Health

Toby’s Last Chemo Treatment 

Has it really been three months and five chemo treatments since Toby was diagnosed with lymphoma?

If you’re following us on social media, you already know that yesterday was Toby’s last chemo treatment, and was likely harder on me emotionally than his first. But, there was really, really good news, which we shared on Facebook Live yesterday right after we left the doctor’s office.

 

 

Toby’s oncologist said he is in clinical remission. Clinical remission in this case is different than what we are used to hearing about in humans, and how it is usually associated with “yay, we are in the clear.” While we are in the clear for a while, this type of cancer typically comes back within three to four months.

But, we are not going to talk about that. Instead, I want to focus on how great Toby has been doing, and how he is kicking cancer’s butt! His oncologist has said numerous times, including yesterday, that we could not have asked for anything more from the way Toby has responded to treatment. His lympnodes went down almost immediately, and continued to respond in a positive way the whole time during the treatments. This is fantastic.

Although it wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows yesterday. As you can tell from the video below, I was super nervous while he was in the appointment, because I had found a bump on Toby’s nose that morning, and Toby was also showing so many signs of anxiety, which he hasn’t gone in the past.

 

Okay, truth be told, maybe I was the one who was showing signs of anxiety, which of course he played off of. The photo below was on our way there.

And, this photo below is of a dog who finished his last chemo treatment, and was now on his way home.

What’s super exciting is that on Aug. 1, he is able to go back to doing everything he did. For the past three months, he has not really been allowed to be where other dogs were, because his immune system was weakened by the chemo. This has meant no walks by the lake, no beach time, no trips to the dog park, no shopping at our local pet store. It’s been so different than his usual activities.

But, Aug. 1, it’s game on.

He is always super tired after his chemo treatment. And, one of my favorite things is to snuggle up next to him after. I usually set up my pillow on the couch for him and let him cuddle in and do whatever he wants. When he cuddles under the blanket like this, he just melts my heart.

Thank you to all of you for the great support. Emails, text messages, Facebook comments and well wishes. Maybe I am crazy, but I think it all helped him.

And, now, just some cute photos of Toby from yesterday…

 

 

 

^^^^   “Mom, when do we get to go do something fun?”

“Sixteen more days, Toby.”

^^^Follow us on snapchat ~ username, mmaskaly ~ to see more of Toby like above.  ^^^

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