MORGAN: 6-year old Great Dane - Remission from bone cancer (osteosarcoma), 2015
March 23 2015, 4 1/2 months after symptoms began.
Morgan has regained his weight and appetite. He is walking comfortably without limping and is able to run around a bit in the yard. He needs NO PAIN MEDICATION! The joint swelling has reduced significantly. He feels great and looks wonderful!
Morgan came up lame in early November of 2014. We waited a couple of weeks to see if the injury would heal. It didn’t. The swelling of his front knee joint got bigger and he limped badly.
We took him the vet in early December and tests showed he had no infection. The vet recommended an immediate x-ray. He mentioned the possibility of cancer. He insisted that Morgan have anaesthetic for the x-ray. Morgan was given Metacam for the pain. We took him home and again hoped that it was just an injury. Over the next two weeks the pain increased, he lost more weight, ate poorly and slept most of the time. He was hobbling around on three legs and couldn’t hold weight on his front legs to sit up. We were fortunate to have a wheelchair ramp outside because he couldn’t do stairs.
The day before Christmas we went to a different vet who did the x-ray without anaesthetic. His father in law, who has many years experience in Veterinary medicine examined the results with our vet. The news was the worst possible: osteosarcoma. Recommended was an x-ray of the lungs to see if the cancer had spread, a biopsy, immediate amputation of his front leg, chemotherapy and radiation. These medical facilities were all very far from our home. The prognosis if we did all of these things was abysmal. I read that after all of these procedures only 28% of dogs lived two years. For the others six months was the best they could hope for.
My best guess at that time, without treatment, was that Morgan probably only had three weeks left to live. I figured we would have to put him down mid January. I cried a lot, especially because Morgan was a rescue who almost died from starvation when he was a year and a half old. How unfair! The person who starved him was convicted of animal cruelty. It took Morgan months to regain his strength.
There was no time for me to study natural alternatives. I immediately purchased some orange brand turmeric extract (curcumin) at the health food store and gave him 2 ½ ml of the liquid three times a day, 20 minutes or so before food. I had to use a 3 ml syringe with the needle removed to get the extract out of the bottle and measure the amount. I got the syringe at the drug store. This plastic syringe makes it easy to squirt into the mouth.
That first week between Christmas and New Years I ordered the things I needed (see sources below) and scrambled to get what I could locally. It was a week and a half waiting for the pills to arrive in the mail. I got some of the pills at Walmart and the health food store in the mean time. I started him on the rice and sweet potato dish that was cooked with the turmeric. I added no dog food to it.
The following Monday I went to the vet and he prescribed 50 mg prednisone to reduce the inflammation. The dosage was too high and Morgan was wetting his bed and urinating frequently. He was distressed, as were we. I cut the dosage down and down to a quarter of a pill a day. That would be 12.5 mg a day. That week, as the inflammation subsided, I was able to stop his pain medication .
I used the dog Lucy's website by Gary Tippner. She had nasal cancer, but the author had thoroughly studied what she needed and listed it all. Lucy is alive and well several years after her diagnosis. The author discusses what each of the supplements do, so you can find this info. I added some things that I knew as well.
All of the supplements except the ‘stasis breaker’ and ‘wei qi booster’ are for humans and the best prices I found for most are at http://www.swansonvitamins.com The colloidal silver bottle shattered during shipment so I just didn’t use any. The Oregon Grape is illegal to import into Canada.
The stasis breaker and wei qi booster are from http://www.wellpetdispensary.com/. The human version is at http://www.activeherb.com/fuzheng/
Please read the information at Lucy's site. Some types of cancer are of special concern and there are variances and warnings about ingredient and dosages. She also needed another supplement that I didn't need for bone cancer.
Three weeks after visiting the vet and getting the prednisone I returned with Morgan walking again on four legs and free of pain meds. The vet didn’t understand how this could happen, but he was very pleased. He suspected that the cancer was local, that it hadn’t spread before I started treating him.
Today is March 23, 2015 four months after symptoms began. Morgan has regained his weight and appetite. He is walking comfortably with no limp. He needs NO PAIN MEDICATION!!! The joint swelling has reduced significantly. He feels great and looks wonderful. I don’t understand but I am so very grateful.
All I can do is share what I did. And here it is!
This may all seem like too much work, too overwhelming to do. But it isn’t. It took me a few days to get organized, get the supplies and order what I needed online. Then I just got in the routine of the three meals a day with the turmeric extract about 20 minutes beforehand. I cook up a couple of broccoli clusters once a week and keep them and the cooking liquid in the fridge. I cook the rice and sweet potatoes every few days. And I buy two or three tubs of cottage cheese when I’m food shopping. No problem!
First Meal
- 2 1/2-3 ml of curcumin (extract of turmeric) wait 15 or more minutes before eating
- Dry meal containing no grains.
