At first, it seemed like she might have had a reaction to an insect bite, but this morning the vet called to say that her blood work had come back and her white cell count had crashed below a critical level. This immunosuppression is the result of the chemo she is taking. The upshot is that we have her on a short course of antibiotics until her immune system bounces back. More importantly, we're going to have to give her a short break from the chemo. Unfortunately, fibrosarcomas are extremely fast-growing tumors, so we are running the risk that this will allow significant tumor growth. The whole situation is a maddening mix of costs and benefits, so it is very difficult to know what the right course is. She's rebounded somewhat with rest and with the help of the antibiotics, but she's not nearly 100%.
This is why cancer is such a maddening disease. The drugs we use can be effectively, but the way they work creates so many side effects that it is as if we were trying to kill a bunch of bank robbers by spraying machine gun fire into a group of them and their hostages and hope we don't hit too many hostages. Obviously I want to have the MagDog around as long as possible, but I also don't want her days to be spent feeling low or sick. As I said in a previous post, the biggest challenge is recognizing when the chemo stops being for her and start being for me.
5 comments:
My money is still on Maggie to beat this thing. My thoughts are with you.
Amen brother!
Poor Maggie. This reminds me of the time when she got that really bad ear infection and had to wear a satellite cone. I hope she feels better.
Your last sentence is heartrending but so true.
My feeling is that as long as there's a chance that Maggie can be healthy, your efforts are worth it. She's a courageous fighter, and wants to be a sweetbeagle for many years to come. You're giving her that chance.
We're all rooting for her and you.
Thanks everybody.
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