Thursday, January 31, 2008

Day 1 of 16, a note from Colten

We dropped Jordan off at the doctors today for her first treatment. Today is the longest appointment as they line up their instruments and draw maps on her head. She was sort of nonchalant about the whole thing - casually saying hello to the vet techs and giving a strong one eyed stare to the three-legged german shephard that walked past us.
Because of the timing of her appointment and the timing of our work she is spending the night at the center and we pick her up tomorrow after her second treatment.

Since today was the last day for her to have a regular hair-do (shaving tomorrow, and then loss of the hair with radiation) we of course took some pics...

First up, Jordan snuggles with her new blanky that we got & decorated for her to take the hospital each day:


This is a pic of Jordan and I just before going into the Vet Cancer Center:


More news when we pick the baby up tomorrow!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

a note from Tristan

Monday, we had our first appointment with Dr. Lyons at the City of Angels Veterinary Cancer Group. He looked at the MRI she got at Animal Medical Center in New York City and did an exam. He essentially agreed with the neurologist Jordan saw at AMC. We talked about the benefits and risks. Basically, because of where the tumor is in her brain, surgery is not an option. Radiation can shrink the tumor and increase her longevity. He told us she needed a CT Scan in order to map the radiation. Apparently, it's all computerized, and the computer needs a CT Scan in order to do it. So, we left her there and picked her up several hours later. It's hard being out here and trying to balance an intense work experience (shooting three movies) with a very intense medical experience (daily radiation). Tomorrow is the first radiation appointment and it will be the longest, since they will do the radiation mapping as well. After that, she will have an appointment Monday through Friday for about 45 minutes. We plan to drop her off and wait most days except the days when we are shooting. Some of the shoot days, she will stay overnight at the hospital and others we are sending our friend (and Production Assistant) Emily to drop her off and pick her up. She will have 16 days of radiation. After that, we need to wait about a week and a half before she can fly. She'll have a follow up appointment in order to get the "all clear" from Dr. Lyons. I will fly home before her treatment ends in order to take care of the other dogs and Colten will stay here with Jordan.

Of course, Jordan does not understand anything that's going on. She continues to be herself, although she's definitely sleepier and a lot less coordinated, both side effects of the anti-seizure medication she's on. When the radiation begins, she will be put on steroids as well. Another side effect is "excessive hunger" and she has become food crazy. She has not been sleeping very well since we got here, she wakes up a lot and gets really fussy. She has slept on or near my head the last two nights which hasn't made my sleep very good either. All three of us seem to still be on East Coast time, so Colten and Jordan have been waking up at about 6 am. I fall asleep at 9 pm. I took a nap today so I could stay up until 11 pm to watch the premiere of Lost. Jordan is sitting by my side in "my chair," a cool recliner in the den where I sit because it's cat-free. She had a good game of fetch with the soccer ball, her favorite toy, today (see photo). Like I said, her energy is good and she's acting like herself.

I feel confident about the treatment because Jordan is so strong. She's really fierce and she has weathered so many medical things in her life with ease and grace. She is just so tough! That gives me hope that she'll get through this. Tomorrow they shave her head, and her hair may not grow back. We'll take some photos for sure.

We started the blog in order to be able to update our friends, Jordan's friends and fans, and anyone else who may be curious about this special little creature. We welcome your comments, especially any stories or thoughts you have about Jordan. We will read them to her every day!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to Jordan Love's blog!
While it is unclear exactly who is always going to be the one writting this blog, it is definitely clear who it is all about - and that would be Ms. Jordan Love, the one-eyed wunder dog of flying boston terrier fame.
As some of you know by now Jordan had two seizures in mid-January and was taken to New York City for further neurological testing. On Jan 18th, 2008 Jordan was diagnosed with a non-operable brain tumor. Now out in California we have planned to start Jordan on the only course of treatment available for her tumor in its location, radiation.
This blog will keep you up to date on her day to day happenings as she dives head first into radiation treatment at the posh Veterinary Cancer Group facility in Los Angeles.