The Mason Protocol

A blog about a dog and cancer. and rocks. lots of rocks.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

No Moose is Good Moose 📰

...as they say. It’s been a little over a month since I’ve last provided an update. The holidays were spent focusing on friends and family, and of course Mason. Following his first full cycle of chemotherapy, Mason achieved full remission. 

Even so, the road to remission wasn’t without its setbacks. Due to his lowered immune system, Mason developed an infection (likely tick-born), which caused severe lameness, swelling, and fever. The symptoms were startling similar to those which developed at the onset of lymphoma. Fortunately, Mason was back to full health after a quick visit to primary care and one prescription later (Doxycycline, antibiotic).

We are now at the half way point of the 19-week protocol. Mason is in full remission. Friends and family have shown overwhelming support through the GoFundMe campaign (thank you all, truly). 

Things are pretty great.🙂

[allthingsmoose-blog]

DO IT FOR MOOSE organized by Tom Catron

If you have had the chance to meet Mason (or Moose, Mooser, Mace-Face, Spoose, Spruce-Moose, the nicknames go on and get more obnoxious), you know this pupper is a creature of endless affection and energy. Zach has had the awful misfortune of learning his canine best friend has developed a high g...

A lot of people reached out to me after reading my last post saying they had expected a GoFundMe link at the end of the short novel I had written on Facebook. The intention at the time was to raise awareness to family and friends who have had a chance to get to know, and even live with, Mason over the last decade.

For those that don't know, Mason was a fraternity dog at UVA and has led an exciting and happy life meeting all of the people along the way (he has his own Facebook friends that I don't have in common 😶). Over the last month many have graciously offered to donate toward the cost of chemotherapy, but were without a means to do so. I want to say thank you to Tom Catron for setting up a GoFundMe page for Mason on my behalf. If you would like to help out, the donation would go toward the cost of Mason's weekly treatment and is greatly appreciated. Or, if you'd just like to come by and give Mason some love then that's just as great.

Thank you again to those who have reached out in support. If you have any questions about the treatment or Mason's progress, I'm happy to answer.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Charlie, my nephew, came to visit for Thanksgiving. Between Mason diving for rocks and Charlie sprinting to the playground, I couldn’t get either one still for long enough to take a focused picture.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Week 3 & 4 - Getting Away with Murmur

Mason has always been one to eat at his own leisure. In fact, if they made a cat feeder big enough for dog food I probably have saved myself the trouble of scooping out his food everyday. But then steroids happened. 

Nowadays I can throw a head of broccoli Mason’s way and he’ll gobble it up. So when Thanksgiving 🦃 came and went last week, Mason pretty much had his own seat at the table. We said grace, gave a round of thanks, and discussed Mason’s recent development.

During the last visit, the oncologist checked Mason’s vitals as he’s done prior to every treatment each week. However, this week he noticed something new, irregular- a heart murmur. Normally, it’d be monitored and there’d be no need for immediate alarm, but next week Mason would be administered doxorubicin. A known side effect of doxorubicin is cardiotoxicity- heart-breaking, I know. 

Yet again another decision to make: administer the alternative, less effective, equally expensive treatment; or, consult a cardiologist for a cool $1,000 and see what Pandora’s box has to offer. Treating a heart murmur to extend Mason’s life another five years doesn’t make much sense when he only has one left, so I pocketed the money to put toward chemo and scheduled Mason for the alternative treatment.

Although certainly a bump in the road, the heart murmur has not impeded progress. After four weeks, Mason has completed his first cycle of chemotherapy and is going into a bye week with partial remission.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Moosin’ Around

Mason doesn’t go swimming so much as he goes diving for rocks. It’s his pastime. It’s also what makes him an unreliable fishing partner, but I can forgive him for that since I do just as good a job scaring away the fish on my own.

Since discovering Mason has lymphoma, we’ve been exploring new routes to take on our usual walk. Most recently we’ve found a way to take Mason’s recreational activity on land by way of a rock wall.

With a little practice he may be able to come along for the more advanced hiking trails so I can once again continue to use him as my scapegoat for coming home empty-handed. 👻🎣

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Week 2: Partial Remission

Chemo this week came in the form of a treat. Mason received Cytoxan, which is taken orally. Frustratingly enough, it still required commuting to/from Merrifield during rush hour for the drug to be administered. In all fairness, the hospital evaluates Mason’s condition prior to each treatment, which brings us to the good news: Mason is in partial remission. His lymph nodes reduced by 60% from the previous visit. Of course, the goal is full remission but he is showing great progress.

Mason’s discharge instructions state that regular exercise is perfectly fine, if not recommended. We’ve been sure to bring the tennis ball along for walks and swing by the park regularly. Many have asked me if chemo would change Mason’s personality or leave him in a constant state of misery- it’s quite the opposite really. The protocol for dogs is very similar to that of humans; however, whereas the goal for humans is curative, for dogs it is palliative. The focus is on quality of life and, thus, not as taxing on the body.  Despite the chemo, Mason has never been so energized (roids 💪) and has people asking, “that’s a dog with cancer?”

