Max testicular cancer journey - 4 surgical stops, next station on the train is oral chemo

[Jenphilly]

Happy Thursday everyone!! I figured Max updates might be getting old with nothing really major to report, so trying to keep it to every couple weeks, but guess that's good news itself!

Today was the weekly vet visit for Max. We went to see our longtime avian vet, the wonderful Dr Christina Knight at Animal Hospital of Warwick.

We had made it 4 weeks without the need for an abdominal fluid drain, but over the weekend he needed about 50cc drained and today Dr Knight wanted to try to get any remaining because she'll be out till Monday, so we did a quick drain and she was able to get 35cc today, so not too bad! At the worst of the fluid, we were draining 60 every other day, so 85 in over 4 weeks is actually positive. And we're still having hydration issues with Max since the chemo, so he gets subq fluids every week. Ironically, she drained 35cc from his abdomen and then gave him 35cc fluid under the wing (obviously not the same fluid ).

Overall he's doing well. We have new feather growth, which is awesome. He did not bounce back quickly after the last surgery, so these new feathers are an awesome sign! And we expected the area where feathers were removed from surgery were never coming back, but they are finally filling in!

He's had 3 rounds of cyclophosphamide chemo and we're closing in on 2 months of daily tamoxofen. He goes back Monday for more blood work to be sure his WBC is stable. And we've decided to do the scans to check tumor status after we get back from our cruise in October. Which for record, I'm really stressing over leaving him, but that's just mom fretting.

Overall, Miracle Max is still living up to his nickname!! But keep those positive thoughts and energy coming to him. We are very far from being out of the woods!

Pics of me looking like I'm doomsday prepping when I'm just making sure he has a wide array of healthy foods for Tor to keep him eating great while we are gone. And the dehydrator is still running!

 

[Jenphilly]

Crap half the dehydrator goodies pics didn't load.... all the pretty trays attempt 2!

 

[Sparkles99]

This looks like an enormous dehydrator. Is it commercial size?!

 

[Clueless]

I was worried.......

Thanks for the positive update!

I really should dehydrate foods for Secret. Really really should. Don't know why I didn't think of that!

Do you cook the green beans first?

 

[Jenphilly]

I was worried.......

Thanks for the positive update!

I really should dehydrate foods for Secret. Really really should. Don't know why I didn't think of that!

Do you cook the green beans first?

I did not cook anything first. The green beans shriveled into tiny little pretzel looking things, as did the carrots. So I'll be doing some homework on those. The watermelon and cantaloupe came out awesome tho!! Corn on the cob is on todays agenda!!

 

[Jenphilly]

This looks like an enormous dehydrator. Is it commercial size?!

Its not very large, size of a small microwave.

 

[Clueless]

I have an Excalibur dehydrator that we bought years ago. It holds a lot.

 

[Macawnutz]

Give Max kisses from Wisconsin!

 

[Finchbreed]

Glad to hear that Max is living up to his name.

 

[Jenphilly]

We are back from our 21 day cruise (home 2 weeks now).... Max decided to protest our absence by literally trying to starve himself. He lost quite a bit over 100 grams, and 3-4 days before we were due to be home, we honestly did not think Max could hang on til we got home. One day, we did our video call check in, and we just hung out on the video with him, just because it felt like the only way to let him know we were still here and coming home. Victoria had been hand feeding him baby formula to keep him going and he was eating very little on his own. But after we were on the video chat with him for like 30 minutes, he started munching just like when we all are hanging out on the sofa. So, we spent the last 3 days of the cruise, literally walking around the ship with Max on a video chat. Max started eating again, but he had lost so much weight, he we like skin and bones. But, he's hanging on and very very slowly getting stronger everyday. Even now, he still needs to gain about 50 or 60 more grams to get back to a solid weight. We are still doing hand feedings to get extra calories into him. He is eating a little more, but still not quite enough to really pack the weight back on.

We did his major chemo after we got back, and we are only guessing because of his overall condition, he seems to have metabolized the chemo much quicker than usual. So, he sadly has started with the fluid building up quicker than he has been during previous rounds. We go again for blood tomorrow and his next round of chemo is Saturday.

And we have a radiologist specialist coming to do scans on Max on November 21st. She has extra sensitive equipment for doing a scan that our avian surgeon feels is the best option for getting the best imaging of what the cancer mass looks like. And fingers crossed that shows that the chemo is having some effect. We know this will be a long road, while parrots are reported to tolerate chemo very well, it is not nearly as efficient so treatment can be much longer to get the final result. We are hoping we can just get his weight back up so he's a bit stronger and can keep fighting thru the additional treatments.

The good news is that his bloodwork has been coming back normal, so we have that on our side. Fingers crossed that tomorrow's bloodwork will come back steady!

But as of tonight, he is still Miracle Max! Pics from Max over the time we were gone and with the plethora of food bowls he gets offered daily to try to entice him to eat something! I have a new recipe I made yesterday too that I need to post about!! And we finally got our hands on some of the new caitec, which was longtime favorite of his, but they are quite different. So I might grind those down tomorrow and make up a crunchier version of them to try to get him to start eating those as well. Wish me luck!!