- Stir and add pills
- Low dose Prednisone from doctor’s prescription for inflammation
- About 14 stasis breaker tea pills-dosage by weight
- About 10 Wei Qi tea pills- dosage by weight
- Wolfberry Standardized Extact 500 mg (from Swanson)
- Koren Red Ginseng extract pills (I used JaImieson brand from Walmart)
- Alpha Lipoic Acid 100mg (Walmart)
- Triphala standardized extract – (Nature’s Way brand from Swanson)
- Astragalus 470 mg (I used now brand)
- NAC (with selenium and molybdenum)
- Coenzyme Q10 150 mg (walmart equate brand)
- Chaga tablets 1000mg (from Swanson)
- Reservatrol 100 (Swanson Ultra brand)
After One of the Meals
Hollow bone or kong filled with peanut butter (about 1/4 - 1/3 cup) mixed with extract of turmeric. This is to try to get the curcumin in saliva under the tongue where it will be absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Cooked turmeric or extract is mostly flushed by the liver so little gets into the bloodstream. Unlike with a person, I can’t tell Morgan to keep something under his tongue.
To prepare, mix filtered extract of turmeric (instructions for preparation below) approximately 1 part extract to 5 or 6 parts smooth peanut butter. Store in a jar. It will mix together well, even though at first it won’t want to.
Second Meal
- 2 ½ -3 ml of curcumin (extract of turmeric) wait 15 minutes or more minutes before eating
- About 1 ½ cups rice and sweet potatoes (recipe below). Because Morgan is such a big dog with a big appetite I mix it with some dry meal that contains no grains (grains-carbohydrates are like sugars to the body and cancer loves sugar). I use Corey Nutrition Company’s Holistic and Inukshuk foods. Their website is www.corey.ca
- About 14 stasis breaker tea pills
- About 10 wei qi booster tea pills
- Cat’s claw 485 mg
- Full spectrum Phellodendron 400 mg (swanson brand)
- Boswellia Phytosome 300 mg (swanson brand)
- Beta-1,3/1,6-D-Glucan 100 mg (now brand from Swanson)
- Licorice Root 450
- Ashwagandha (I used a couple of squirts from orange brand liquid extract)
- Chaga 1000 mg (Planetary herbals from Swanson)
- Reishi Mushroom 600 mg (from Swanson)
- L-Arginine 1000 mg (I used now brand)
- Bone Essentials (or Bone Building Formula with Boron) (from Swanson)
- Some pepper
Third Meal
- 2 ½ -3 ml of curcumin (extract of turmeric) wait 15 minutes or more minutes before eating
- 1/2 medium tub cottage cheese, about 1 cup broccoli with broccoli juice, sprinkle of pepper
- Sulforaphane 400mcg (from Swanson)
- High lg Colostrum 1 g (from Swanson)
- Moducare (from Swanson)
- Milk Thistle 500 mg (Swanson brand)
- IP-6 Inositol Hexaphosphate (Swanson brand)
- Artemisinin 100mg for one week. The next week alternate to
- Melatonin 10mg Alternate weekly
- Use Artemisinin (1 week on and 1 week off) to keep cancer from adapting to the wormwood. Always use at least 8 hours away from antioxidents. Do not use Artemisinin within 20 days of radiation.
Note: I didn’t use calcium bone supplements for the first two and a half months because of my concerns about vitamin D for dogs. I believe this was a mistake, especially with bone cancer. I have included them above in this list of supplements and have ordered some from Swanson to begin giving him.
Note: Morgan is a Great Dane. I gave him more food but the same dosages as Lucy took, even though she is smaller.
I’m working with Morgan’s vet and you must do this too. I’m not responsible for any outcomes. I’m just saying that this is how I helped Morgan. I am aware that the leg bone could shatter at any time. I balance this with seeing the health and happiness that he is having today.
Note: Whatever you buy, be sure it DOES NOT have Xylitol or anything with ***itol in it. It is toxic to dogs. It is a sweetener used in many chewable products. I strictly use capsules.
Recipe for rice and sweet potatoes
- About 2 cups rice, salt, pepper, butter, 1 TABLESPOON TUMERIC, some roughly chopped, unpeeled sweet potato. Cook all together.
Formula for turmeric/curcumin extract/tincture **MUCH CHEAPER** to make it yourself!
- Into a glass bottle about a liter/quart size put 10 level tablespoons of turmeric.
- Add a 750 ml bottle of vodka. Shake bottle a 2-3 times a day.
- Tinctures/extracts are recommened to be used four weeks after preparation but this one seems good after about a week. Use a bit extra if you think it’s a bit early on and weak.
- Pour some through double coffee filters in a funnel into a smaller bottle and use a syringe to measure dosage and administer.
- Continue to shake the big bottle every day while using the tincture from the small bottle for daily use.
Recipe for turmeric paste (basis of Golden Milk)
- Equal parts virgin coconut oil, turmeric, water
- Cook slowly stirring constantly with a metal spoon until the water has evaporated and the paste turns a dark caramel colour (7-8 minutes)
- I didn’t use this for Morgan because I didn’t know about it. If I didn’t have the turmeric/curcumin extract I would use some of this three times a day instead. By the way, this tastes good and he likes it.
- For myself, I microwave a cup of cow’s milk and stir in some of the paste. It’s the best bed-time drink I’ve ever found.
Sue Soules