Hi everyone,
Sorry I have been a lurker here for a year and just recently posted my first photo of clyde. Clyde is a Great Dane/Bloodhound/Shepard Mix who is about 7 years old. He was a rescue we got as a 3 month old- 4o lb love bug.
Last year we were doing a zombie race and hanging with our family when we found out Clyde had a sore left front Carpus. I thought he injured himself when my brother in law pushed him into the pool( another story for later). We took him home and noticed the swelling and more discouraging all the heat coming from his carpus. My wife took him to the vet and he immediately called me at work because he didn’t want to give my wife (9 months pregnant) the bad news first. I told me that it was more than likely cancer and we needed to see a specialist asap. Clyde probably had Osteosarcoma and would definitely need to have an amputation. The good news was Clyde is healthy enough to handle the amputation and still flexible and strong enough to do well on 3 legs. The bad news is now the vet had to go and tell my pregnant wife what was happening… but not before I called her to break the news myself.
After telling my wife the bad news the Vet came out and broke out in tears himself because he had just put his lab down a couple of weeks earlier. So now we had my wife crying, our vet crying, and I was on the verge of tears at work. Needless to say it was a scary/sad day to say the least.
The first thing we did was sit down and make an appointment to meet with an oncologist/specialist for Clyde. I am not going to lie, the first 3 days were really really rough. My wife was emotional over all the little things she had pictured in her head, our new baby maybe never meeting Clyde, not getting a chance to walk to school with Clyde or going for walks with Clyde. I should mention we also have a 9 year old Black Lab/ Great Dane mix named Herman that she was also afraid would not know what to do without his brother.
This was one of those great “you need to be a leader of your family” moments where I decided that no matter the outcome we would amputate the primary tumor and then move forward with attacking the problem. Well we decided after we got the bad news that indeed it was cancer and not a fungus that we would take the leg off from the shoulder that same week. We had initially planned to follow up with a very aggressive chemo/palladin/carboplatin therapy, but the more I read over the next couple of days the more I decided to not do it. With the newborn on his way, we realized we would have to keep him separated from Clyde because the chemo would be easily transferable from Clyde’s saliva and eye ducts to an infant that puts everything in their mouth. Our Boy loves it when Clyde licks his face and mouth, so that was the right call.
I pursued this site with vigor, and read whatever I thought would give me an answer to fighting cancer. We found a couple of books and alternative treatments that I figured we should make our primary protocol. It is a combination of several different therapies and several different books , we decided what we thought would give us the best chance. I will share what I found below. The good news is so far Clyde is 1 year post op with no signs of lung mets or additional cancer issues.
Here is the list of supplements we made for Clyde.
ARTEMISININ- 2 tablets 2 twice a day with fish oils. We are doing 11 days on, 3 days off.
Beta 1,3/ 1,6-d Glucans > For clyde, he needs 100mg 2Xday for 6 weeks. Then a maintenance dose of 25mg 2Xday for rest of life. I have also read we could also increase the dosage to 500mg 4xday.
PETLIFE: > 100cc X 3 times a day. Not sure how long that would be for… or if it is > tapered down for a maintenance dose.
http://www.lifeone.org/PetLife.html
> > VACUSTATIN: > To starve the blood supply to the tumor. For Osteosarcoma it is recommended to double the regular dose until blood work comes back. WE are doing 4 capsules twice a day.
AVEMAR or AWGE to help destroy any tumors( I know this is not 100% accurate > but always worth a go). > It says he needs 1 packet a day for 60 days. > Then 30 days in a row every 3 months. I know this is shipped cold and needs to be consumed within 30 minutes of mixing with his embark dog food.
IP-6 &inositol- 2 capsules 2X day. 800mg IP-6 and 220mg of Inositol. Each meal.
We use Immune support from both the Vitamin shoppe and Lindberg Nutrition. One has AHCC and the other Beta Glucans.
http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/advanced-immune-support-60-veggie-caps/vs-4249#.UnA3TCS-PvY
EMBARK HOLISTIC: food. 2.5 cups a day mixed with AWGE and WARM chicken broth.
HOST DEFENSE (my community): This is a multi anti cancer mushroom cocktail. We are adding a couple of drops to their food.
K-9 Immunity Plus. Clyde is over 100 lbs so we have to go with the large tablets. He gets two a day in his meals.
Pancreatic enzymes: Building up to 3-4 a day at 500mg a piece.
Fish oil: We are using wild caught salmon oil in the embark food and supplementing with Fish oil tablets.
Omega 3’s: Also fish oil based. 3 a day at 1500mg. Home cooked chicken breast daily. occasional wild caught salmon
CO-Q10: 1 capsule at 100mg a twice a day
Tumeric: 300MG twice a day.
We also include 5 pellats of Helka Lava in Clyde’s food.
We decided to forgo any flea and tick medicine. We have diatomaceous earth in case of fleas. We also roast a little garlic to put in their food… I know the information on garlic is mixed but they handle it well.- We did have to breakdown this summer after 9 months of no flea or tick drops and give Herman and Clyde Advantage to get rid of a nasty flea infestation. It took multiple flea washing with citrus and natural oils to get rid of the fleas only to find them again a week later… so we put the advantage on and they have been gone ever since.
We have also placed water stones in their water to positively charge the water. I know this is the most out there stuff we are trying but we are fighting the good fight and it appears to be making a difference. We also have a low dose radiation stone hanging around clyde’s neck. This information came from the book “because people are dying”. I honestly believe this is helping as much as anything we are doing.
http://pathwithpaws.com/blog/2011/12/29/a-mini-protocol-for-any-cancer/ http://www.lifeone.org/PetLife.html
http://www.dogcancer.tv/all-natural-homeopathic-holistic-approaches-to-dog-cancer-care/ http://www.dogcancer.tv/category/common-dog-cancers/osteosarcoma/ http://www.avemar.com/
http://pathwithpaws.com/blog/2011/03/26/artemisinin-when-cancer-cells-kill-themselves/
http://www.loreleimcbroom.com/biochemist_otto_heinrich_warburg.htm http://www.akitarescue.com/Alternative%20Cancer%20Therapies.htm
I have also read these books.
Dog Cancer: The holistic answer by Dr. Steven Eisen.
Preventing and Treating Cancer in Dog’s (more traditional) by Shawn Messonnier, DVM
Because people are dying- the power of radioactive stones by Jane G, Goldberg, phd. This is the Radiation hormesis and the basis for the water stone.
http://www.nighthawkminerals.com/
Hopefully this protocol continues to help Clyde thrive. (knock on wood) and hopefully whoever reads this will find the same protocol useful themselves. I can not answer to whether or not Chemo is the way to go, because we never did any… but that is up to you, and whatever gives you peace of mind. We decided not to subject Clyde to those chemicals and decided to only up his natural immune fighting ability. We honestly believe the stones are making a difference in his water and the one hanging around his neck… but you would have to read the book to see if it is the correct decision for you and your family.
I am not a doctor nor do I guarantee anything here, I just know that it has really helped us give Clyde the exact same life he had before we had a leg removed. I do however have a degree in biology so I have a basic understanding of the science behind this protocol and just hope it continues to be successful and hopefully helps others who dont want to give up on their buddy/family members.
I hope this can help you as much if not more than it has helped us and more importantly helped Clyde.
Best of luck to all of you and a big thank you to Tripawds for providing such a great resource for those of us who were lost when we got the bad news. You have helped my family find our way when the beacon of hope seemed lost. Kudos to you.
Hayden- Aka Clyde’s Dad.
PS. I will post a fun Clyde Trailer in the next few weeks.