MUNGO EATS Latin America

Hello folks.  I thought I would update you all on Mungo.

It is now almost five months since we discovered Mungo had bone cancer, osteosarcoma, in his left tibia.  When he was first diagnosed with cancer, we decided to treat him with radiation and chemotherapy.  His radiation therapy took place first and he came through those treatments very well.  He began a series of chemo treatments as well.  He gets an intravenous chemo drug once every 4 weeks for a total of 6 treatments.  Today was treatment number 5.

So far, his chemo treatments have been a breeze.  He spends the day with the Annika and Victoria, hooked up to an IV.  He is always happy to go to the clinic, never cowers, always greets Annika with a big tail wag and a head rub.  That’s just the kind of hound he is!

I showed you a picture of his bone when all there was, was a big  *#$% hole, where the bone used to be.  Now I will show you his most recent radiograph.

You can now see (I hope), that new bone has mostly filled the void...mostly!  So yeah, new bone is growing back and as long as we can get him to put weight on this leg every now and then, the bone will eventually remodel to look like a normal tibia.  Amazing, huh?!

Now the challenge remains getting him to use the leg.  Mungo goes to physio every week, in an effort to get him to put more weight on that leg.  Some days, he does great and walks around on it most steps.  Other days, he hoists it up and puts very little weight on it. His physiotherapist is trying many different things to trick him into using it more.  Some days, we make him do “boot camp” where he has to do different drills on ramps, balance beams, weave poles, etc.  Other days, we throw him into the underwater treadmill and make him walk at various speeds.  The treadmill, by the way, is his worst nightmare.  Mungo HATES water.  He walks around puddles, and the look on his face as the water starts to rise in the treadmill is somewhere between heartbreaking and hilarious!

Okay, but how is he doing??  Is he happy?  Are we happy with him and his progress?  Yeah, yep, you bet!  He feels great, glorious, never better.  He is happy, he plays, he eats like a pig, and still likes to pick fights and start wrestling matches with Sargon.  Yep…according to Mungo, life is good!