Hello world! Let me introduce you to Rosie
This is my favorite picture of Rosie.
This is the story of Rosie’s road to recovery from cancer. Rosie is our friendly, furry, four-legged child…..our loving yellow labrador retriever, adopted in December 2008. Rosie was diagnosed with Mast Cell Tumor Cancer in June 2009, and this is the story of her journey with the newly released doggie chemo drug from Pfizer called Palladia. Since Palladia was so new, I wanted to document Rosie’s progress on the drug and hopefully others will benefit from her experience. We are very excited and thankful that this newly FDA approved canine cancer drug is available. We are very thankful for Palladia’s success in sending Rosie’s cancer into remission. To contact Rosie’s Mom, email rosiesmom@live.com.
Explore posts in the same categories: 1 IntroductionTags: animals, blog, cancer, canine, Canine Cancer, case, chemo, chemotherapy, dog, dogs, drug, Grade II, individual, labrador retriever, Mast Cell Tumor (MCT), news, Palladia, pet adoption, Petfinder.com, pets, Rosie, side effects, story, treatment, Tumor, yellow labrador retriever
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
Rosie's Road 
August 31, 2009 at 9:50 pm
I just stumbled across Rosie’s story. My Rosco was diagnosed in February of 2009 with mast cell cancer, and has been on Palladia since July 2009. THANK YOU for writing this blog. I have been all over the internet looking to read about other people’s experiences with Palladia. It is just so new, and there is not a lot of info out there.
I look forward to reading more about Rosie’s journey, she is a gorgeous girl. She and Rosco have a lot in common. We just adopted him in 2008, and he feels the same way about cats that Rosie does….I try to distract him from the cat carriers at the vet:)
August 31, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I’m glad you found us. Thanks for commenting. Roscoe has been on Palladia longer than Rosie. I’d be interested in learning about his experience with it.
September 1, 2009 at 11:28 am
Rosco had a grade 3 tumor removed back in February. He had clean margins, and all was well and good until May when I took him into the vet for what I thought was a rash. Turns out he had broken out in tiny mast cell tumors. We immediately began a traditional chemo protocol (Palladia would not be out for another month or so). He responded really well to the chemo at first, then stopped responding around July.
Rosco began Palladia the first week of July. Overall he has had a good experience on the drug. We did need to stop treatment for a week when we discovered blood in his stool. His cancer did progress during this time (bumps got bigger). We also had to stop for another week earlier this month, when he fractured his tooth and needed dental surgery.
As far as side effects, he does not appear to have any (besides the blood in the stool that one time). He is still loving life and loving his diet! We have had to play around with the doses and frequency of when he gets the drug to maximize its effectiveness, yet stay away from side effects.
September 2, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Jill, I’m so glad Roscoe has had a good experience with Palladia. So far so good with Rosie. The doctor just tweaked her dosage to reduce the upset stomach and diarrhea. Rosie looks like she is feeling better already.
September 2, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Hope Rosie continues to improve!
Love, Mom
September 3, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Hi! I’m glad you found my blog because it’s been very interesting reading yours too! Jake was first diagnosed about 3 or so years ago and had his first tumor removed then. Since then, he’s had tumors pop up in different areas about every 6 months. He’s 10 now, going on 11, and we’re getting to the point where I just want to make him happy. I think the tumor on his leg, the only one we didn’t get clean margins on, is coming back now, so I’m at a loss as to what to do next. It’s never spread-they’ve all been graded II’s-so we’ve been pretty lucky so far.
Jake is one of the dogs that has responded very well to being put on a grain free diet! We use Taste of the Wild, which is available at a local feed store-you can look it up online to see where else it’s available. He’s done GREAT on that. There was actually a reduction in swelling when we started him back up on it after stopping for just a half a week-go see my blog for more info (click “Jake” on the menu to get his story for those of you reading that haven’t see my blog yet!) I JUST started him on something called “A’Dobe Angel”. I don’t have enough experience with it yet to see if it works or if it makes the swelling worse. This morning his leg was swollen again, but it could have been because he was playing harder than he has in a long time last night.