 

[Finchbreed]

Good to hear his tests seem positive.

 

[Clueless]

Max you make my heart bleed.....

Prayers up for you bud.

 

[Jenphilly]

Max you make my heart bleed.....

Prayers up for you bud.

I joke he's just trying to see at what point he gives me a heart attack.

 

[Emma&pico]

He’s such an amazing bird come on max eat your goodies

 

[Clueless]

I joke he's just trying to see at what point he gives me a heart attack.

When I walked through the time with MC, my health was rocky too. I lost weight and wound up in therapy.

 

[Jenphilly]

Been debating how to do a Max update, while its really bad news, there is a bit of light. Max is still fighting and still with us. He's improved since we got home from the cruise as far as energy and such. But, we did have the advanced ultrasound scan done Friday (was amazingly clear and detailed).

It was a very long day on Friday, traffic in and out of Philly sucked big weenies. We left at 1:15 and got home right before 8 pm.

We are accepting and facing the reality that we can't save Max. Its a miracle he's alive today, he's had 4 surgeries and now on chemo, on so many levels he's a miracle and truly a first in avian medicine across a few pages. We know he won't be with us forever, but how long is up to him, he's overall strong right now and healthy in alot of ways, but the cancer will claim him, not today or tomorrow, but one day before his time should come. Could be 5 weeks, 5 months or if we're blessed a couple years, there is absolutely no other parrot on medical record to compare his case to.... he's already defied most odds and expectations, so literally its just be thankful for everyday he's still here being the Big Blue Brat.

But, what we learned and the plan.... sadly, both lobes of the cancer are still there, about the same size, so positive to focus on, the cancer is not larger nor has it spread.

Liver and kidneys look great, heart looked fine, so good there. The cyst sac has regrown around the mass, but oddly, its keeping the fluid contained so the fluid is not damaging his organs, so oddly, that might buy us more time, because his organs are not being compressed by the fluid that his body is producing. I joke its like the old spill the beans game, the fluid builds up in the sac around the tumor, then the tipping point it drains straight down to his lower abdomen for very easy drain using a butterfly needles like used for infusions. Very thin, and Victoria can add that to her lists of first aide for critters! She's a pro at draining him at home when needed between vet visits.

Dr Tyson suggested we stopping the fungal meds, at this point she agrees that the stress on his kidneys and liver are not worth it. We want to support overall body health to keep him as strong as possible, the less stress on his body and organs, the better for him at this point. And Max appreciates 3 less doses of meds being shoved down his throat!

We are adding some palliative care meds... he got a first lupron injection Friday, another hormone like the implants, but monthly injection that is a bit more potent, Doc is hoping they will have a more direct impact on the tumor behavior and fluid. And we are switching to an injectable inflammation med hoping it helps reduce fluid/inflammation better than the oral med (and again, easier on Max. Onsior will be about a weekly injection that we will likely do at home (Tor have him the first one yesterday).

And i was happy that Doc agreed with me wanting to do chemo every 2 weeks. He does great for about 10 days or so after chemo, then the fluid increases like 5 times as much. So she's 100% onboard that we bump up chemo if I feel it will keep him more comfortable. I know, crazy right!?! Whoever think you'd hear someone say chemo improves overall comfort and quality of life but parrots tolerate chemo weirdly well, but we all knew what few cases we had to research, while its tolerated well, its just not as effective as seen in mammals. So while the chemo is not killing the cancer, it does seem to keep it in check, so long as Max is tolerating the treatment, it will be part of the course of palliative care.

So, hoping these changes will keep him happy and much more comfortable for however long they work and as long as he is happy, active and not giving up, we will keep up with the care plan. Max does not really hide not feeling well, its very obvious when hes having a bad day. And we do know there will be a few bad days, such as the 36-48 hours after the cyclophosphamide dosing, hes a very tired boy,quieter than usual and we need to supplement his calories more on those days, but then he perks up and gets sassy and more his blue brat self. So long as we see mostly good days, I'm okay needing to spend the bad days giving him extra care.

So,that's the full and bluntly honest Max update. We don't know when we will need to say goodbye, but we've been discussing plans for when that time comes. But for today, it was extra attention and encouragement to eat more, lots of head rubs and a long nap in his heated troll cave that he still loves!

Some recent pics of Max including drunk Max after his scan Friday.

 

[Clueless]

We love them while we have them. That's all we can do.

MC didn't have the energy to fight. I don't know if he was an old bird (he was wild caught was all I knew about his age) or if the tumor removal or the cancer just was too much for him.

I'll be praying for you while you go through this with him. Friends here on this forum kept me going when I walked through it with MC and I would not have made it without them.

 

[Sparkles99]

Very sorry to hear about this. I wish all of you all the best. There’s never a good time to say goodbye to a dear friend.

 

[Macawnutz]

Wishing you and Max all strength and comfort during this tough time.

 

[Toy]

You both have been thru so much, much more than most would or could endure. Cancer sucks. My husband & I both have been thru cancer treatment & it isn't fun. Praying you have a couple more years with Max.