As I wrote on my main blog yesterday, I was kind of dreading yesterday. When we still had Zane, I took him to the vet all the time for allergy shots. It got to be quite a grind, which I found kind of nervewracking. That was when we still lived near Stuttgart, and our vet was a several miles away. It wasn’t a big deal to drive there, obviously, though I don’t do a lot of driving anymore. I’m not sure why I’m like this now. Before I got married, I used to drive all the time. But then I got sucked into this stay at home wife gig, and I don’t get out much anymore. It’s not because I can’t go out, though… more like I choose not to. So, having to drive Arran the very short (even shorter) distance to the vet is kind of anxiety producing, especially in the COVID era.
I made a point of not getting to the vet too early yesterday. Noyzi demanded a walk, so I gave them one. Then I put Arran in his “seatbelt” harness and loaded him into the Volvo. Ordinarily, I would have driven my Mini, but it’s parked in the garage, and accessing it would mean moving the Volvo out of the driveway and getting my car out. And while Arran fits fine in the tiny back seat, getting him in the car when he’s mobility challenged, and there are only two doors, isn’t that easy. It’s a lot simpler to put him in the Volvo, since he doesn’t have to crawl over the driver’s seat to get in the backseat. I no longer have the upper body strength to simply drop the top and put him over the car door. There’s also a concrete barrier on our driveway that makes it harder to access the backseat.
We got to the vet at about fifteen minutes before our 11:00am appointment. I picked up a beeper from the receptionist and sat in the car with Arran until it went off. It was noticeably chillier this week than it was last week, although the skies were as overcast. Arran slowly ambled into Haus B, a part of the vet clinic I had never been in before. Arran’s regular vet wasn’t in this week, so another vet gave him his treatment. I liked her. Weirdly enough, she kind of reminded me of Mick Jagger. No, not necessarily because of her looks, but more in the way she carried herself. And her face and coloring bears a slight resemblance to his. I know that’s a weird observation, but I don’t mean it as a put down. I think Mick Jagger is an amazing force of nature! Anyway, she seemed somewhat easier to talk to, and less rushed. I don’t really know the vets at our office well, because Bill is the one who usually takes the dogs. But since Arran is getting chemo, I guess I’ll be getting to know them better.
The vet drew some blood to make sure Arran would be medically able to tolerate the chemo. After a few minutes, she showed me the results. Arran’s red blood cell count is still low, but his reticulocytes– immature red blood cells– are on the rise. That means that his body is responding to the anemia and making more red blood cells. In the meantime, “young” cells are being released into his bloodstream. This is a good finding, because it means that his bone marrow is still functioning and trying to repair itself. If there weren’t more reticulocytes being released, that would mean his body wasn’t responding and had “given up”– aplastic anemia. I’m sure in the short term, it would mean he’d need a blood transfusion and in the slightly longer term, it would mean he was on his way to the Rainbow Bridge.
After the happy news that Arran’s regular vet’s fear that his bone marrow was irreparably damaged (she had communicated this in an email to Bill) was incorrect, Arran got his second IV push of Vincristine. Haus B is a slightly less “house like” environment than the main office is, so I sat in an area next to a window and watched as many people brought their dogs for treatment. Dr. Konrad Blendinger, the man who, with his veterinarian wife, owns the practice is a vet who does highly specialized reproductive medicine for dogs. He mostly only sees dogs who are being bred, and it looked like some of his patients were waiting for him yesterday in Haus B. It was the first time I’d ever seen him in person, although I have seen him performing music in locally produced videos. I’ve noticed that part of German culture is having hobbies, and music is apparently one of his! We have that in common.
Arran was pretty calm during the chemo. He laid on his side and took the drugs like a champ, only managed to pull the cap off the port, which wasn’t a big deal. The female “Jagger” vet expressed mock dismay, then covered up the port until she was ready to administer the medication. After an hour or so, we were finished, and I loaded Arran into the car, asked for a bill (which wasn’t yet ready), and drove home. Bill came home a few hours later, and they had a lovely reunion!
Arran has responded very well to the treatment so far. His lymph nodes have gone down; he’s stopped coughing and gasping; his poops are mostly very normal; and he’s eating like an Olympic athlete. He still can’t jump on the bed, but he clearly feels much better. We still don’t know how much this will cost, but it’s been so nice to see Arran behaving more like himself. To be very honest, I think if we hadn’t started treatment last week, he might not be here today. The disease was definitely starting to progress. My main goal was to make sure Arran wouldn’t die without Bill– his favorite person– by his side. Now, it looks like that will be what happens, but we aren’t sure when. But then, that would be true for anyone, wouldn’t it? As this week’s events in Ukraine have shown us, one never knows when death will occur.
Anyway, we’re just going to enjoy this time, and do what we can for our sweet Arran. I think this experience will teach us a lot, not just about canine cancer, but about cancer in general. The drugs he takes are the same as what many humans take when they have cancer.
Not to leave out Noyzi, below is a video I made of him reacting to The Handmaid’s Tale, as Serena had her baby. He was very curious and empathetic. Noyzi is a true gentle giant.
And a couple of photos of our regal Kosovar rescue, Noyzi, who is now living his best life in Germany. He sure has come a long way!
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