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Ariel's Case Study
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Other Diseases/Conditions:
None
Story: I feel the best way of telling Ariel's story is through a timeline. So much happened so quickly over a few months and I have tried to be as accurate as possible with events and dates.
3/26/05 Ariel given her yearly vaccinations. She was at her
normal weight of around 11 to 12 pounds.
May - June 2005 - Started to notice Ariel was vomiting more
often and starting to lose weight. By end of June she seemed
considerably thinner, vomiting every other day or more and had
strong gurgling stomach noises quite often. Could hear her
stomach noises from across the room.
7-9-05 Her weight is now down to about 9.5 pounds. Brought her
in to my local vet and he did exam and blood work. Nothing
extreme showed up but did have somewhat high WBC of 18.6
7-20-05 Back to vet, he prescribed Metronidazole.. (Didn't help
much)
7-23-05 Back to vet for sub q fluids
8-1-05 Back to vet for x-rays - nothing showed up on them. Vet
prescribed Prednisone. (Helped some, but still lots of
problems.)
8-5-05 Take Ariel to specialist vet at local pet hospital for
Endoscopy.
8-9-05 Vet calls with diagnosis of Small Cell Lymphosarcoma of
the duodenum. He prescribes 2 mg leukeran every other day along
with Prednisone of 5mg twice a day.
8-12-05 Drugs making Ariel quite lethargic. I talk to a pet
psychic who tells me Ariel wants to live and is not ready to
check out of her body. She enjoys her life here too much and has
other things still to do.
8-15-05 I brought her in to another vet who is a cancer
specialist for a second opinion. He said that the leukeran would
not be sufficient and I should start her immediately on IV chemo
which would last 6 months and cost about $4000. He said if it
was his cat, that is what he would do. After much research on
line and talking with many people, I chose to stick with the
leukeran and prednisone that the first specialist suggested. IV
chemo didn't seem appropriate to small cell intestinal lymphoma
to me. I tried to get an appointment with my local holistic vet,
but he is booked up until September 13th for new patients. I was
able to get some transfer factor from the holistic vet, but
Ariel didn't like it and the one time she did take it, she
vomited. It still sits in my refrigerator unused.
8-22-05 Brought her in for blood work, which was normal, but her
weight was down to 9 pounds. The drugs made her very lethargic
and not a good appetite. Tried a whole lot of different foods
(mainly wet foods as she always seemed to vomit the dry foods),
but she became very picky and still vomited occasionally. I try
putting Wysong F-biotic in her food occasionally for
supplementation.
8-29-05 I start an email consultation with Gail Pope of
Brighthaven Animal Sanctuary. They care for more than 60 old and
sick animals, a number of which have or had cancer. She makes
suggestions as to the possible use of many natural animal care
modalities and foods. These include supplements, Reiki,
homeopathy, and raw food diet. Although, I was familiar with
many of these before and actually started Ariel on the raw food
for a day or two on August 3rd, I stopped the raw food when she
started the leukeran. I decide to start giving her a little raw
food each day, just small amounts of half an ounce twice a day
or so, with Wysong Call of the Wild in it.
8-30-05 I consulted with an Animal Reiki Master, Kathleen
Prasad, and she started a regular series of Reiki treatments. I
find that Ariel's energy seems to pick up with each treatment.
This is great. The treatments are done long distance without me
having to take Ariel anywhere. Just wonderful! Check her out at
www.animalreikisource.com Between the reiki and the start of
the raw food I notice definite improvement in Ariel, though she
still vomits and is lethargic quite often.
9-13-05 We have a consultation with the holistic vet. He
suggests a plan of action, which starts with first soothing her
intestinal system and then we will eventually begin to
strengthen her immune system. Initially he prescribes adding
probiotics, and enzymes to her food. He gives me slippery elm
liquid and instructs me to give it to her 5 minutes before each
meal. I start her on these. He also gives me colostrom powder,
which I tried to put in her food a couple time, but she vomited
it immediately. I think she is allergic to it, so I don't give
it to her again. She also doesn't seem to like taste of the
enzymes, so I don't use them very often. However, I do put the
probiotics in every meal and continue to use the Wysong F-biotic
in her food. The holistic vet sets us up for a series of 3
acupuncture appointments. He also prescribes a homeopathic
remedy called Nux Vomica to be given to her each day.
9-15-05 Gail tells me about a natural herb product called
Phytomucil by Animal Essentials, which is actually better for
Ariel than straight slippery elm. I buy some at a local pet
store. This turns out to be a real Godsend. It is a liquid
tincture mixture of slippery elm, marshmallow root, licorice and
plantain herb. I start to give it to Ariel twice a day before
she eats and it helps her keep her food down. I also give it to
her when I hear her stomach gurgling and it really helps to
soothe her system. It really seems to get the inflammation under
control.
