Daisy and Luke discover an organic farm

Daisy and her new friend Luke are hungry after dock diving

Dock Diving at Lake Raleigh NC

Dr. Warry said that I could have a day of fun going to the parks or swimming as long as I was back by 4pm for my shot of neupogen.  

Daisy learns dock diving when it looks like "Luke" might take her FAVORITE ball.

 

 Daisy polishes her dock diving skills to get her ball before Luke does

 

Daisy just loves dock diving!!

Some of the kindest people work at NCSU c.v.m

Its Friday morning Sept 30th. I saw Dr. Warry at 8am for my daily shot of Neupogen (we meet with her everyday at 8am and 4pm).  I have mixed feelings because I don't like shots and yet I really like all of the people here especially Dr. Warry.  We have the whole day to play and then I come back at 4pm.

Dr. Warry with Daisy

Daisy meets the Bone Marrow Transplant Team

Daisy finally meets with the bone marrow transplant team as scheduled on Thursday September 29th.  After the initial consultation Daisy stayed the entire day for a full series of tests (bloodwork, x-rays, abdominal ultrasound).  Daisy was given her first shot of "neupogen" which is given to increase the number of white blood cells. She will be given two shots a day for the next three days in preparation for stem cell harvesting on Monday October 3rd. 

Left to right: Dr. Suter, Buffy and Dr. Warry.

First night in Raleigh NC..what are the odds??

We finally made it to Raleigh NC on Wednesday night Sept 28th, 2011.  After getting settled into the hotel we walked to a nearby restaurant and sat at an outside table.  Someone left a blue object under the table and I started playing with it by tossing it. My mom reached down and picked it up and realized it was rat poison!!  She asked the waitress about  it who said "I don't know..... I'm so sorry....I know we didn't put it there."  A lady next to my mom (who also had her dog there) was upset as well.  Although my mom was pretty sure I didn't eat it (because this had all happened within seconds of sitting down at the table)...she took a piece of the object and we ended up at the emergency room at NCSU.  That evening a woman named "Stepanie Istvan" came out and introduced herself at one of the residents in the I.C.U. who would be working directly with Daisy during her second week at NCSU cvm  (see picture below).  After several tests it appeared that Daisy most likely did not eat the rat poison.  They treated her with medication for it anyway. (Dr. Suter later said that this would not affect or interfere with her bone marrow transplant procedure).

Daisy in the emergency room at NCSU Wednesday evening for possible "rat poison ingestion." Daisy meets Stephanie Istvan with the B.M.T. team that night:

Daisy gets punchy after several hours at the NCSU C.V.M. emergency room

Beach Fun at Jekyll Island

At sunrise Daisy smells her way to the ocean

Daisy Frolicking on the Sand

Daisy picks up her leash

Running out of beach!

"Sleepy sleep time" at Jekyll Island FL

Looks like we are stopping for the night at Jekyll Island.  I just love this place!

A restaurant that allows dogs on the outside deck!

Daisy sits next to her water bowl during dinner and I notice that she is absolutely fascinated with the the sounds in the ocean.  It's pitch black so she can't see anything. Nesting sea turtles are disturbed by white light so all of the beaches on Jekyll Island are dark at night. 

Driving Ms. Daisy

Today I'm heading out on a road trip... Destination NSCU c.v.m. (it must be a very long trip by the looks of the suitcases, my toys, my treats, and my big bag of dog food).

DANGEROUS PIT STOPS ALONG THE WAY

Daisy finds the darndest things along the way. I've always encouraged Daisy to be curious about her surroundings but........it's challenging trying to protect her all the same. Oops-a-Daisy watch out for that snake!! ..... and to think we haven't even left the state of Florida yet:

Daisy stops to smell the daisies ......Oops-A-Daisy.......watch out for that bee!

Daisy sees a butterfly...  Oop-sa-daisy....what is that sound......we'd better get out of here!

Daisy's first experience of a cotton field......"Oops-a-daisy don't eat the cotton....it has thorns in it"

Daisy seems smitten by a horse...(I think the feeling is mutual but......it's way too early in the trip to start a romance).  Oops-a-Daisy watch out for the electric fence!! (geez will I get her there in one piece??)

