Fighting a War with Cancer

Couple’s ‘kid’ taking human cancer treatments

By Kevin McClintock

Pet Magazine

    They say he would never hurt a flea, despite his 128 pounds and an astonishing height that places him in the same category of a small horse or deer.

    Prone to long sleeps and shy licks to offered hands, the Alaskan Malamute owned by Dan and Lynda Luney acts, in many ways, like the perfect pet; one that’s treated like the child the couple never had.

    Unfortunately, their four-legged child is struggling with cancer. A local veterinarian diagnosed the 7-year-old canine as having Lymphocarcinoma — cancerous cells inside the animal’s lymph nodes. That occurred last August. The treatments and medications administered to Dusty during weekly visits have kept him alive for more than a year now. Doing so, however, has been a struggle for Dan and Lynda, turning their world upside down and costing them hundreds of dollars.

    "We know many will say ‘he’s just a dog,’ but we consider our pets to be our kids," Lynda said. "We are hoping for that 80 percent chance to allow Dusty to remain part of our family for a good long while."

    Lynda becomes emotional when she speaks about Dusty — her voice periodically cracking — and nobody can blame her for that. After all, she lost her mother last May, her beloved Calico cat Ripple in August, and a third family dog, Rocky, in January.

    "It hasn’t been a pleasant year," Lynda admitted.

    Dan discovered an unnatural growth on the side of Dusty’s face one August morning last year, the thumb-sized lump poking out halfway between the dog’s jaw and right eye.

    "I didn’t know what it was," Dan admitted. "I just knew it was something that had to come out."

    The dog was operated on and the growth quickly removed and mailed to the University of Missouri for detailed analysis. It came back as cancer.

    "It was actually a lymph node that came up in the side of his face and attached itself there," Lynda said. "It had backed up enough and worked its way (through the dog’s system) to the side of his face, (a place) it shouldn’t have been."

    It was extremely fortunate that Dan discovered the lump the way he did that morning.

    "Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known he was sick," he said with a shake of his head. "At least until it was too late to do anything about it."

    Giving a smiling Dusty a scratch on the head, Lynda said, "He still doesn’t know he’s sick."

    But he was. If left unchecked, Dusty could have curled up and died before the end of September. The fact that he didn’t is due to the love from his owners and cancer fighting medications given to the dog that’s normally reserved for human cancer patients.

    Since late last year, Dusty has been treated with two types of cancer treatment medicines that target malignant lymphomas and leukemia’s — Vincristine and Doxorubicin.

    The first sent the cancer into remission after just two treatments, and Dusty’s blood work came back clean for several months, making for a happy Luney household.

    But then the cancer came back with a vengeance. Dusty’s face puffed up to twice its normal size, and various lymph nodes in the dog’s neck swelled and made breathing difficult.

    At one point, tired from the cancer, the medications and its side effects, Dusty ambled out to a pen in the garage, collapsed, and wouldn’t acknowledge either Dan or Lynda for the next 24 hours. He slowly recovered thanks to several antibiotic medications and the steroid Prednisone.

    As the cancer began to shrug off the Vincristine, Dusty was placed on the more powerful Doxorubicin. While normal human side effects did not appear in Dusty — for example, no loss of hair — he did suffer from an upset stomach. To help ease the dog’s discomfort, Lynda whips up a nightly meal of white rice and boiled chicken. It’s a nutritious meal that Dusty manages to keep down.

    "We do see cancer more frequently now because pets are living longer," said Dr. Melanie Grundy DVM, the veterinarian who treats Dusty. "We do offer many treatment options; however, not all cancers are treatable."

    A year ago, Dusty was an active dog, running and enjoying the outdoors, especially those 20-degree winter mornings. He used to carry his tail curled up over his back, a sign of health and vigor. Since the cancer treatments, however, those days are gone. Dusty mostly spends his days and nights curled up and resting. Even his tail no longer curls: It is extra energy Dusty can no longer afford to waste. Although he does have days when he feels spry.

    "I do have a special bond with Dusty," Dr. Grundy admitted. "He is one of those rare dogs that has never met a stranger, and he and I have been through a lot together.

    "It is always hard to remain objective in these situations, but I don’t see my emotions as a drawback," she continued. "It makes me closer to my patients and their owners.

    Dan knows the cancer will only grow and tax Dusty’s already weakened body. Eventually, it can claim the gentle giant’s life. "The one thing we have agreed to is if (Dr. Grundy) has done all she can do for Dusty and he’s in pain, we won’t make him suffer," Dan said.

    "There’s no winning the war; we’ve won just a few battles, extending his life a little," he continued. "If we can extend (Dusty’s life) out to a normal 9 or 10 years, we’ll be happy."

    So why make the night meals and the twice-a-week visits to the vet and spend hundreds of dollars to fight what all acknowledge is a losing battle?

    "We just love him," Lynda said. "He is a member of our family. (Dusty) is our kid."

Unfortunately just days after this article was written Dusty had a very bad day. On that evening he and I laid down together on his pillow in the den floor.