the passing of a legend

Lola

aka. Lola-Ebola

aka. Lola-Baby!

aka. chicken salad

March 17, 2002 - March 26, 2013

Lola lost her battle with cancer today. We are heart broken here in the Pelletier house. So please excuse a short absence. I already had written up a post for Thursday regarding the dangers of constant use of prednisone. I will still publish it for anyone interesting in the article.

We will miss our baby, I wanted to share this fabulous shot of her in her under-roos that was taken when she was just a pup. She was always my sweetheart, and will always remain my baby.

Lola's cancer diet

As many of you have been following along our cancer journey the past few weeks, I wanted to report Lola seems to be doing fairly well. We are now 3 1/2 weeks since she has been diagnosed with Lymphoma and a week into her holistic diet. On here two week checkup, we thought we may have to put her down and were heart broken. But the vet said he had hope for her, that the lymph nodes had shunk a small bit in size and he wanted us to possibly look into a holistic route.

That night I began research and between extensive resources came up with the following diet we are following. I am not a vet, I am not trained in the art of holistic healing or diet, please use this information as a stepping off point for your research. As well as follow our story and what is working (and isn't working) for us.

Please also note that at this time we did decline to place her under chemo treatments but she does receive 20mg of prednisone each day. It is my goal to be able to ween her off the prednisone and be able to treat her fully with just my holistic treatments.

The Diet: (Lola is a 20 pound dog - please base your calculations around this)

Breakfast:

2 ounces Essiac Tea

1/2 Cup Fruit/Veggie/Supplement Mix*

Mid-morning snack:

2 TBS yogurt/1 TBS flaxseed oil/ 1 Red Clover Capsule 

Snacks during the day/ evening: (we mix it and vary it)

Organic baby carrots

Blueberries

Strawberries

Apples

Dinner:

1/2 Cup Fruit/Veggie/Supplement Mix*

2 "medallions" (Nature's Variety Raw Frozen foods)

1 Omega 3 Fish Oil softgel

2 ounces Essiac Tea

Evening snack:

2 TBS yogurt/1 TBS flaxseed oil/ 1 dropper full of Red Clover liquid

*Fruit/Veggie/Supplement Mix:

Chop of the following in your food processor:

4-5 apples

Large handful of baby carrots

handful spinach

handful parsley

handful kale

This mix makes a apple sauce type of consistency. I then add my supplements to the mixture, and stir:

2 TBS Hemp protein powder

4 Capsules of Red Clover (I open the capsule and pour in the powder)

2 TBS Nutritional Yeast 

This amount fills a large pyrex refrigerator dish (I posted a picture of it on Tuesday) and lasts her for roughly 3-4 days.  

After following this diet for a week, we took her back to the vet and he was in shock at the difference in her. All of her lymph nodes had completely shunk and she was breathing much better, was wagging her tail, running around, and a happy furry monster. 

She has a long way to go, she is definitely not in remission and has better days than others. But it's a step in the right direction. Especially from being almost put down, to now running and playing...definitely a good sign.

Now a little lesson on what all these supplements do.

Nutritional Information

Essiac Tea 

Essiac tea is a blend of four or more herbs; it was made famous by Canadian nurse Rene Caisse. Its name comes from her name, “Caisse,” spelled backward. She obtained the recipe from a shaman of the Ojibwa tribe in Ontario in the early 1900s and claimed to have had a great deal of success in using it in dealing with cancer. Essiac tea has since become very popular, with many holistic practitioners reporting similar successful treatments.

The 4 herbal ingredients in Essiac Tea are Burdock Root, Sheep Sorrel, Slippery Elm and Turkey Rhubarb Root.

1. Burdock Root helps to stimulate the immune system and reduces free radicals. It is an excellent blood purifier by supporting liver and kidney detoxification. In fact, Japanese studies have indicated that Burdock Root has anti-mutagenic and anti-cancer properties

2. Sheep Sorrel has also been studied extensively in laboratories. Sheep sorrel is anti-parasitic, anti-viral, anti-bacterial and has regressed tumors in laboratory animals. It is important to note that the whole plant must be used, including the roots of the plant.

