Picture of the Day – Mulder

Mulder has now finished his first 2 months of weekly chemo, now he is moving on to the next phase, which is chemo every other week for the next 4 months. His weight has stabilized, he doesn’t seem to be losing weight anymore. He is not tolerating the chemo as well as he did at the beginning, meaning for the first 6 weeks, he only had one instance of losing appetite and diarrhea, and more recently it has been every time. It lasts a day or two, but is controlled by medication and us tempting his appetite with chicken and rice or scrambled eggs, which he gobbles down. He’s lost about 5lbs, which is 10% of his body weight, and combined with his normal ‘blowing’ of his undercoat, he looks a lot smaller than he used to.

His quality of life is still good, he is happy to eat (with a little tempting some days), he loves his walks, his energy is close to normal. Ted still gets him riled up playing with toys, he loves to cuddle with Maya, he follows me from room to room when it’s just the two of us. He still runs away if I cough or sneeze, he runs for help if Ted does impressions of Bernie, Trump, or Obama. He flips out if the mailman comes, or the neighbors walk by our window. He loves tummy rubs and relaxing in the back yard (unless neighbor dog Ryu (Riyu? Not sure of the spelling) is there, they fight through the fence). I wish this had never happened to him, but I think what he is going through is minor compared to what he would be going through without treatment.

I feel very fortunate to work from home at times like these. I am glad that I can be here with him, and know when he is having a blah day vs. a great day, and the days in between. He’s such a sweet, good boy, and we love him so much. I really hope this treatment gives us more time with him, and that they are good years.