Six Year Old Daschund -- Rolo -- cushings--(Passed away 17 August 2012)

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Originally Posted by Squirt's Mom

Hi B,

You are so brave! I would be a basket case and you sound so calm and positive! Way to be, Mom! Rolo has the best medicine possible on his side - a strong, loving mom who is ready to face anything for her boy.

We have a thread started by another member who's baby also had a macro. Several folks have posted their experiences there so I thought it might help. Here is the link -

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3567

We are with you all the way, B. Anytime you need to talk, we will be here to listen, to hold your hand, to laugh and to cry with you.

Prayers and healing white light flying your way!
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

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Thanks! I will add some thoughts on that thread.

And a BTW -- I am Rolo's dad....his mom is a basket case today.

Thanks so much for adding your thoughts to the Macroadenoma thread! I know from your note there that Rolo is completing his first radiation treatment today. I am beaming healing energy up to Tennessee, and will be so anxious to hear how things go throughout Rolo's treatment!!

Best wishes to all three of you!
Marianne

Two treatments under his belt!! So far, nothing extraordinary to report. Monday, I dropped him off at 9 am and they didn't call until 6pm to pick him up. They said they had several dogs getting treatment and we knew it would be a little longer for him because it was his first treatment so they had several setup things to get done. Tuesday, dropped him off at 9, picked him up around 1130. The oncologist has called after both treatments to go over the day with me! Great communication from the UT staff!

On another note, the oncologist recalled that Rolo's tumor was 2 cm by 1.47 cm. Considering he is a doxie and not that big a head, that is hugenormous! The oncologist remains extremely optimistic about Rolo's prognosis. The little guy is doing well, even ate two pretty good meals yesterday. He did throw up a small bit of his food, will have to discuss this with the Dr. today.

2 down, 14 more to go!

This is great news that Rolo is doing so well -- and eating!! WHOOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

We're right beside you, crossing off those treatments. So keep the updates coming!

Marianne

Hi Mom and Dad, :o:D

Wonderful news that Rolo is handling the treatments well so far. An appetite is a GREAT thing! :D I pray the next 14 go as well for both of you and that they work to their highest expectation.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

PS. Please note, I covered both genders in this post. :o:p Reminded me of a funny that happened a few years ago. I met a gal online and we got to chatting via email. I started noticing her emails were getting rather, hummm, flirty as time passed but put it off to missing nuances in communication via print. One day she finally made a blatant suggestion and I had to "gently let her down". Come to find out, based on my name, Leslie, she had thought I was male! Talk about embarrassed. :p

Go Rolo Go!!!! I hope things stay on track.

Sending love and hugs,
addy

Something that stuck in my head when the oncologist was talking to me last week was his comment that in people, the first sign of a potential macroadenoma is headaches. Obviously, people let us know if they have headaches. For dogs, we just have to learn if there are symptoms that can lead us down that path.

After I left UT with the diagnosis of a huge macroadenoma for Rolo, I got curious about headaches in dogs. This morning, I finally googled dog headaches and found this potential list of symptoms:

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You suddenly find your dog wants to hide in the closet where it is dark and quiet.
• Now your most affectionate dog in the world does not want you touching their head or stroking them at all.
• Dog symptoms like rubbing their head against furniture or on your body hoping for relief of this invasion in their head.
• Total avoidance of people and loud noises which only make their head pound more.
• Not interested in playing and only wanting to be left alone.
• Squinting with their eyes to avoid sunlight which worsens their pain.
• Seeking out cool places to rest their head upon.
• Not very enthusiastic about eating their meals (putting their head down to feed from their bowl can cause that throbbing)

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The four bolded ones are definite behaviors we have observed in Rolo over the past several weeks. Last week we were chalking some of it up to "mentally inappropriate" when he would just stand at his water bowl and not drink. I wonder now if it had to do with not lowering his head. He also didn't like to eat from his dish. He would eat if I hand fed him -- he wasn't lowering his head! (duh!). He also seemed to appreciate it when we put his water bowl on a little wire stand that holds them up a bit. Now, seeing the last symptom, that really seems to fit.

I think recognizing advanced signs of the growth of pituitary tumors can help us seek out the help our pets need faster. I wish I had been a little more aware of the headache angle a couple of weeks ago, it might have sped up our coming to UT.

We are 9 treatments into the 16 scheduled for Rolo and we couldn't be more excited. Although we had been warned that it could be several weeks after treatment before we saw positive signs, we have seen so many improvements in our little guy so far! In late December, we were having to medicate him with an appetite enhancer to even get him to eat. Rolo was never an "aggressive" eater, he always seemed to be more of a social eater. He would mostly not even eat unless we brought the food into the living room where we sat. Since we adopted our second dog back in October, Rolo had become more active in his eating, however, with the URI back in December, he almost quit eating entirely. I had to sit and hand feed him (could have been associated with the headaches mentioned in previous post).

Rolo now is an eating machine. While he still can't hold a candle to how quickly our other dog eats, he quickly cleans his bowl! He also does fairly well in the day, but at night, he tends to drink and urinate more. As the radiologist at UT said, only 30% of dogs can be medication free after the treatment, but we are hoping Rolo is one of them, but will gladly accept only having to give him pills daily.

Also, I can't commend the staff at UT enough. Our radiologist is wonderful and gives me daily calls to let me know how treatments go. We decided to board Rolo at UT for the remainder of his treatments because of some professional and personal reasons. It was tough dropping him off yesterday and knowing it would be a bit before we see him again, but we keep telling ourselves that we are doing the right thing for him and he is getting the care he needs.

Hi,

Oh, I can imagine how hard it was to leave your sweet boy! But I am sure you are making the right decision for him and yourselves - you made it out of love. ;)

It is so good to read your reports and see how well Rolo is doing with these treatments. You give hope to others who may follow in your footsteps - and hope has value beyond measure. I hope he continues to do as well and that he is soon back home in ya'll's loving arms.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

Hi I was just catching up on your thread. DITTO TO WHAT LESLIE SAID. Praying for Rolo

Sending you lot of support strength prayers and hugssssss xo