June already and things look good.

Strider completed all of his chemotherapy and we have started him on metronomic chemotherapy. This is designed to restrict the growth of new blood vessels around the tumor, I believe. He takes 4 medications daily, two are chemotherapy and two are ulcer medications to help the affect of the other drugs on his stomach.  So far, he has had no side effects and seems to feel great with lots of energy.  The hair on his muzzle has almost completely grown back.

It has been almost 7 months since his diagnosis and his energy and personality seem to be back to normal.  The radiation and chemotherapy took a lot out of him, but that is behind us now.  The original vet that diagnosed him at Auburn told me that he never dreamed that the treatment would have worked as well as it did, so that is great news.

We are released to the care of our local vet now.  We will be going in monthly to monitor the medication and to check for when the tumor starts to regrow.  I believe we have used up all our options for treatment, so hopefully that won't be for a long, long time.

I have posted a picture of him swimming today in our pool.  He is wearing the swim vest only because Ozzie, the 2 year old Golden, likes to jump on him from the side of the pool.  I don't want the kids drowning trying to save Strider, so we put a vest on him so he pops back to the surface if Ozzie lands on him.  Also, he does get tired and it allows him to swim longer, which he loves.