Daniel had his first chemo treatment last Monday (July 30). The next day, I started giving him the prescribed doses of Prednisone. For the first couple of days, he seemed a bit out of sorts ... hungry and thirsty and having to go out to pee every three hours. This settled down by Thursday, and on Friday I began to see glimpses of the return my sweet, happy boy.
Ripping the guts out of squeeky toys used to be one of his favorite activities. He hasn't torn up a toy in months. On Friday afternoon, I came home and found this ... shed tears of joy at the sight, yes I did.
I know it was Daniel who did this because Ruby is crated when no one is home.
On Saturday morning, when I let Ruby and him outside before their breakfast, he made a point to seek out and cover Ruby's pee place ... another thing that he hasn't done in quite a while. When I called him to come inside, he ran (yes, RAN) across the yard to the house.
Sunday evening, The Husband and I treated ourselves to pizza while we watched the Olympics. As we finished eating, Daniel came over to not-so-subtly remind us that he LOVES pizza crust. (We call it 'pizza bones'.)
Ruby took the cue and assumed her place beside Daniel, patiently waiting her turn, too.
I am thankful that Daniel hasn't had any of the more serious side effects of his medicine that Dr. Sheafor (the oncologist) warned us about. He is still painfully thin, though. I took him to the vet yesterday for a blood test (to check that his white cell count wasn't too low from the chemo), and he is pretty much the same weight he was last week ... I was hoping for a slight gain ... oh, well.
Bottom line ... he obviously feels better, he is eating well, sleeping comfortably, and he is not having uncomfortable or adverse reactions to his medication ... for this, I am thankful. I am most thankful to see Daniel happy and playing. Perhaps this means that he is responding to the chemo and beating back the cancer ...
I must remember to take things one day at a time ... don't look to far ahead ... live in the moment and treasure every second.
Daniel and I thank each of you for your kind notes and comments. You are all so kind!