Post by Admin on Jun 18, 2014 17:25:40 GMT
So many people ask how Benson is doing that we thought we'd start a thread for him, posting daily updates.
At fourteen years of age and in ill health, Benson has made it clear that he wants to fight. There is hope that his esophagus will heal, but it will take a very long time. There is still the hemangiosarcoma problem, a very aggressive blood cancer. His spleen was removed nearly six weeks ago, the surgeon quite positive that he got it in time. We talked about chemo-therapy, but we didn't want to put Benson through the ordeal. When we tried this with another hemangiosarcoma dog many years ago, she did not handle the chemotherapy well and lived for three horrific months. Eventually, the chemo-therapy took her life.
In the same sense, we couldn't just let it go untreated and have taken a holistic approach working with an alternative vet, despite the research showing that after surgical removal of the tumor, survival rate is 1-3 months. Over six weeks later, Benson shows no signs of cancer.
His esophagus is where the problem lies. He has a condition called myasthenia gravis, a neurological condition that weakens the esophagus, making it difficult for food to move down into the stomach and causes gas to build up in the esophagus, a very uncomfortable condition. It also creates a tremendous amount of mucus. We also have to watch carefully for signs of pneumonia, a common problem due to regurgitating the excess mucus.
With everything that it going wrong for poor Benson, he has made it quite clear that he wants the help to continue on. He still interacts with everyone, eats and drinks well, bright eyed and happy. The head of the pack, he's still making sure to tell the other dogs that he's still strong and in charge. As long as he is willing, we will do whatever it takes to make his final months as comfortable as possible. On the other hand, if he changes his mind, if we see in his eyes that he is ready to go, then we will help him on his new journey.
Benson does require extensive care each day. Most days are quite good for Benson, but he has the occasional bad day. His attitude of living as normal as possible presents some interesting problems. Dogs with myasthenia gravis need to be fed in such a way that their esophagus is in a vertical position. Because of his age, size and arthritic issues, Benson will have none of that. We can, however, get him to sit up and stretch to eat from a spoon. Even then, he has days where he will have none of that and wants to eat like a "normal" dog. It is also imperative for him to eat small meals throughout the day. Following any food, we make him sit while we massage his throat and chest to help the food go down.
He's been on many medications, some simple over-the-counter remedies. Prednisone, Reglan, Prilosec, Mylanta, Pepto and gas-x are given daily. We watch carefully for any signs of discomfort giving him extra doses of Mylanta or Pepto as needed. This includes getting up in the middle of the night to check on him.
One of the things we have noticed is that carbohydrates stay down better. Post surgery, we were having trouble getting anything in him, but that's changed. He can still be finicky, even picking up a bowl and throwing it across the floor if he doesn't like what's inside. He does have a sweet tooth and, fortunately, we have been able to ween him off his $9.00/dozen doughnuts.
While most days are quite good for Benson, he does have a few pretty bad days. Yesterday was one such day, so bad that we put him on a 3 day watch list. Contraindicated for cancer patients, we decided to go against protocol and give him a reiki session to help his throat. It seemed to help because today, he's well on his way to recovery. Since 6:00am this morning, he's had a piece of gingerbread, a can of beef ravioli (with the sauce washed off), and a little toast with some egg. The brightness in his eyes has returned and he's already acting more like his old self.
We'll keep you posted on his progress. If you have ever been through similar problems and have found creative solutions, please reply to this thread. We're always open to suggestions!
Thanks for all your concern about Benson. He's been a special guy and we want him to