3. The inner bark of Slippery elm supports the digestive and urinary systems. It also helps to reduce inflammation.

4. Turkey Rhubarb root contains a plant chemical called emodin, which can have a laxative affect. Emodin also has anti-cancer properties by stimulating the production of certain enzymes.  

Red Clover

Red Clover Red Clover is known to purify the blood, clear mucus from the lungs, improve circulation, and cleanse the liver. It is traditionally used for whooping cough, cancer, respiratory problems, and skin inflammation from psoriasis and eczema. Red clover is one of the richest sources of isoflavones. Isoflavones are water soluble chemicals that act like estrogens. The isoflavones found in red clover have been studied for their effectiveness with some forms of cancer and their ability to destroy cancer cells. It also contains bio-available calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus

Hemp Protein

Hemp Protein Hemp protein is made by milling (grinding) the THC free hemp seeds into a powder and then sifting some of the fiber out. It is possible to grind your own hemp seeds and use the whole seed, or sift it yourself. This is obviously a much cheaper alternative. Hemp seed is considered to be a nutritional powerhouse packed with a full spectrum of proteins and amino acids as well as other great health attributes. It’s a very clean protein source that can easily be found organic, raw, and non-genetically modified. Hemp is also considered to be very allergy friendly.   

Flaxseed Oil

The oil extracted from flaxseeds is said to lower cholesterol levels, boost the immune system, and prevent cancer. Flaxseed oil is high in alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that is thought to have beneficial effects against cancer when consume. Omega-3 fatty acids can also be found fish and fish oils, as well as in some other plant oils.

(found in the refrigerated section in your local health food store)

Fish Oil

The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil for dogs have been shown to inhibit the growth and spread of cancerous tumors. A study published by The American Cancer society in April 2000, reviewed the efficacy of the polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish oil to reduce inflammation, and extend and improve the quality of life for dogs treated for lymphoblastic lymphoma. Researchers believe they have identified a link between DHA and EPA (two fatty acids), and the prevention of the spread of tumors, development of new tumors and occurrence of cachexia. Cachexia is the weight loss that is experienced by dogs (and all animals) with cancer. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to normalize elevated blood lactic acid and insulin levels which in turn may help reduce or eliminate cancer related cachexia. (general rule of thumb is 1000mg per 20 pounds of body weight)

Nutritional Yeast

Nutritional Yeast Containing 18 amino acids, nutritional yeast is a complete protein. It’s loaded with high quality proteins as well as 15 essential minerals. It also improves blood production as well as liver function, two important factors when dealing with a cancer. In dogs it also promotes a shiny coat

I have read so much over the past couple weeks and continue to read and learn more. One of the diets I read about was the Budwig Diet -  If your dog has been diagnosed with cancer I highly recommend you read about this. I have adapted it into my diet for Lola. Some days we use cottage cheese other days we use yogurt. Yogurt is a lot easier to digest for older dogs, so that is why I chose the yogurt/flaxseed oil combination instead.

I hope this information will help anyone looking to get started on a diet and give you some basic information regarding why I'm using what I currently am.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestion or would like to share your story, I would love to hear.

I am lucky enough to live near some amazing health food stores, but you can also find all of these ingredients online through various markets as well.

tasty treats Tuesdays.. Lola edition

You may be looking at this thinking, "What the heck did she make this weekend?" Well I shall tell you. It's not for my belly, it's for Lola's.

While the first couple weeks of finding out about Lola and her cancer diagnosis we were very depressed and  so sad for the news, now we have changed gears and on a mission to beat this nasty thing. As you know, Lola (our scottie) was diagnosed with Lymphoma now almost 3 weeks ago. 

