Chemo the 3rd...for real, this time.

Hudson got his chemo today.  White cell count was where it needed to be. 

Last week, at the chemo the 3rd (1st Attempt), Dr. Janson had mentioned that Hudson was an inspiration to other clients.  Apparently, a family with a Pomeranian had seen him in the lobby a few weeks ago when they were in getting their dog a dental.  Two weeks later, they found out their pom had cancer.  The family was somewhat reluctant to go through an amputation, but Dr. Janson discussed how quickly dogs bounce back from the loss of a leg.  The family told her that they had seen a Great Dane in the lobby only a few weeks earlier and had been surprised at how graceful he was.  They were even more surprised when his owner had told them he was only (at the time) 6 weeks out of surgery.  Dr. Janson said "Ah, you met Hudson, the poster dog for amputation."  :)  The family decided to proceed with surgery. 

I met them today.  They were in the lobby while their pom was undergoing surgery.  When Hudson and I walked in, they both began crying.  They gave him love and told me that he was the reason they decided to amputate.  It made me a little weepy too.

After his chemo was done, Hudson and I were waiting in the lobby for his anti-nausea prescription to be filled.  A little girl and her twin brothers were waiting in the play area.  The little girl was clearly upset and had tears on her cheeks.  Hudson went right up to her and started licking at her cheeks.  She hugged him around the neck and held on.  Hudson then turned to the twins, who were belted into a double stroller, and started licking them.  The children's parents came out of the back room and thanked the receptionist for watching the children.  Both had red eyes and had clearly been crying.  When they saw their daughter with Hudson, they started crying again.  The parents hugged him too and talked softly to their daughter.  After the usual "what a beautiful dog" comments, they gathered up their kids and left.  Their little girl called "Bye Hudson! I love you!"  The receptionist later told me that their dog had been hit by a car and died in the dad's arms as they arrived at the hospital. 

Chemo the 3rd....only not

Well, the 3rd chemo session didn't work out either. Hudson's white cell count was too low again.  Dr. Janson said that since Hudson is already receiving the lowest dose of the protocol possible, we'll have to increase the time between rounds to 4 weeks.  This pushes us into the holiday season, which we had hoped to avoid, but what are you going to do?

Dr. Janson did mention that Danes as a breed seem to be more sensitive to chemo, so Hudson's reaction isn't uncommon.

We'll try again next Thursday!

7 Everyday Hero

The CEO/President of the rescue that I volunteer with, Big Dogs Huge Paws, was nominated for the 7 Everyday Hero award and won!  All of the Officers wanted to help surprise her, along with Mitch Jelnicker, so we snuck over to her office.

Channel 7 asked that we bring some dogs, if possible, so Hudson got to go!

He enjoyed the car ride over

Colin, Lindsay's husband, is the one in the black polo holding their newfie, Sully.  Lindsay is in blue, Bree in black, with Mitch standing just beyond her.  Susan Rafferty, the lovely volunteer that nominated Lindsay for the award, is wearing pink in the distance.  That's Hudson's butt in the lower right corner. :)

Because he loves me, Hudson was sure to make a generalized nuisance of himself.  He climbed in a big fountain three times and made me come in after him too.

Here's the finished product!  (The first dog shown is our boy!!)

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/7everydayhero/28764493/detail.html