BJ Update

[Guest guest]

Well, the news is not good for my guy. The opthamologist pretty

much confirmed vet #2's opinion of the problem being a tumor.

He went further to say that he suspected vet #1 was blameless

in the whole thing since it was probably the tumor that caused

the abscess to begin with and by removing the tooth it caused

the cancer to flare up--nothing the doc could have foreseen from

what seemed a routine tooth extraction.

He recommended I drop another grand and have the poor guy

knocked out and have his skull biopsied for confirmation of his

diagnosis, but I refuse to put BJ through any more invasive BS.

He finally agreed it was best not to rile up the tumor (as a biopsy

would) since it could cut my remaining months with him down to

just weeks. On the bright side (as if there is one) he said BJ's

retina was intact and that the problem with his remaining eye

was that the optic nerve was incredibly inflamed (probably from

pressure from the tumor), and *if* we somehow could get the

inflammation under control he *might* regain his sight

(obvisouly VERY BIG " if " and " might " there). But, basically, BJ has

far more to worry about than his vision at this point.

His only suggestion was to look into an MRI (if I could find any

place closer than Texas A & M or OSU--over a day's drive to any

veterinary schools) for a non-invasive diagnosis. He also

suggested radiation therapy (after said diagnosis that is), but

again, was doubtful I could find any such practitioner in this part

of the country (he also agreed with my decision not to pursue

that since chemo/radiation would likely only greatly lessen the

quality of his remaining life with little impact on such an

aggressive tumor). He also agreed with me to keep withholding

the dex unless I need to boost his appetite again (as the dex

itself can aggravate cancer cells). He said that if/when I felt BJ

was actually suffering (and either BJ or I felt the battle was over)

I

should re-start the dex then, but otherwise BJ looked pretty good

and probably didn't need it at present. Though the news was

dire, overall doc #3 was impressed that the Big Guy is in as

good shape as he is as feline cancer of the skull is as

aggressive as it is rare. He said there is just the remotest

(extremely remote) possibilty that this is because of an infection,

but more likely the ongoing infection is due to the damage the

tumor has wrought on the sinuses. He, too, pretty much told me

to go home, keep him comfy, and wait for the worst.

Hah! Well, he don't know me too well do he? <wink> I just got

Mojo (my Briard) through cancer with completely 'alternative'

techniques and I'll be damned if I give up on BJ (unless/until he's

ready to give up himself). As soon as we got home I resolved to

try the artemisinin therapy again (I tried this WAY back at the

outset but he would NOT touch anything with even a trace of arte

in it). Though it was an incredibly small amount (I'm starting off

small in the hopes he won't notice the DREADFUL taste), he DID

get some in him at lunch and dinner. I'll continue to try multiple

small meals with as much arte in them as I can without him

noticing/objecting (he won't consciously eat arte even if

dex-hungry). Tomorrow I'm going to check with our regular vet

(vet #2) about acemannan therapy (which has been incredibly

useful in treating FeLV and some cancers--as well as infections

in general), which would cover all the bases from cancer to

infection. (I'm also going to apply DMSO and pure aloe gel to his

face, as well as looking further into some other DMSO options

as recommended by Dr. Morton ). My next step is to find a

holistic vet (or make some phone consults if I can afford them)

and see about other alternative therapies (I am a big believer in

pancreatic enzyme therapy, but I'm not sure how to get these into

him since he can only eat crushed tablets or capsule powder).

We are definitely not done yet, and I'm not particularly

discouraged since BJ continues to *seem* to improve despite

all the bad news (even vet #2 says she is encouraged since

every time she sees him he looks better, despite new clinical

problems). My only REAL concern is if his appetite drops off

again I may have to resort to the dex to encourage him to eat

(which is probably the most important thing for him right now--to

avoid cachexia and just basically keep his strength up).

Overall he seems (at worst) uncomfortable (from the sinus

problems, which can make him VERY ucomfortable at times)

and annoyed by the blindness, but not in any way suffering--in

fact he had a GREAT day today sinus-wise and ate well and went

to town on his scratching post and even kinda chased my fingers

in play (as best as he could follow them). He aint done yet and

neither am I.

I will definitely keep y'all posted.

Thanks again,

Dee

[Guest guest]

Hey Sol,

Are you a member of the artemisinin group? Very interesting info (that

I am sure others there would LOVE to read). ;-)

I can't imagine the dried DMSO used on the bunny was as effective as

just mixing the contents together. Hmmm...I take it the treatment was

successful regardless of the protocol. I would love to see/hear more.

I used DMSO mixed directly with artemisinin (I mixed the contents of a

100 mg Allery Resource Group capsule directly into a 90% solution of

DMSO--in retrospect, probably too high of a concentration considering

I was using it on a histamine-filled mast cell tumor; I'm using a 50%

solution on BJ). I used this for a short time on Mojo's hock tumor but

chickened out fairly quickly since it started to harden up and I was

afraid I had caused some histamine-related harm. On her chest tumor

(which is MUCH smaller) I used the mixture for a couple of weeks but

discontinued it when I saw no change.

FWIW, I also tried wobenzyme tabs dissolved in 90% DMSO on Mojo's

chest tumor (and on some cysts on my other Briard, Nyssa) and saw no

change either (though I only applied it twice a day for about a

week).

Dee

>

> > I am not real familiar with the use of Artemisinin, but I do know

it has

> > been used with DMSO to increase penetration.

> >

> > Also high ppm CS has been injected directly into tumors.

Personally I

> > would mix CS and DMSO and give orally or apply topically many

times

> > during the day, how ever you can get it close to the tumor.

> >

> > These are just my ideas, none of them are tested except for the

> > Artemisinin and DMSO, I have seen photos of tumors on a cats belly

that

> > responded to this mixture. I tried to post them to the list photos

> > section but never could get them to load. Someone on the list sent

them

> > to me. Perhaps they will read this and respond.

> >

> > Garnet

> >

[Guest guest]

Have you got a link to that group? I'd like to take a look.

sol

heathendogs wrote:

> Hey Sol,

>

> Are you a member of the artemisinin group? Very interesting info (that

> I am sure others there would LOVE to read). ;-)

>

> I can't imagine the dried DMSO used on the bunny was as effective as

> just mixing the contents together. Hmmm...I take it the treatment was

> successful regardless of the protocol. I would love to see/hear more.

[Guest guest]

would this be the one?

artemisinin_and_cancer

Cheri

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." -- Josh Billings

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Re: BJ Update

Have you got a link to that group? I'd like to take a look.sol