Last week she went in for her two week checkup and when we took her, we actually didn't think she would be coming home with us... I was balling the majority of the day and so upset because her health had failed so quickly. Her breathing had decreased and she was having an extremely difficult time with each breath. We didn't want her to suffer and were very close to saying that this may be it.

But our vet thought differently. He said he was very impressed with how much her lymph nodes had shrunk. Every lymph node had been extremely swollen just two weeks prior, now they have shrunk and some have actually even gone down completely. Up to that point in time we had only put her on steroid pills once a day for 7 days, then it had gone to once every other day for the 2nd week. 

It was at this visit that our vet explained that there was another patient that had been been in just as bad, if not worse shape, and was placed on a holistic treatment and is still alive, thriving, and in remission. He said he would put us in touch with the owner and said, for us to try anything and everything.

I went home that night and began researching. Between my own research and speaking with the other pet owner I came up with the following diet. So here it is..

Essiac Tea-Early morning

Veggie/Fruit/ Supplements mix (see above photo)- Breakfast

Yogurt, Flaxseed and Red Clover - Mid morning snack

Veggie/fruit/ Supplements mix with meat - Dinner

Yogurt, flaxseed and red clover - Snack

Essiac Tea- before bedtime

Over the next few weeks I will write up more posts to explain all the foods, supplements and foods we are currently testing out. I have mixed a few different diets and come up with our own daily diet. I'll explain some of the diets out there and let you pick and choose and form your own diet.

Being told that your dog (or cat) has been diagnosed with any form of cancer is completely devastating. Being that we eat an organic, natural diet (not 100% of the time..but mostly!) why would we not do this for the girls.

I have lots of posts that will be coming up explaining dog foods that are currently on the market and the alternatives to feed your pets. Then I will move into the "cancer diet" for your furry friend. You can follow up weekly to follow Lola's progress in the hopes that my combination beats this nasty disease. I have all the confidence in the world that trying this diet and supplements will really help my baby and my other two (who are not sick - but will now be much healthier)

I wish I would have had one place to have everything all in one place - so anything I can put up, links etc will hopefully help out others going through the same battle.

weekend roundup

Weekend began with a little bit of overtime Saturday morning, followed by our farmer's market and vegan store take. 

This week we came home with: spaghetti squash, variegated beets, romaine tips, steaks, hamburg, eggs, pork chops, bratwurst and coffee.

This weekend has been the first nice weekend, and definitely has us all craving for spring to be here. Because it was so nice we decided to take the girls out to the pine barrens. Now. Here's the thing. Where we live there is no snow on the ground. Just an occasional little mound that hasn't fully melted...

We came home and got the girls all packed up in the car and headed out. As we drove closer and closer to the forest we started to get a little worried. There was snow and lots of it, everywhere! We decided we drove all that way, maybe once we got into the woods it wouldn't be as bad. We were very, very wrong. 

(you can see that here they are kind of floating on top, but look at the foot prints to see it was fairly deep. In some areas when I stepped it went half way up my leg, almost to my knee)

It was fine for the little ones for a bit because they are light enough to be on top of the snow (there were a few instances they fell through though). But for us, especially me, it was horrible. I believe the trail we were on is over a mile long, about half way through Lola decided she couldn't make it any further. So I picked her up and carried her for a while until I caught up with Kevin (who is always WAY ahead of me when we do these walks and it drives me CRAZY!) He then took over the carrying Lola duties, just in time for Ella to say "Screw this" and flat out refused to walk any further. So the entire rest of the way I had to carry her. I think I fell three times. Twisted my ankle and thought I was going to break my leg a few times. But we made it out alive. Just barely. It was horrible! I know, I'm a super wimp because you are probably looking at these pictures thinking it doesn't look that bad. But believe me, there were spots that were really crappy deep, especially when you are carrying a dog (and already have a bum knee to start with) 

So yeah, I didn't have much fun. We won't be going back until we are positive there is no more snow. Though we went one time last year and the mosquitoes were outrageous. I think I'd rather deal with the snow actually! But all that matters is that the girls had a good time. Especially Lola.

