Radiation Therapy Treatment #14

Asked the radiation therapist today about the crust forming on Stella's arm.  She stated this was something they were aware of and had discovered a remnant piece of a stitch was still in her arm causing irritation which then caused oozing that dried to form a crust. 

Radiation Therapy Treatment #13

13 down, 7 more to go...

Will ask the radiation therapist about this "crust" formation we noticed the past two days.

Radiation Therapy Treatment #12

Hard to see in the pictures but in person it appears Stella's skin may be starting to have a reaction to treatment.  She doesn't seem to mind when we touch her arm but we're trying not to just in case.

We asked the radiation therapist if we could give Stella a bath if we were careful not to wash off the marker lines.  He said they preferred we did not as a bath may may cause irritation or dryness to the skin.  He said it's best that we wait until the treatments are completed and the skin is fully healed.

Radiation Therapy Treatment #11

Start of the third week - more than halfway there!

Smooth as usual.  Stella is acting like her normal self.  No fatigue today like there appeared to be the prior treatment day.

I kind of feel like we've hit a slump with this blog.  There hasn't been anything "big" to report this whole time.  But I'm happy it's been uneventful and I hope it offers some comfort to pet owners who are reading this whose pets are just starting the radiation process. 

  

Must guard cheesy burger at all times...

2nd Weekend Off

Getting plenty of rest...3rd week of treatments start tomorrow...

Radiation Therapy Treatment #10

10 of 20 treatments and second week completed!!!  Yahoo, halfway there!

Once again Stella's discharge summary for the week states:  "No evidence of radiation toxicity at the treatment site at this time".

In the car on the way home Stella seemed really fatigued.  We drove home wondering: are the treatments affecting her, making her tired?  Although we don't notice any change in her skin can she feel something?  Are these long boarding days (like today) starting to stress her?  Is she mad at us?

We arrived at home an hour later and she suddenly became her usual bouncy self; chasing her sister in the yard, carrying her beloved cheesyburger, and wanting to be fed.

Our summary for the halfway mark including initial surgery and Oncologist's consultation: 

• Mileage = 744.8 miles
• Highway tolls = $19
• Trips to the hospital and back = 38 (on the days she is not boarded it is one trip each way; on the days she is boarded, when we go to work, we make 4 trips total)

Stella has the weekend off again and then we start week #3. 

Radiation Therapy Treatment #9

After picking up Stella it seemed as though she was a little more tired than usual even though it wasn't one of her long 12 hour boarding days.  She seemed kind of punky but then again it was in the upper 80's here and smushed face dogs do not like warm weather so maybe it was just the heat.  Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.