[allthingsmoose-blog]

(in)Side Effects 🤢

Within 24 hours of the first treatment, Mason’s bowels began exorcising whatever cancer demon was freighthopping along his lymphatic highway. I woke up to Mason’s whimper to go outside 7 times that night between 3am and 7am. Unfortunately, I could only get dressed quickly enough for 4 of those whimpers so now I’m fresh out of carpet cleaner. 

For those wondering (or not): yes, there was blood (a lot). I did worry that he would need to go to the E.R., but fortunately the metridonazole prescribed to him cleared things up. 👌

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Week 1: CHOP 👊

On the day of Mason’s oncology visit, my sister was kind enough to come along with me for support and to ask the questions I might have difficulty communicating. During the consultation, Dr. Boostrom outlined just about every avenue available, for every budget, with various outcomes.  It was no surprise that efficacy and expense were married together along the spectrum of treatment options. The most effective and expensive protocol was the 19-week CHOP [Cyclophosphamide, Hydroxydaunorubicin, Oncovin, Prednisone] protocol, which rotates 4 drugs weekly throughout the duration of the treatment. The alternative protocols were all variants of CHOP using fewer drugs less frequently, cutting down on both cost and prognosis.

Ultimately it distilled down to a binary decision: the full 19-week CHOP protocol or nothing at all. I didn’t find the sense in half-measures. The cost of care was not insignificant, but the person with any say in the decision at the time was myself alone… and I thought about how that might not always be the case down the road. I looked to Dr. Boostrom and let him know that I wanted to spend another year with my best friend. Mason was then led through double doors and began week 1 of his 19 week journey through CHOP chemotherapy.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Deep Dive

Slow to get up for his morning walk, giving me the look when he needed a little boost to get on the bed, Mason’s health continued to deteriorate and I was worried that the dog with “endless” energy had finally tapped the well dry. Still, we ventured to the park. I noticed his ears perk up at the sound of the running brook and, within seconds of removing his leash, he was off running along with it. Although Mason’s body was failing him, it was clear that his spirit wasn’t ready to quit... stubborn as always.

I spent much of the next two days putting Google to work, digging through just about every topic I could think of regarding pet lymphoma- survival statistics, chemo treatments, behavioral impacts, “cancer-friendly” diets, etc. I still felt as though something was missing, preventing me from coming to a decision, challenging my resolve. Despite all the stated odds and success stories, every website seemed to have the same disclaimer: results may vary. 

I knew that without consulting a specialist there’d always be a part of me asking myself “what if Mason was different?” Later that night I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Boostrom (VCA SouthPaws, Oncology) for later in the week- still undecided -but feeling better about the steps I was taking to seek out more answers.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Arlington VA veterinarians offering general & holistic veterinary medicine, pet surgery, & pet dental care for dogs & cats at Ballston Animal Hospital, Arlington, Virginia.

As a follow-up to my previous post, my experience with Ballston Animal Hospital was stellar. The staff at the front desk are very friendly, Dr. Scher went above and beyond my expectations, and the location is convenient to boot. Two thumbs, 👍👍 recommended.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Week 0: Discovery

I wish I could say this was my first go-round with cancer and pets. Unfortunately, my family dog, Pepper, passed away due to lymphoma just a few years back. So when I walked in the door last Tuesday and gave Mason the usual neck scratch as he welcomed me home, I recognized right away what the golf ball-sized lymph nodes under his throat signaled.

Initially I didn’t want to believe what I already knew. Part of me thought if I avoided the vet that Mason’s symptoms would simply go away with time. But, given how quickly the swelling appeared, I knew we didn’t have the time to sit around a wait. So off we went.

Being that it was Halloween, Dr. Scher cheerfully greeted us in the waiting room dressed as a witch (or was it a pirate... I guess I had a lot on my mind at the time). She quickly confirmed my suspicion and began briefing me on Mason’s prognosis and next steps. As I watched Dr. Scher speak to me, inside I was lost in my own thoughts. I thought I had been prepared, knowing full well why I scheduled the appointment that day; however, in that moment it was like water overflowing a dam and I found that emotion had gotten the better of me.

I left Ballston Animal Hospital with some literature, a veterinarian oncology referral, and a whole lot to think about.

[allthingsmoose-blog]

Preface

Walking through the streets of Arlington on Halloween night is an activity to which I’m no stranger; however, instead of stumbling toward Clarendon in a costume (thrown together at the eleventh hour, 🙌 Prime), this year I walked with Mason in the opposite direction toward Ballston Animal Hospital.

On October 31, 2017, Mason was diagnosed with stage III lymphoma.

I decided to create this blog to memorialize the remaining time I have with Mason. I don’t expect the entries herein to be clever nor eloquent, but cathartic. The ensuing posts will serve as a ritual from which I aim to restore a sense of control. At the same time, Mason has been there through many stages of my life and has met numerous friends along the way. To these people, or others who find themselves in a similar situation as my own, I hope you find value in this blog as well.

In the coming weeks, months, and (hopefully) throughout next year, I’ll be documenting the stages of Mason’s treatment and the adventures shared with the time that he’s been afforded.