And the treatments begin....

Buddy’s schedule of radiation treatments were Friday Feb 19, Monday, Thursday, Monday, Thursday and the final treatment scheduled for Monday March 8.

According to all discussions, dogs do not have the same types of side effects as people do, but they do have side effects. Due to the melanoma being in his mouth, they were treating his mouth, plus the lymph nodes on his neck. The side effects are a tender mouth and throat.

Some of the other interesting items have been that Dr. Freeman had us start giving him fish oil pills as they are very good for cancer patients, and suggested that rather than the chicken and rice that has been added to his dinner, we drop the rice and increase the protein. Dr. Cyman also suggested a high protein low carb diet, and recommended a couple different brands of dry food. We ended up selecting EVO. He is now eating their turkey/chicken kibble and we are also using the same brand of biscuits and alternate between the turkey/chicken and red meat treats.

On March 1st Buddy started showing signs of side effects. The Dr said this was right on schedule. While he appeared to be hungry and thirsty he would only pick at both food and water and he started drooling. His reactions made us think of a severe sore throat. Dr. Cyman started him on some pain medication to help through this period. She also pushed his Thursday appointment out to Friday to give his body a chance to recover a bit more.

During this period either my brother Bob or Bill transported Buddy to his appointment. On Monday, March 8, I will be also going to the appointment so that I can learn about what happens now.