I’ll be watching your blog-good luck with your treatments! I hope everything works out great for you and Rosie 🙂
-Kris
September 3, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Oh-How old is Rosie? I forgot to ask!!
September 3, 2009 at 2:10 pm
We are not sure, but we think she is nine.
September 4, 2009 at 10:58 pm
We are really pulling for Rosie. She is a wonderful sweet and happy dog, and we hope the chemo helps her. I am so glad you are doing this blog for us to keep up with her treatments and how she is feeling with the chemo. I love your favorite picture of Rosie. She looks like she is smiling to me. Love to you, hubby, and Rosie dog.
From your sister KC.
September 14, 2009 at 1:00 am
Cowboy, Bandit and I are all praying for Rosie and hope the chemo works for her. I lost my 12 year old Border Collie (and Bandit lost his brother) back in March when his kidneys failed. It is good that you notice Rosie’s symptoms and that there is a treatment available. God Bless and she is in our prayers.
September 14, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I’m sorry for your loss. Thank you for your prayers and support.
October 1, 2009 at 8:56 am
My Sy, an 11 1/2 yr old Chessy is on Palladia. I am so tired and confused about how to keep going with it. 7 grade II and III tumors were removed with only some clean margins. His body is full of fatty tumors which I feel are my fault also. Since the only real true way to check the tumors is to remove them all, I have no idea if he has more or not. They were all checked with a fine needle aspirte but that isn’t 100%. He is being treated with Palladia as well as several holistic treatments…accupucture, chinese herbal med, vit.supplements etc…he is doing well but I am afraid if he restarts the Palladia I will be making things worse for him. He was removed for two weeks fromthe meds because he was anemic but only slightly…there was no evidsence of internal bleeding etc. WHAT DO I DO??? I am happy your Rosie is doing well and I hope the best for you!
October 1, 2009 at 10:47 am
Teresa,
I’m so sorry Sy is going through this. I understand how stressful that can be. I can’t make any recommendations but I can certainly empathize. It sounds like you are doing everything you can do for Sy. You must be working with an oncologist since he has been on Palladia. How about discussing your concerns with the oncologist? We had to stop Palladia for Rosie for a few days because of diarrhea, but started Palladia again with diarrhea medicine. She did not have any issues with anemia. Have you talked to your oncologist about starting her again on Palladia? Also, there is an excellent canine cancer support group on Yahoo with folks who are going through the same thing. The link is on the right side of my blog. You and Sy are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope the best for you both.
October 18, 2009 at 12:10 am
Thank you so much for your blog! I have a 6yo pug (Max) that has had several MCT (since he was about 6mos), but all have been where we could surgically remove them (all grade I/II). But his latest (knot on his wrist), because of its location, our vet sent us to an oncologist. The FNA came back positive for MCT, but the oncologist was still suspicious that it could be something more, so they did a biopsy this week. She mentioned Palladia as a new option – so I’ve been trying to find any/all info that I can on real-life experiences. So I am so grateful for you sharing your story with Rosie! Continued well wishes on her sucess!
October 18, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Thanks. I’m glad you found it. I wrote it because at the time I was researching Palladia I could not find anything on the web about real life experiences. Thankfully, Rosie is one of the lucky ones. Hopefully, as drug becomes more widely available, more information will become available. Good luck to you and Max. Keep us posted on his progress. Also, there are links on the right side of this blog with that have additional information about Mast Cell Tumors and Palladia. Good Luck.
October 19, 2009 at 9:16 am
Great blog!! I just posted a link in my blog as well. This is so helpful to others whose dogs have been diagnosed with mast cell cancer. Hugs to Rosie and prayers for her continued health!! – Kerry
November 17, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Hello
I checked out your blog after reading your post on the Canine Cancer Yahoo message board. I usually lurk and hardly ever post.
