So its been a while and so much has happened over the past two weeks.
After getting my stitches out the first highligt was my first swim in Greifensee. We have to drive away a bit but the river by the house is too dirty and we don’t want the skin allergies to start up again.
Being a bit chicken my mama forced me to wear a bright orange swim vest and I guess she forgets that I was a dolphin in my past life. Swimming with the vest was a bit wierd. I did not really have much control over my body but what the heck…I finally get to SWIM.!!! After a few rounds she kept calling me out for a break. I have had a two month break lady!! Let me be!! I was not ready to come out, so she came into the lake with all her clothes on just to hawl me out.
But I have to say I pooped myself out that my mama had to carry me 200 meters to the car…ooops.. I guess I overdid it. Did I learn ? Hell no the next 4 visits to the lake were just as entertaining..only this time mama brought her swim suit with her.
I have had 2 visits to kynofit Hydrotherapie and they make me swim against the current in warm water. This is supposed to help me relax my muscles and move my body in ways that a tripawd does’nt. I am not very fond of some man bending my body in ways he likes and not being able to swim free but at 130 dollars for a 45 min therapy I guess it must do some good. I also started with Accupunture the same week and am hoping that it relieves me from taking my Rimadly tablets as pain killers. So after the first Accupuncture and 2 swims I was taken of pain medication for atheritus and now am only on Frankincens, Ginger and Cosequin. Mama has ordered Duralactin but its still in the Mail. I guess the combination of everything helped me walk better and get off pain meds which would only damage my kidneys.
The first round of Chemo was two weeks ago and went well. I did not have any side effects or feel sick. My White blood cell count and liver and kidneys were checked up this week and the good news is that liver and kidneys are good ( apart from the losing protein ) but I am take Fortekor , a drug that is supposed to protect the kidney from failure. My White Blood cell count is a little low two weeks after Chemo. The minimum to start with the next round should be 3000 and I have 3300. My vet thinks that we should not take the risk of going through to the next round until my count hits 5000. This because I am having such a happy life and not feeling sick and losing more bloodcells with the second round may make me catch some kind of Infections. Nope!! We don’t want that. We will test the blood count again next week. I have been getting a very nutritous diet which Mama cooks every two days with fresh meat and vegetables, herbs and vitamins. I am taking my K9 Immunity tablets everyday and also added Spirulina into my diet plan.
Gave my mama a scare today as she was watching Damian Swim in the river. I was in the cart and wanted to swim as well. So I jumped out of the cart,noone thought I could do that. I also landed flat on my face, but got back up in seconds. Mama panicked and did alot of fussing over me. 
Her 3 Week vacation is unfortunately coming to an end and now she won’t be at my beck and bark every minute. I am gonna miss that, But still look forward to my daily massage and Infra red light therapy which we do every night before bedtime and my weekly swim and accupunture sessions. I am so happy that I even started playing rough with Damian this week. All in all , Life as a tripawd definately has its perks!!
June 2nd, 2011 at 8:20 pm
awww! What wonderful pics,looks like your pup had so much fun! It made me excited to get Bud’s life vest it’s very first try!
June 17th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Hi There.. thank you . So how did the swimming go? I bet it was sooo much fun!!
June 3rd, 2011 at 2:58 am
OH Benji, you are living the good life for sure! How super cool that you are getting such care and help becoming a Tripawd, you’re one lucky boy. We’re so hoppy to hear you’re doing so well.
I fell a lot too when I first learned to be a Tripawd. My pawrents called me “Mister Stumbles.” I showed them though, that I didn’t care if I fell as long as I was having a good time trying!
Keep it up my friend, you’re super!
June 4th, 2011 at 12:03 am
Neysha,
You are doing a wonderful job with Benji’s blog! I love the way you tell his story and love the photos!!
Benji is so very lucky to have you for his mommy (Damian too)! You are doing everything..and I do mean everything in your power to help him stay healthy & happy!You take such good care of them both!
I will send prayers that Benji keeps doing well and I will send big hugs to you! Looking forward to talking again one day soon ~ I love hearing your voice ~ ~~Carol~~xoxo
June 6th, 2011 at 12:43 am
Hi there,
Your Benjamin looks just like our nine year old golden Carter who has had is second round of chemo now. He had his leg amputated because of osteosarcoma. He also had skin irritations all the time from swimming the past few years. He is doing well too 🙂 How do you add spirulina to his diet? I also add turmeric to Carter’s ground turkey and give Omega 3 over greek yogurt daily. Our vet hospital advised us to stay away from supplements during chemo as it may suppress the chemo itself. Take Care Laura
June 17th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
HI Laura, Sorry about the late reply but forgot my password and could not log on. I give Benji 6 Spirulina tablets with his meals. 3 in the morning and 3 at night. I was advice to always only give it for 8 weeks and take a break. My vet told me that I could give him K9 supplements and Cordyceps. Its true that the theories are different. However I still decided that i want a immune booster due the fact that Benji is old and always gets bad skin allergies and ear allergies. I figured that his immune system would be so down during Chemo and that would open the door for all kind of infections. Having this in mind I decided that I would rather have the effects of the Chemo reduced as too have him suffer an infection. Not really sure if it the right thing to do,but he has had his second round of Chemo a week ago and until now everything is fine. He has a slight eye infection and his stomach is red from the grass outside , but I think it would be alot worse If I did not give him the combination of everything. How is Carter reacting to the Chemo? Tk care and pls keep sharing.