Bravo - RAW diet

So I am suppose to starve this cancer. It's tough. I dice up green beans, zuccinni, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and bag it in individual servings. I have to figure out each day which protein to give Darby. Right now, I steam her food, but tomorow afternoon, I will transition darby to a RAW diet. The blend that I have purchased is made by Bravo. We will start with the chicken. The mix has veggies, bone, organ meat and chicken. One of the side effect Darby may experience from the CCNU chemo is bone supression. So the added bone will help add calcium back into her diet. Amazing the things we learn. It is more amazing how much we absorb when we are engaged. I'll post Jacque's e-mail tomorrow. I'm exhausted and ready for bed.

She's watching me intently.

I started this blog when Darby was pre-diagnosed with Lymphoma. I wrote a couple of times, but noticed that those first few days were actually very challenging for both Darby and I. So I stopped writing. Accepting a diagnosis like this believe it or not takes a while to come to grips with. What to do, who to listen to, who is going to be on your team, who can you trust, how much are you going to have to spend, etc...Whew, overwhelming...During the night, I slept with one eye open and the other one closed, I went to work thinking and wondering if Darbs would be OK, I came home hoping to hear her bark....and as I always, my girl pulls through for me. Then there is Duncan. My sweet male lab. I hope he know what's going on. Well, to catch everyone up, these are the events since my last initial post.

Sept 1, 2009 - We met Dr. Scroggins and Erica G. at North Texax Vet. I really like Dr. S. He didn't officially diagnose the lymphoma, however, based on her symptoms, she stated that it was highly likely that Darby had a journey ahead of her. They did suggest that I get her slide sent to a pathology lab to have it confirmed. At that point in time I declined. Dr. S. also informed me of my options. If I was to proceed with chemo, I had 3 potential choices. UWP - University of Wisconsin protocol, COP and CCNU. Each are listed from most invasive to least invasive. I left the Doctors office overwhelmed and exhausted.

Sept. 3, 2009 - Since my visit with Dr. S. I thought back and forth about the slide. should I have it tested, should I not, etc. Well, I remembered that my friend Chris' wife was a canine researcher. I called him to just ask him some questions, come to find out that his wife "Erica", was a clinical pathologist (sitting for boards soon) for the University of Wisconsin. I rushed to the Dr. office to pick up Darby's slide and sent it off to Wisconsin for Erica to look at. She did confirm Med / Large Lymphosites......Lymphoma............sigh

Sept. 9, 2009 - We met with Dr. Pam. Dr. Pam specializes in Holistic veteranary care. Dr. Pam gave me 3 supplements for Darby. A Multi vitaming, a digestive enzyme, and an antioxidant. In addition, she suggested that I feed Darby a variety of meats, such as chicken, turkey, beef, fish, etc. The veggie medley that I prepare should consist of at least 5 green veggies. I have been preparing spinach, squash, green beans, brocolli, cauliflower and seaweed. www.vitalitypetcare.com.

Sept. 14, 2009 - I decided to move forward with the Chemotherapy. Darby will be undergoing the CCNU chemo protocol. I chose the least invasive chemo protocol for her because I intend to commit myself to her diet and nutrition, her fitness and happiness. I feel confident that we can make strides by enhancing these components.

On this day we also met our "New" primary vet. His name is Dr. Joe Allen. His office is in Colleyville. I wanted him to look at Darby to get a benchmark of her current state. He is a fantastic Dr. and we both lucky girls...

Sept. 16, 2009 - our 2nd visit to see Dr. Scroggins. he prescibed the CCNU capsules. I gave darby her first pill that evening.

Sept. 17, 2009 - Gave Darby her second CCNU pill.

Sept. 18, 2009 - OUr call with Dr. Loops from North Carolina. Dr. Loops will join our team as Darby's homeopathic vet. He will be responsible for Darby's homeopathic cancer remedies.... www.charlesloops.com

Sept. 24, 2009 - We began our homeopathic protocol. Our first remedy was Cad. This is important to know because I have 3 rememdies that I have to alternate. Cad, Sulph, Cad, Sulph, Carci...I have to put this on a calendar some where, otherwise I am going to forget....

Sept. 26, 2009 - This was the day for our enchilada dinner fund raiser. It was a hit. Lots of enchilada plates, many jars of salsa sold. Thank you to the following people...First and foremost, my mom for helping make this event such a success for Darby. Kristen, Cindy and Jake; Angie, Todd and Zach; Jenny, Jimmy and Caroline; Mary and Chuck; Suzanne and Reggie; Suzanne and Bob; Jodi and Nancy; Dr. Jacoby and Debra Mackentosh; Brett B. and Pam G.; Kirk and Sanna; Tracey; George Ostrander; Rita and Ginger; Mandy; Ryan and friends; Misty and Patrick; and Jan and Bill, Courtney, Kim, Rosemary, and Patricia....

Over all, our past two weeks have been successful. I still get the wonderful greating from her when I get home. Thanks to all of my wonderful friends and Dr,'s for being so kind to us and supporting us through this journey.

Going to See Anti Kristen, cousin Jake and Uncle JP today

For a vacation day, today is very busy. We started our day relatively early. After much thought yesterday, I figured that I had to do something for Darby throughout the night. Her body was so weak yesterday morning, I figured that it had something to do with lack of movement or nutrition thoughout the night. So last night I let her out several times, fed her an egg prior to bed, and then a snack during the night. She woke up feeling and looking so much better than yesterday morning, still a litte weak, but better.

Anti Kristen is coming over to see Darby this morning and Uncle JP will come see her this evening. Both JP and Kristen know Darby very well. With our visit with Dr. Pam scheduled for Wed. I felt that it was important to get their thoughts on Darby.

3 days till we see Dr. Pam

Darby is laying in her pink and brown dog bed with her pink fluffy blanket. She woke up a little off this morning. I think by the mornings, her prednizone has worn off. Her lymph nodes are down 93%, althought this may seem like a good thing, I don't really know what it means. I am still very nervous because they say that prescribing Pred. prior to chemo can potentially interfear with its effectiveness. Ahhh, when I read that, it made me very, very mad. None the less, since Darby has been taking the Pred., I know I cannot just take her off of it, so every morning she gets the med. I will do this until I get further guidance from the vet and oncology teams.

She is weak this morning, and it is making me very sad. I hope it is because the medication has yet not taken effect. I'll take her out to smell the fresh air, maybe that will help her perk up.

Darby got stronger throughout the day. Suzanne even came over for a while. Thanks Suzanne.

As I had mentioned earlier, Darby is eating like a queen. For Dinner, she had steamed brocolli, zucchini, fresh green bean, spinach and steamed salmon. Anti oxidants and Omega's here we come....