15th March 2009 – Day 3

Heidi barked yesterday! Has a sound ever been so welcomed? Prior to this she had been growling in her sleep & last night she yipped her way through a dream. It was only then that I realised how quiet she was during dream-time (she certainly wasn’t before at walk time but it was such a happy bark & we have no neighbours so she just carried on!).

Is it really only 4 months since she tiptoed so daintily into our lives? It feels like she has always walked by my side & maybe she always has.

This little collie goes around opening people’s hearts. There is no effort to it, it just happens when she’s around & you are immediately disarmed. I have no idea what she did to my father the first time she met him, but a man who would normally tease or rough-house was instantly on his knees by her side giving her love. It is a sight I will treasure forever.

Heidi manages to touch people she has yet to meet too. She continues to receive wonderful messages & offers of prayer, love & healing (my apologies to those I have yet to reply to). We are so incredibly blessed that she is here with us & able to be a part of her amazing life. Her body may be weakened by illness but she has an incredibly strong spirit. My friend Mark pointed out that she had proven her will to stay &, boy, has she! She has a job to do & we will work together for it to happen. Mark also asked for a specific picture (if you are at all squeamish you’ll need to look past it but it’s a demonstration of how neat stitching can be). It was taken whilst snoozing last night:

Just for Mark...

I think it’s coffee time & it’s certainly time for remedies, so more later.

Rach x

The benefits of the op are showing already. The hyperthyroidism was making her heart race. It was often up to 160 -180, sometimes so fast it was impossible to count,& the lowest recorded rate was 120 bpm. After a blood test yesterday it was 110! Her previous breathing rate was 45 – 60 & is now mid 30’s – & it’s only day 3.

We have always taken the view that nothing will be forced on Heidi. Any new remedies or supplements have been positioned in her bowl where she has the option to leave them. On a consistent basis (except for the flax-oil & cottage cheese) she has steadfastly rejected anything that was specifically anti-cancer; Essiac, apricot kernels, etc. After consideration I wondered if she had picked up on a conversation with Barbara about the potential danger of doing anything with cancerous growths as it can cause them to spread. We were actually discussing lump removal & nothing more. I wondered whether Heidi had only caught part of this so I explained what had been meant. The following day she was offered Apricot Kernels & has eaten them ever since.

Barbara had mentioned CV247 to me some weeks back & we decided to try Heidi on the regime. Developed by vet John Carter who was devoted to saving the lives of pets with cancer, CV247 contains 3 ingredients in distilled water: sodium salicylate, manganese gluconate & copper gluconate, which is added to ascorbic acid (Vit C) powder. The 4 ingredients are known to have some anti-tumour effect, acting as antioxidants, immune-stimulants & anti-prostoglandin roborants. In combination with a recommended diet trials seemed to give a “rapid & noticeable improvement” in well-being of even the most severely affected cancer patients in up to 90% of cases. Apparently as yet, the statistics do not justify its registration as an anti-tumour therapy, so it is currently registered as an adjuvant, immunostimulant, roborant therapy for dogs affected by malignant tumours, with some possible anti-tumour effect.

Guess what? My lovely vet is one of the few vets currently registered to prescribe it! Heidi started the regime on Friday 13th (something had to happen on the day…).  It’s very early days but any progress will be noted here. She gets the mixture (about half a teaspoonful when mixed) just before her meal twice a day; we are currently mixing it in with a little food, but it smells deliciously orangey & I’m sure when her full appetite returns she will lick it off the saucer. The diet isn’t dramatically different to what she has now, except it’s organic. We worked out last night that (hopefully) she won’t need quite so much food each day (see yesterday’s post) which will mean we can afford the organic until our garden starts to bear fruit.

Heidi has just gone under the stairs (with those floor tiles again – any suggestions?). She looks so sad today. I’m going to make a batch of liver treats & see if we can do some low-level cheering up. It must be so boring just going out to do a wee & not having FUN. Half an hours TTouch this morning left her deeply asleep, but I know that the wound & surrounding area are beginning to itch. I’m rubbing in Neem Cream which is helping, have trimmed away some of the more tickly fur around the perimeter & she loves Tiger TTouch which calms the nerve endings to alleviate tickles & itches. I’m on constant scratch alert though.

If you are interested in CV247 there is an article in this months (April) Dogs Today, there is a blog http://petswithcancertryingcv247.blogspot.com& if you Google John Carter CV247 you will get further information. When I read about it I realised it really was a no-brainer.

Here are the girls 2 weeks ago – Heidi has worked her magic on Meg too.

Heidi & Meg (pre-op) - "Can we run yet?"