Truly a Monday!

It is definitely Monday! The day started with a major flood from the bathroom sink. Shutting all water off worked to stop the flood and it looks like the drain itself will need to be replaced. It could have been much worse.
Then it was a day for Hokey's chemo. This week it is cyclophosphamide. On Hokey's protocol this is given IV, along with a diuretic and then some IV fluids. Again, not his favorite as a catheter is used and remaining still for a while are required. It was also a week for the extra blood drawing as he needed his complete blood panel today. Hokey was very stressed heading into the clinic and REALLY wanted to leave. He loves to come in, greet everyone with a big smile and his patented "helicopter tail", run over and hop on the scale and then, ideally, leave. He has lost a lb which is good as we try to remove some of the 12 lbs he gained between prednisone and extra meals for supplements.
We did get through the chemo but the veins in his front legs are a bit scarred from the 9 weeks of treatment he has had so far. This meant using a vein from a hind leg. This is awkward for everyone, including Hokey and meant he had to stay in a less than comfortable position for about 15 minutes. A small price to pay for more good quality life, but it is hard to explain that to your dog. Luckily we got through it without incident. On the way home I stopped by a small market with an in store butcher and we got some marrow bones for Xmas with an extra for him for today.
Deb E

From Hokey:
I REALLY hate Mondays - at least "chemo Mondays"!!! When I hopped on the scale I had lost a lb, so I thought I deserved to skip the injection stuff. No such luck! And my veins aren't great anymore so now my hind leg had to be abused. People were walking around talking about what great veins Greyhounds have as their legs are so straight and clean without much hair, etc. Big deal! They run around a stupid track chasing a stupid fake bunny. Who cares what kind of veins they have? Actually, I guess vets and vet techs do :)))

Deb says we may have to take a photo of how hairless I am right now so that when I am all better and look handsome again we can laugh about this. I am a bit embarrassed about my tail - I have always had a lovely, fluffy, luxuriant tail and now it looks kind of wimpy. Tia and Flash thought about making fun of me but I pointed out that they don't even have tails! So nyah, nyah to them.

OK, gotta go make sure I get extra food for supper to make up for skipping breakfast. It was nice of Deb to sneak me a private bone - gotta love her!
Hokey