Chemo the 1st

Damn my job!  Due to scheduling issues at the oncologists, I was unable to take Hudson to his first chemo appointment.  They could only get him in on Thursday at 3:45 and I was flying out of Sacramento, CA at the same time.  Fortunately, my wonderful husband and doggy daddy Tony was able to take him.  While I felt like crap and guilty as hell the entire time, I knew he was in good hands.

The downside of having Tony take him to his appointment is that he is a man.  I ask for details about how the appointment went and get responses like “Lot of waiting.”  Here’s an excerpt of our conversation:

K:        How did chemo go?

T:         Fine

K:        Uh…did you have to wait long?

T:         Yeah, like an hour.  They had an emergency.

K:        So you waited an hour and then how long while he had chemo?

T:         45 minutes.

K:        So what did they do?

T:         I dunno.  I was in the waiting room.

K:        Oh.  What’s all this medication?

T:         Instructions are in the bag with the medication.

Hudson showed no ill effects from his chemo.  Typically, dogs are lethargic and tired.  They can have nausea and diarrhea.  The vet gave us medicine to prevent nausea that we were to start the night after chemo.  They also provided medication for the diarrhea, but that was only to be administered if he experience diarrhea.  He didn’t.  We didn’t even see lethargy.  He took it like a champ!

One of the things that Hudson loved about going to the oncologist (and frankly, so did Tony) is that everyone at the oncologists LOVES him.  The moment they walked in the door, the receptionists were calling him.  One of them picked up the phone and called the techs in the back, because everyone wanted to see Hudson.  His surgery tech always comes out to see him, and Dr. Stubbs has come up too.  He always inspects Hudson’s incision, but he told Tony that he comes just because he “loves this dog.”  Tony is always so proud of Hudson and loves showing off his handsome tough guy, and said Hudson is a chick magnet. :)