We finally made it to Raleigh NC without any mishaps however within the first hour or so of arriving in NC Daisy found "rat poison" underneath an outside table at a retaurant and had to be taken to the emergency room at NCSU (see post "First night in Raleigh NC, What are the odds??" dated 9-28-2011)

Home from Miami Veterinarian Specialist hospital

"Let me out" says Daisy as she gets picked up from the MVS hospital after a 3 day ordeal of waiting for her Neutrophils (most abundant type of the white blood cells) to rise from "zero" to normal levels. She had to be in the ICU as dogs are susceptible to infectious disease when Neutrophils are low:

Immediately upon her return home she went straight to her toy chest, began crying (whimpering) and searched frantically for that special toy to cuddle up with (seems to be a pattern).  She did this the last time she returned home from a long stay at MVS.  She seems to miss her pink toys the most:

  Daisy has always favored her pink toys....is this because she is such a girly girl maybe??....a cute coincidence is that Neutrophils are also "pink" when viewed under the microscope (other white blood cell types stain as blue, red etc). 

In Honor of Daisy

During my three day stay at the hospital one of my godmothers (mother of my friend Jada) called my mom and suggested "a night out in honor of Daisy" before I left for NSCU (It was sort of like a farewell party without me).  All my moms shared dog stories .....of course.  There was no reason for her to stay at home since I wasn't there ;-)

Has anyone seen my Neutrophils?

3rd week of September: 3rd week of September:  Okay so Dr. Lurie warned my mom that about 5-7 days after the Cytoxan my white blood cell count would likely drop and I might have diarrhea or vomiting or just feel very lethargic.  So of course my mom cancelled my Tuesday night agility in preparation for my being "ILL."  Well I didn't start feeling ill until Wednesday.  I didn't eat breakfast and all I wanted to do was lie down. My mom took my temperature.  My temperature was 103.8.  My mom called the VMS and they said to monitor me and if my temperature rose anymore then I should be brought in.  My mom cooked me a chicken breast and of course I ate it.  But I didn't want to do anything but sleep.  My mom kept taking my temperature and it went down to 102.8 but just an hour later it went back up to 104.5 So my mom took me to the VMS.  They gave me a blood test and my white blood cell count was "zero." They had to keep me overnight because they needed to hook me up to an I.V. to give me fluids and antibiotics.  My temperature went back to normal by evening and I was eating normally.  The next day  my mom visited me and I was sooooo excited.  She took me for a short walk and of course I thought I was going home...but then she brought me back in.  Then she took a picture of me with my oncologist Dr. Lurie:

After that she sat next to me in my "cage."  She knows I don't like cages because people can't hug me in there.  My mom was able to put her hand through the cage and pet me at least. So she talked to me for awhile and told me how much she loved me.  Then she told me she recorded the premiere opening of the "X" factor so I could watch it when I got home (my mom knows that my favorite show is american idol......and she said that the X factor would be just like it).  So I then my mom told me to lie down and I did.  She sang a verse from my favorite song "Daisy don't you cry" and I fell asleep (My mom was surprised because there was alot of noise in there). So anyway Dr. Lurie told my mom that I would have to stay the night because i needed that time to build up my white blood cell count.  The next morning Dr. Lurie took a blood test again.  My white blood cell count was up but my "nuetrophils" were still "zero."   My mom really wanted to take me home....but Dr. Lurie advised against it.  Dr. Lurie said that he had already consulted with Dr. Suter (my future doctor in NC) who thought it best for me to stay one more night until my "neutrophils" increased. Dr. Lurie said to my mom "I understand wanting to take Daisy home so she can be comfortable but we don't want anything to happen since we are so close to the finish line."  I'm not sure what he meant by that but I think my mom understood so......(sigh) one more night for me.  

Cytoxan = Sleep torture

2nd Week of September My Oncologist told my mom to drop me off and expect to pick me up by the end of the day for my "Cytoxan" treatment.  Everyone had told my mom how "potent" this particular chemotherapy was. When My mom picked me up he gave her very specific instructions: "You will need to give her these four different medications (anti-nausea, anti-biotics, 2 different types of diuretics)  and you will also have to take Daisy out for a walk every 90 minutes for the next 36 hours because we do not want the chemo to sit in her urinal tract." 

When I came home I immediately went to my toy chest and started crying.  I was searching for the perfect stuffed toy to take a nap with and it had to be pink.  I found my pink chicken and jumped on the couch with it and fell fast asleep.

 I was EXTREMELY tired that night.  My mom tried feeding me first but I was not hungry at all.  She called the doc and he said to give me some time maybe 24 hours.  So my mom didn't push it she let me sleep.  Then after a very short period she woke me up and told me that we were going for "walkies."  She practically had to lift me up and carry me because I was that tired.  Well this went on the whole night. It seemed like every time I would fall asleep she would wake me back up!!  This went on all the way through the next day, all through the next night and the last walk was at 5am.  One would think that I would just sleep in the next day right?? No, what happened was that I was so used to being woken up every 90 minutes that I kept waking up every 90 minutes!!!  Finally I crashed that afternoon and slept ...and slept ...and slept. By the time the weekend came around I was back to my normal, active healthy self again!!