9-26-05 Ariel goes in for her first acupuncture treatment. She
really hates it. I'm not sure if it helps. The vet prescribes an
additional supplement called Gastriplex by Thorne Veterinary and
also a mushroom supplement.
9-27-05 I have a phone consult with Dr. Mihok from Smith Ridge
Veterinary Center back in New York. (Smith Ridge is the home of
the well know holistic vet Dr. Martin Goldstein who works with
many cancer patients. Check out his book The Nature of Animal
Healing.) Dr. Mihok suggests I start putting the amino acid
L-Arginine in Ariel's food as it helps with cancer. Also, he
says that I should get her blood tested for food allergies. He
says that cancer starts with chronic inflammation and that after
a long period of inflammation it develops into cancer. He says
that if she is eating food she is allergic to, it will continue
to cause inflammation and the cancer will continue. Also, he
suggests I stop all food that has any carbs in it as the cancer
feeds on the carbs. He also suggests a supplement called
artemisinin, which is very hard to get a hold of. I never did
start her on it, but it is supposed to help reduce tumors also.
9-29-05 I have blood drawn at my local vet for both a full blood
work and for sending to Antech Labs for the blood allergy tests.
Her blood work comes back with all results within normal ranges.
The allergy tests will take about a week to come back.
10-3-05 Ariel goes in for her second acupuncture treatment. She
still hates it, but it isn't quite as bad. She has gained some
weight, but still struggling with low energy and occasional
vomiting.
10-6-05 I get the allergy test results back and they show that
Ariel is allergic to beef, eggs, lamb, barley, brewers yeast,
tomato, flax, and alfalfa. I stop all these in her diet and
within 1 to 2 days, her skin sensitivity clears up and her
energy increases. She again starts to let me brush and comb her.
She hadn't allowed me to brush her in several months.
10-10-05 She goes in for her third and final acupuncture
treatment. Still doesn't like them, but seems better. I am not
sure how much they helped, but they may have worked on deeper
levels.
10-11-05 At this point I am transitioning her to more raw food
mixed with supplements. Also, I am reducing her prednisone from
5mg tablet twice a day, to 1 and ½ tablets each day then to 1
tablet per day and then to 1 tablet every other day. This
process takes about 3 weeks to complete with 4 to 5 days at each
stage. Also, I reduce her leukeran down from every other day to
3 days a week to once every third or fourth day. With each step
her energy starts to increase. If she vomits or seems ill, I
slow the process down. She is still eating some high quality
canned cat food, but mainly what she is eating is the following
mixture.
Fresh raw ground free range turkey mixed with probiotics, Call
of the Wild supplement by Wysong, the amino acids taurine and
L-arginine, Gastriplex supplement by Thorne Veterinary, Maitake
Mushroom supplement by New Chapter, Bone Meal by KAL, Well Tabs
cat supplement by Wellness ground into powder and Daily Fiber
Formula by Yerba Prima. All supplements are powder and are mixed
well with water and then mixed with the raw ground turkey into a
oatmeal like consistency. Ariel loves it and eats it every day
with gusto.
10-14-05 Ariel has her last Reiki treatment from Kathleen
Prasad. She has been getting treatments twice a week from
Kathleen since 8-30-05. This has been a major part of her
healing process. I go on to take the Reiki training course from
Kathleen on 10-29-05 and continue to give Ariel treatments when
she looks like she needs it or just when she is resting next to
me.
10-16-05 I stop giving her leukeran. I had transitioned her from
EOD to every 4th day and now am stopping (but will restart for a
while. see below.)
10-19-05 I stop giving her prednisone. Have not as of January 8,
2006 given her prednisone again.
11-9-05 Although Ariel is eating well and gaining weight, she
vomits two days in a row. I start her on leukeran again, giving
her a pill every 3rd to 5th day. I wonder if this is due to the
commercial canned food I still give her each night.
11-20-05 Ariel is doing great. I stop the leukeran again and
have not as of January 8, 2006 given her any leukeran again. I
have taken her completely off the commercial food and am feeding
her only the raw turkey with supplements (70% of her diet),
cooked chicken, canned tuna, and occasional fresh raw chicken
mixed with probiotics. No carbs at all in her diet now that I
stopped all commercial food.
12-25-05 Friends come over for Christmas and call Ariel the
miracle girl. Her weight is up, her coat is big and fluffy and
she looks better than she has in over a year. She has high
energy and enjoys getting petting from everyone.
As of this writing on January 8, 2006 Ariel continues to do well
and hasn't had prednisone in almost 3 months and leukeran in
over 7 weeks. She hasn't vomited or had stomach noises in over
two months.
Outcome: So far as of January 8, 2006 Ariel is doing great. She acts and looks as healthy as she has ever been.
- By Rick Ariel's Dad - |
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Photos
Chemo Protocol Used Leukeran, Prednisone were used, you can find more about this combination of chemo drugs in the document below listed in alphabetical order [under Chemo Drugs] Chemo & Protocols [pdf].
Holistic Remedies Used
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