The chemotherapy was administered by our regular veterinarians (not oncologists, but who have experience administering the protocol), who said the cost would be about $3,000, and that's just about what the 25 weeks cost.

The chemotherapy routine had this pattern: for the weeks that an injection was scheduled, Ozzie had a blood draw on Thursday; we'd get blood test results on Friday; then if the blood test showed his body was ready for the injection, we went in late Friday afternoon for the injection(s). Thus, each week had the costs of the blood draw ($18.75) followed by one or two blood tests ($27.50 for a "blood count w/diff" and a few times $42.50 for a "blood chem panel"), then the costs of the chemicals and the costs of injecting the chemicals.

Ozzie had 16 injections, but 18 blood draws with tests; twice after the Adriamycin, Ozzie needed an extra week to recover before he was ready for the next injection. Some injections were more simple, such as the Vincristine, and that was $42. The four Adriamycin injections were more complex, they required a sedative to keep Ozzie "mellow" during the lengthy injection as well as an antihistamine; the catheterization-IV costs $54.50 each. The four Cytoxan injections needed a "butterfly" injection.

We paid for the costs of the bottles of L-Spar (Asparaginase), Vincristine, Adriamycin, and Cytoxan, which totaled $650.95; occasionally we saved some money since another dog at the vet's office was also going through the same protocol and we shared bottles. The first four weeks of the protocol involved prednisone, and those pills cost us $38.00. The four Adriamycin injections had the additional costs of the sedative and antihistamine.

About two weeks into the protocol we started to feed Ozzie the cancer diet developed by Dr. Ogilvie and sold through Hill's Prescription Diet as their "n/d" canned dog food. We gradually added the canned food to his diet; regularly he eats a can a day; each can costs $2.27, plus tax (you can do the math), but we did not include the costs of the special food in the $3,000 total.

A few times we were charged for an office visit, a progress report cost $29.50.

In the total, though, are several bottles of Lixotinic, a vitamin and mineral supplement to help with Ozzie's anemia that resulted from the chemo; those bottles cost $8.50 plus tax, and a bottle lasted 2-3 weeks.

Ozzie's immune system was compromised during the chemo protocol, and once he had an odd sore on his chest for which we bought some Amoxicillin for an antibiotic to give his body a boost to battle any infection; that cost $7.80.

Other things not included in the total were the costs of Pepto-Bismol and Kaopectate for his upset tummy, as well as carpet cleaner for his diarrhea and vomiting. We saw an animal ophthalmologist early on since Ozzie's eyesight was almost gone because of the swelling in his neck lymph glands that cut off the circulation to his eyes; the eye exam and ultrasound cost $188. The chemo made Ozzie's fur and skin kind of icky (sorry, don't have a better technical word, dry, scaley?), so we started using Epi-Soothe shampoo, which worked wonderfully; a bottle cost $12.95.

So, the totals of the blood draws, blood tests, chemicals, prednisone, office visits, injections, sedatives, antihistamine, Amoxicillin, and Lixotinic came to $2,970.

What did that $3,000 buy? The chemo started on September 1, 2006; Ozzie went into remission by mid-October. We're sure that had Ozzie not received these treatments he would not have lived for more than a few additional weeks. So, Ozzie's life (an excellent quality of life, too!) has been extended into October, November, December, January, February, and March (when I am writing this); six months at about $500 a month. Hopefully, the remission will continue, which will reduce the average cost of each month of his extended life.

Has it been worth it? Yes, yes, and YES! Ozzie is happy, he's playful, his days are beyond good. In some ways he seems happier and healthier than he was before. We are hopeful he'll have a happy 12th birthday in June, 2007.