                                                

Here is a little clip of Ella on the ride home. She was so tuckered out it was adorable. Hope you all had fantastic weekends, even though we lost an hour.

sharing a little bit personal..

For the past couple weeks we have noticed Lola's health seeming to deteriorate a little bit. She will be 11 on St Patricks Day, so she isn't a spring chicken anymore. But some days she has lots of pip in her, and other days she seems to sleep the day away.

We have joked that she is just a cranky old lady now. This past Monday we saw a decline in her eating habits. We also felt a small bump in her tummy (not on the outside, but inside  like in her belly) Neither of us wanted to think what that could be or mean. I know we both just wanted to pretend neither of us knew about it.

Wednesday morning (like 2am) I noticed her breathing was forced and she sounded like she was wincing with every breath. I hardly slept and petted her throughout the entire night into the early am hours. Instead of driving into work, I stayed home to work and called the vet as soon as they opened. We were able to get in at 9am and off we went.

I got there and started listing off all her ailments we had been noticing, the main concern being her lack of appetite and that bump we had felt over the weekend. From the weekend to Wednesday morning that bump had gone from a small hard bump maybe the size of a quarter to this massive cyst that is like the size of a plum? 

She was carted off for xrays and when he cam back with her..I knew it wasn't good. My vet is awesome. Completely and totally awesome. I love them there. He started off by saying "Honey, I'm really sorry. This completely sucks" He put up the xray and in the middle of her lungs was a large mass. He also then has found a bunch of swelling lymph nodes all over her body. Under her chin, the socket of her shoulder, her neck, her back leg, and then the ones in her belly. There were now two in her belly. Not just the one that had rapidly grown, but now also a small one on the other side as well.

You may be reading this and think, "oh my god! How did they not see this or not know!?" Here is the thing with Lola. 1. she has crazy hair! Her hair sticks out in every direction you can imagine. So its not the same as seeing a lump on a smoothed hair dog where you can see everything. Even when he had me feel some of them - you still can't visually see them on her, except now the one on her tummy. But again..her hair even covers that up with her "skirt". So unless you make her stand up, you wouldn't ever see it. 2. There are certain places she has always hated being touched - anywhere on her face and her belly. She's never liked either being touched or petted. She's a quirky pup =)

So, what does this all mean? This means I was just told that my baby has lymphoma. What this means..is this purely sucks. 

Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers seen in dogs.  Although there are breeds that appear 

to be at increased risk for this disease, lymphoma can affect any dog of any breed at any age. It 

accounts for 10-20% of all cancers in dogs.

Lymphoma (lymphosarcoma or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) is a malignant cancer that involves the 

lymphoid system. In a healthy dog, the lymphoid system is an important part of the body's immune 

system defense against infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria. Lymphoid tissue normally is 

found in many different parts of the body including lymph nodes, liver, spleen, gastrointestinal tract 

and skin. Lymphosarcoma is classified according to the location in the body in which the cancer begins

We have decided to not force her into chemo treatments and being poked and prodded every other day or week. Instead they put her on prednisone. She will remain on that for the rest of her life and she will be seen back in two weeks to see if the steroid has shrunk any of her lymph nodes at all. They have said that they have seen some good results just being on the steroid, it will give her back her appetite and make her feel more comfortable. I love my baby so much and can't imagine my life without her. We've had her since she was eight weeks old. The thought of loosing her is torture. But for now all we can do is hope that this treatment works and gives her at least another year with us. We can only hope. 

I went back and forth if I was going to share this news or not. But she is my furry child, some of you know her personally and know how much of a sweetheart she is. With her being this big in my life, and owning this much of my heart. How could I not share it? So...yeah, that's all I have to say. A bit of me died when I heard those words come out of his mouth. The tears formed and welled up so quickly. I just stood there speechless. My baby.... here's to you sweetheart and the time we have remaining.