"Never, ever, give up" - Jessica Joy Reeves -Exploring alternative treatments

The days started to whiz by and it seemed as though our ticking clock had explode and begun to spiral out of control.  I took Abby for her next treatment and got devastating news.  She had shown no response to the first treatment and in fact her tumor had grown.  We were told that sometimes dogs show no response to the first treatment, so we decided to give it another go and pray she would respond and we would have more time with her.  As a side effect of the treatment, her left eye had started to bulge out and her third eyelid was becoming more and more pronounced.

She was still our beautiful girl but the evidence of spread was undeniable.  She remained happy and full of life and didn't seem to know anything was wrong, other than she was having to frequently visit vets to get poked and prodded.  Each week she had to have her blood count checked and that 15 minute wait for results was so hard because she would pace back and forth, while I anxiously waited for results. 

One day, I was reading the facebook profile of a young girl, Jessica Joy Reeves who was so bravely battling cancer and had come up with her own inspirational saying which acronyms were NEGU- Never, Ever, Give up.  I started think about how I shouldn't be giving up while there was still a possibility that something more could be done for Abby.  I threw myself into more research and begin searching for anything possible to save my girl.  I started looking into other treatments and cures around the world.  There is a drug EBC-46 made by a Qbiotics in Australia that shows much promise in the advancement of cancer cures.  We contacted the company but the drug is still under clinical trials and not available to consumers.  We only ever found one clinical trial in the US, but it had been shut down for reasons unknown to us.  I think if we could've figured out a way to get her to Australia, we would've done it, had the chance to participate in a clinical trial there arisen.

I also learned of a drug called Neoplasene which is a botanical medicine which can be used both topically and orally from my understanding.  I went to their Buck Mountain Botanical's website and downloaded their clinical guide and skimmed through it.  I wasn't certain it would work for Abby but I forwarded the information on to our vet who further investigated it.  She decided that due to the location of Abby's tumor and the nature of the medicine, it could cause more harm, possibly killing her, and wasn't an option.  I have read other people's testimonies on the internet though and think it might be worth investigating for other dogs.

I also started to read up on some different types of radiation that were more cutting edge.  After seeing a segment on the news a good friend sent me a link to this video about radiofrequency ablation. I couldn't find a place locally that offered this but did find the Animal Medical Center in NY that had seemed to offer it.

Meanwhile I was also searching for clinical trials across the country.  I found a comprehensive clinical trial search at the National Cancer Institute's website and at the Land of Pure Gold Foundation's site.  Due to my obsessive nature, I also went to different universities sites and searched their clinical trial database just in case one slipped through the cracks.  I didn't have much luck finding one for Abby though.  However, these clinical trials soon provided a crucial lead.

I had contacted a doctor at Colorado State University about a trial and she emailed me back and told me that the clinical trial I was interested in was closed.  However she did tell me that Colorado State offered a special form of radiation therapy called stereotactic radiation, she asked for my number and told me she would have a doctor call me with more information.  Later that day I received a call from Dr. Michael Nolan that would completely redirect our entire journey.