Bridget,
I am so sorry that Nicki's not feeling well. I agree it's hard to know what to do concerning chemo vs quality of life. I think we will try the Carboplatin along with piroxicam, but if Jake has any bad side effects we plan to discontinue the chemo immediately. We want him to be the happy-go-lucky dog he's always been, even if it means a slightly shorter life, it should be the best life possible. This has been such an emotionally and financially stressful decision!
Is Nicki also on piroxicam? We've been really happy with it, as it really helps Jake's arthritis and hopefully is slowing the tumor growth. We plan to keep him on this regardless (assuming he continues to tolerate it so well.)
I see you're in Sacramento... We just visited UC Davis vet school yesterday and had a good consult. They recommended Carboplatin/piroxicam combo and said they had just as good results with that as with Mitoxanthrone, so we'll see. The best news is that they only charge $300/tx (our current onc vet was quoting $1200-1300, totally unaffordable for us!!!)
I hope that Nicki perks up and enjoys life again for a long time.
JoAnn & Jake
(10-yr-old black lab, bladder TCC dx'd 10/09, toe melanoma dx'd 12/09)
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