, at least not on Sunday night, in a primitive campsite.

Well, that didn't work... but that did!

The bad news is that the Lomustine really didn't do anything. I think it arrested the growth of his lymph nodes for about a weekend, and then they came raging back. We were in the office a week later.

The good news is we decided to give Vincristine another shot, and this... well, it worked! (So far). The nodes are smaller.  Well, I hope it's from the Vincristine.

Last round

It seems that the Lomustine didn't really work - a few days, and then his neck nodes have swollen up again.

So, it's now time for prednisone. I gave him some today. Let's hope that makes a difference.

The Cost

Yesterday there was an article about how having a dog was going to become only the provenance for the rich, since it becomes prohibitively expensive, and that the poors were going to be placated with robot-dogs.

I think that's a bunch of crap from people who've watched a bit too much Battlestar Galactica (the old one, not the frakking new one). Sure, it's expensive to have a dog. It's expensive to have kids, too, but that doesn't stop people from having them (heck, it doesn't stop people from having a LOT of them). Being a super-obsessive dog owner is certainly going to cost a lot more. Heck, Leo's collar costs more than my shoes (not kidding).

I don't think so

I'll take a break from posting Leo updates to just say "No, robots will not be replacing dogs".

Signs

I am not a sign guy. I'm not a religious person (despite being brought up RC - or maybe because of?) and I think I'm pretty rational. I mean, I'm a scientist!
So today there were some signs - some bad, and some... well, I'll describe.

Rescue

It appears that the L-spar is no longer working. That means that the Vincristine stopped working, the L-spar stopped working, the cytocin would kill him...and now it's down to the rescue therapy, the Lomustine.

Calming Treats?

How ironic would it be if what did Leo in was not his Lymphoma, but his appetite? Yeah, well, the prednisone, combined with his propensity for counter-surfing, made me nervous that was about to happen.

He was very calm. Me, not so much.

Not OK

Things are not OK.  Leo's lymph nodes became noticeably swollen last weekend - I really noticed them Saturday night/Sunday morning - and it's all of them. We did another L-spar treatment on Thursday, and today (Friday morning) some of the nodes are smaller, but his neck feels like there's a golf ball on the side. I have a feeling that the chemo is becoming less effective, and the cancer is becoming more aggressive.