I wanted to share my experience. I have a mixed Jack Russell/Rat Terrer named Samson who is now 11 years old. In April 2006, he was diagnosed with MCT III with a tumor in his left front arm pit area. We had it resected and started with chemo (vinblastin). Samson went into complete remission until June of 2008. At that time, our vet wanted to start Samson on a trial drug that had not been approved by the FDA. The drug was Palladia. Our vet was part of a study on this drug and wanted to try this out on Samson. We agreed and he was given a several week course of the drug. Over the course of the treatment, Samson is such a suspicious dog, that we had a hard time getting him to take his meds. It was hit or miss. Then he eventually he developed a stomach abscess from all the meds he was on. Palladia alternating with prednisone. We had just gotten a dose regulated for him when we had to make the hard decision to take him off the drug. It was making him so sick and he wouldn’t eat. That has now been a year ago. He is currently not taking any chemo at all. It got to be so expensive especially after his last illness that we could no longer afford the treatment. We have spent nearly $9000.00 in the course of the last three and one half years. As of today, he is still with us and yes his tumor has come back. I can’t even afford surgery now to debulk the tumor enough because I am out of a job and my husband’s job has been on shakey grounds for one year. It hurts us so much that we cannot do for him anymore. BUT, Samson is still happy, he doesn’t act like it bothers him most of the time. We can tell though when he has played a little too hard that it might be bothering him. He has slowed down some physically. But then again, he is 11 years old. Our oncology vet is beside herself that Samson has now exceeded way past what she thought he would initially. We were initally told that we might have two years left with him and it has now been 3 1/2!!! We are blessed.
Hugs to Rosie and prayers for you and her. Please keep us in your prayers too that Samson will still continue to do as well as he has done and hopefully beat the odds!
Marilyn
July 7, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I found your site today. My dog an 11 year old weimaraner had surgery today. For a mastic tumor. Type II. I have had her since she was six weeks old. She is the most active 11 year old dog imaginable. We did an 8 mile hike on saturday. Your site has given me hope. We are not sure about medication yet but the internet is all doom and gloom if you have a sick pet. Thank God for your site. All the best.
October 11, 2012 at 9:48 am
Our 8 year old lab has been diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma. They are still doing more testing to find if originated in liver and/or spread to the pancreas and have yet to rule out any surgery. We were not very hopeful and extremely upset by the news. We are about to start Palladia and your blog has given us some hope. Thank you.
November 13, 2012 at 1:27 pm
our 12 year old lab mix Jake was diagnosed with apocrine gland anal sac adencarcinoma with metastasis to sublumbar lymph nodes on aug 27,2012. Our regular vet examined him earlier and said he ‘s full of cancer and at best we have a couple months with him. He advised against additional treatment or surgery since it would be intense and difficult and since he is diabetic he most likely would not survive let alone heal from surgery. We decided to consult with Ohio State Veterinary Medical center.They did the detailed evaluation on 8/27 and felt Jake had a chance for more quality life. He had 2 large surgeries for mass removal, but one lymph node was so attached to his spine it could not be removed. We discussed radiation vs chemo and settled on chemo ,Palladia.
We have been blessed since he got thru his surgeries and healed easily and quick. He has had minimal problems with Palladia , we have not had to stop dosage. A month ago Piroxicam was added on the days he doesn’t get Palladia, no problems. He is also on Prilosec to help protect his digestive system. Execpt for his milbones he is on a grain free diet, i use the Call of the Wild varieties and mix in lean groun meat or the specail checken stew i make for him. Jake is doing great , he’s a happy loving kid. Even during the recouperation from his surgeries he kept a stiff upper lip. All of his blood work has been great so far, no issues with his insuline and diabetes. This week will be the moment of truth when an abdominal ultrasound will be done.
When Jake was diagnosed i bought him a St. Francis medal for his collar and pray for him to help Jake.
I hope that Palladia helps your lab Kirk,our doctor added the the Proxicam since it’s been found to help with tumor shrinkage. And yes the battle has been worth it, just watching Jake roll around in the grass or hop around like a puppy has been a great gift and joy and we will take every day we get. Good Luck to you