Ozzie lost almost a pound since Monday's vet visit; today he weighed 42.8 when he weighed 43.6 pounds on Monday. He ate a little more than yesterday today; when he would not eat the liver treats at the vet's, she knew he was really sick.

The plan is for the vet to contact the Washington State University Vet School (eight miles west of here) early next week to schedule an appointment for Ozzie to have an ultrasound and/or to meet with the WSU cancer specialist; we'll take whichever comes first. In the meantime, I'll try to keep Ozzie as comfortable as I can, try to get him to eat, and hope that he keeps on drinking water. Since he's not really eating, I could not disguise the Imodium tablet in food; I just reached back into his mouth and popped it down his throat.

Needless to say, we are very sad with this news. I am hopeful that there are some treatment options to consider to extend Ozzie's life in a way that means he is not suffering, I don't want to extend his life for my benefit, he needs to be having good days.

So, we're taking this all one day at a time.

On Saturday Ozzie was again very weak, he had difficulty standing up, though he does move around, he just doesn't move around unless he has to. He asks to go outside for bathroom things, and he seems aware of what's happening around him. He's been drinking water, but he refused food all day long. Finally I thought maybe his throat is sore, he doesn't want to chew or swallow big things, so in the evening I enticed him with blobs of yogurt on the end of my forefinger. That he would lick, so he ate the equivalent of 3-4 small spoonsful. Now he has raspberry mouth around his lips, but at least he has some nutrients in him. I did give him an Imodium tablet this morning and again in the evening. He's resting better, not so restless at night. Same for me, I'd not been sleeping well or much for several nights, either from Ozzie waking me trying to tell me something was wrong or from me worrying about him. Now I'm trying to be patient for a trip to the WSU Vet School to get more information about his prognosis.

On Sunday Ozzie still didn't eat, which is very worrisome. So late Sunday morning I called our vet at her home and she suggested chicken broth or chicken noodle soup. She also suggested I put Ozzie back on Lixotinic for him to get some B vitamins. I tried the chicken soup, but Ozzie wasn't interested. I cooked a small beef patty, I tried yogurt, I offered other snacks, but Ozzie literally turned his nose up at them and walked away. Last evening I read some of the entries on the Pet Cancer Support Group forum (find link on Ozzie's cancer links page), and one person mentioned her dog would only eat McDonald's burgers. Well, I had a softball game to go to (coach first base) late in the afternoon, so for dinner we had McDonald's burgers. We offered Ozzie a bite, he ignored it, so we ate the rest of the burgers. Then I offered him the burger piece again and he ate it. Off I drove the four blocks to McDonald's to get him one of the small burgers; he ate some of the burger and even though he's not supposed to have carbs, I gave him some of the bun. He ate that, too, so he ended up eating half the bun; I saved the other bun half with meat for a little later. I did pick up from the vet's a bottle of Lixotinic and gave Ozzie a teaspoon with a plunger like syringe.

Now I am much happier with him eating *something*. I'll give him more Lixotonic and McDonald's later tonight. Ozzie did have difficulty swallowing, he had to eat slowly; it's like his glands may be swollen such that it's painful for him to swallow; no wonder he's not eating. Tomorrow is the waiting game to see if we can get to the WSU Vet School for an ultrasound and see their cancer specialist.

Monday morning brought a call from our vet, she was able to get us scheduled to see the cancer specialist at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital at 11 AM. Yea! We went to the Vet School and were taken on time; we met first with a fourth year student named Casey who took our info and incorporated into the record the records from our local vet. Ozzie's weight dropped to 40.8 pounds, almost two pounds less than Friday's weight; very scary. A little later we met with the cancer specialist who suggested we have an ultrasound and chest x-ray for Ozzie. They didn't know what the egg-sized lump in his belly was either. Luckily those tests could be scheduled right after lunch, so I left Ozzie for that time and returned at 1:45. The results showed that Ozzie has many enlarged lymph nodes, including some in his chest; the lump is an enlarged spleen.

The next decision was to decide what course of action to take: remove the spleen or re-start the Wisconsin chemo protocol? After meeting again with Casey and the cancer specialist, we decided to go for the chemo first, and to start it soon. With Ozzie's masses in his chest, he's not likely a good candidate for surgery. We opted to start the first round of chemo that afternoon (Vincristine and Prednisone). Then after 24-48 hours, if Ozzie isn't showing any improvement, then we may consider a spleenectomy.

Ozzie still isn't eating, but that's a normal reaction to the Vincristine. Fingers are crossed that his appetite returns soon. We tried McDOnald's burgers again tonight, but he had a long day and he looks very tired. I am giving Ozzie the Lixotinic so he'll get vitamins and minerals somehow.

Monday has been a loooong day; we left the Vet School around 5:30 PM, having been there since 11 AM. We're grateful our vet was insistent on getting us in at the WSU Vet School soon, and we're happy that WSU was able to accommodate not only the initial appointment today, but also the x-rays, ultrasound, and first round of chemo. Thank goodness for thoughtful medical people.

On Tuesday Ozzie continued to be tired from the long day on Monday as well as the chemo in the afternoon. I am giving Ozzie 40 mg of Prednisone each day for a week; next week's Wisconsin protocol will be a different routine. I am still very, very concerned about Ozzie not eating. I am giving him two teaspoons a day of the Lixotinic mineral/vitamin supplement so he gets some nutrients. I used the syringe-like dropper to give him some chicken broth a few times today. I tried enticing him with all sorts of foods, but he turned his head away. He seemed interested in ice cream, but I guess the interest didn't get to his tongue.

In what should be good news, Ozzie's enlarged spleen seems to be shrinking. Had it not changed, I would be contacting the vet at WSU's Vet School to discuss an emergency spleenectomy. I will measure once more in the morning to be sure one way or the other before I decide about contacting the vet. I am looking for a big sign that says he is on his way to getting better; I hope the sign appears soon. The stress of worrying about him surviving this not-eating period is getting very heavy. Tomorrow is another day.

Wednesday was much like Tuesday, Ozzie is still not eating; in fact he vomited some liquids today, probably from drinking too much water too quickly. He has lost so much weight he looks like skin and bones. There is good news, and that is that his enlarged spleen has reduced in size, it's hardly noticeable. In the evening Ozzie licked a little yogurt off my finger; the new chicken broth I made for him didn't go over. Today is the second day after chemo, so I remain optimistic that with these first two days over, Ozzie will begin the path to return to his former self. If he does not return to some sense of his former self, I will have to question continuing the chemo. These are not quality days for him now; the second round of chemo was to give him another few months of quality days, and I haven't seen any yet.

The news for Thursday started out bleak, Ozzie continued to be lethargic and unwilling to eat. It just breaks my heart to see him this way. I called the WSU Vet School around lunch time to see if I could talk with someone about his condition and his not eating. Ozzie is sleeping better, and breathing more evenly, and the enlarged spleen is no longer visable.

The fourth year vet student Casey returned my call around 5:30 PM; he was also concerned about Ozzie's lack of appetite, so he found an appointment time for us tomorrow at 10 AM. I am eager to see if the veterinarians can find some reason why Ozzie is not eating.