Life as a Tri-pawd

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Hey guys! Just a pupdate - Ciara had her 4th chemo treatment on Tuesday and did great. Our last chemo appt is on 3/26!! I truly can't believe how fast it's gone. Grateful that it's almost over, though I'm not sure what options we'll be faced with next time. I'm prepared for them to offer some sort of pill or injection, but since she has chondrosarcoma and not osteosarcoma, I'm not sure how much further I want to push it. I'll come back with an update soon!

So happy to hear you're nearing the home stretch of chemo! Yay! I will watch for an update!

I was going to come here and post today. We were matched with our new puppy last night. We pick her up tomorrow evening. We're excited. It is so nice to have something new and fresh to focus on instead of cancer and loss!

Meet Belle.

We thought long and hard for a name to somehow honor Katy. The morning Katy was born we were in Disney World and had breakfast with Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Belle is the golden princess who is smart, kind, and courageous (hope our puppy is too!) who saves the Beast. Her registered name will be "Jasara's Snow Princess KatyBelle".

Katy will always be Hurley's Queen, but now he'll have his Princess Belle to save him from his grief! Plus, we can have lots of fun with Beauty and the Beast references! I already have Beauty and the Beast tags for them. LOL!

 

[sara_s]

Oh she is precious!!! I’m so happy for you guys. Please let us know how she’s doing. Angel face!

 

[sara_s]

Someone finished chemo today!



We go back in 3 weeks to re-check x-rays to see if anything has appeared. I suppose we’ll also hear about additional treatment options. I would need some serious convincing to do anything more. Since she has chondrosarcoma, I don’t know that we want to push it anymore considering I haven’t read anything that indicates chemo has an effect on the disease.

Either way, I’m very proud of my girl and glad we got everything finished! Thanks to everyone’s support – this is such a wonderful community and I’ll always be grateful for your support in our time of need!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Someone finished chemo today!

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We go back in 3 weeks to re-check x-rays to see if anything has appeared. I suppose we’ll also hear about additional treatment options. I would need some serious convincing to do anything more. Since she has chondrosarcoma, I don’t know that we want to push it anymore considering I haven’t read anything that indicates chemo has an effect on the disease.

Either way, I’m very proud of my girl and glad we got everything finished! Thanks to everyone’s support – this is such a wonderful community and I’ll always be grateful for your support in our time of need!

YAY! Congrats to you both! It is such a great feeling to finish that last treatment. Please update when you go for your recheck. I haven't been on here posting, but I think of you often and wonder how things are going. I was thinking you were probably getting near the end of chemo!

 

[sara_s]

The results are in….Ciara’s scans came back clean!! We are very grateful and happy.

The onco gave us 2 options to move forward, either monitor her chest x-rays in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and every 6 months afterward. Or do 6-12 months of Palladia. The thing to think about is since she has chondrosarcoma, they don’t have concrete evidence to suggest doing the Palladia will make a difference or not.

We are going to take the next few days to consider both options, but for now, we are giving her lots of hugs and kisses and telling her what a good girl she is!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

The results are in….Ciara’s scans came back clean!! We are very grateful and happy.

The onco gave us 2 options to move forward, either monitor her chest x-rays in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and every 6 months afterward. Or do 6-12 months of Palladia. The thing to think about is since she has chondrosarcoma, they don’t have concrete evidence to suggest doing the Palladia will make a difference or not.

We are going to take the next few days to consider both options, but for now, we are giving her lots of hugs and kisses and telling her what a good girl she is!

Such good news. I am so happy to hear this! Palladia was one of the options given to us after the lungs showed some mets. We decided against it due to side effects and costs vs. the little data to show it would be all that effective. Very different scenario with a clean scan though and of course, you are dealing with the Chondrosarcoma vs. osteo so that may be different?

Such good news though. I am so happy for all of you!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Sara, it's been so long since I've been on the Disboards, no money for a trip! I was thinking of you and Ciara and was wondering how things are going. I am hoping Ciara is doing well and you're still getting clean scans?

 

[sara_s]

Hey Shel! It's so funny, I was thinking about this thread last week. We are officially past 1 year of Ciara's surgery and as of the week of Thanksgiving, her scans are all clear! She did remarkably well during chemo - never got sick once. We declined to do the Palladia after it was over. We honestly felt we did everything we thought was reasonable, plus didn't want to risk making her feel lousy. Once we get to a clean scan in April, we'll start going every 6 months. My family and I are so thankful.

I can't believe we got through the year so smoothly. Mostly I feel immense relief that we made the right decision. She's been so brave and we think she acts even more puppy like. Her energy is a force to be reckoned with! Sharing some recent pics below.

How is Belle doing??

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Hey Shel! It's so funny, I was thinking about this thread last week. We are officially past 1 year of Ciara's surgery and as of the week of Thanksgiving, her scans are all clear! She did remarkably well during chemo - never got sick once. We declined to do the Palladia after it was over. We honestly felt we did everything we thought was reasonable, plus didn't want to risk making her feel lousy. Once we get to a clean scan in April, we'll start going every 6 months. My family and I are so thankful.

I can't believe we got through the year so smoothly. Mostly I feel immense relief that we made the right decision. She's been so brave and we think she acts even more puppy like. Her energy is a force to be reckoned with! Sharing some recent pics below.

How is Belle doing??

Oh, I am so happy to hear how well Ciara is doing! I was a little scared to post and ask in case it was bad news. I'm glad I did!

Belle is doing fine. She's got a bit of a challenging personality so it's been a challenge! She's either going at 150 mph or dead asleep! It's hard to train her because you can't use treats at all. She loses all reasonable thought if treats are involved! She will turn 1 on 1/10/20.

Getting out all our Christmas decor was hard because we have Katy's stocking and her ornament for the tree. There have been some tears shed! Miss her so much! Our yard decor for Xmas was 2 golden retrievers one that is "Katy" and one that is "Hurley". I couldn't just have the Katy replace Belle! My husband got me an early gift of a new dog that is "Belle". Hurley and Belle sit up by the tree and Katy is placed back behind watching over them. That has made me happy!

 

[sara_s]

Oh, I am so happy to hear how well Ciara is doing! I was a little scared to post and ask in case it was bad news. I'm glad I did!

Belle is doing fine. She's got a bit of a challenging personality so it's been a challenge! She's either going at 150 mph or dead asleep! It's hard to train her because you can't use treats at all. She loses all reasonable thought if treats are involved! She will turn 1 on 1/10/20.

Getting out all our Christmas decor was hard because we have Katy's stocking and her ornament for the tree. There have been some tears shed! Miss her so much! Our yard decor for Xmas was 2 golden retrievers one that is "Katy" and one that is "Hurley". I couldn't just have the Katy replace Belle! My husband got me an early gift of a new dog that is "Belle". Hurley and Belle sit up by the tree and Katy is placed back behind watching over them. That has made me happy!

So sweet - I miss pets all the time. It definitely hits you at random times. She sounds like Ciara was at 1 year old. I swear she didn't calm down until she was 2. Glad Belle is shaking things up!