This is Dar. He is 12 years old and was diagnosed with a cancer called Lymphoma a few months ago. Dar has been getting chemotherapy for 8 weeks and is feeling much better. His documented visit today will hopefully answer some of your questions about the process of chemotherapy. Dar has his chemo once a week. The chemotherapy treatment is done on an outpatient basis, usually not taking more than an hour or two to complete. Here is Dar arriving in the morning for his treatment. As you can see, he is feeling great.
After the meet and greet, Dar and his owner meet with the veterinarian to go over the plan for the day. The doctor also needs to know about any problems or side effects Dar may be having. Dar will be staying for about 2 hours today.
Dar patiently holds still while the trained staff draws his blood for todays test. If the results look good, Dar can go ahead with his treatment. Tabitha analyzes Dar’s blood with our in-house hematology machine. Good news! All Dar’s values look fine today – time for the treatment!
Dar is getting Vincristine today, which is a drug used to treat Lymphoma. The entire infusion only takes a few minutes. Some infusions take longer, but not usually more than an hour or two.
For the treatment, Dar has an IV catheter inserted. He looks a little worried, but our trained staff makes sure he is comfortable during the procedure.
The catheter stays in place for the infusion, and is removed when the infusion is complete.
Once the infusion is done, Dar’s catheter comes out and he gets a band-aid to go home. Once at home, Dar can resume his normal daily activities.
Goodbye, Dar see you next week! Dar has received 9 weeks of treatment so far, and is currently in remission from Lymphoma. He is feeling much better, and has had minimal side effects from his treatment.
If you have any questions about chemotherapy, or would like to speak with one of our staff about treatment options, please call us at 802-633-3660.