Dr. Kitchell told us Red would get the very best of care but she sure could not deliver it.

We wanted the very best for our Redman. We got the very worse. "Dirty Reds Story"

If you do not understand what lymphoma is scroll
down to the end of this article, read the short description and return.

On 4/6/97 I noticed two lumps under Reds neck.

On 4/7/97 I took Red to my veterinarian. He said it looked like lymphoma and said I should take Red to the University of Illinois for the diagnostic work. I called a program on TV called Ask The Veterinarian and talked to Dr. Rob Hess about the lymphoma Red may have and he said to take Red to the University of Wisconsin at Madison Wis. for Reds chemo treatments, he said they had a one to two year survival rate and they were very good.

On 4/8/97 we got up early and made the 168 mile drive to the University of Illinois for Reds diagnostic work and exam. We arrived and were greeted by Dr. Barbara Kitchell and she examined Red and said it was lymphoma but we caught it early and it was not in any of Reds vital organs. I told her we were going to take Red to Madison for the treatments and she said she was better qualified and could do the same treatments. She also said David Vail has alot of the dogs he treats in intensive care and they are always sick because he takes the dogs to the limit with the chemo drugs. David Vail is the oncologist at Madison. Dr. Kitchell then said she has 5 years more training than most oncologists. She really bragged about herself. I told her Red had a one to two year survival rate if we treated him at Madison and she said her prognosis was the same one to two years. We liked the same one to two year survival rate for Red so we decided to let Dr. Kitchell treat him. I also asked her if she was going to take a whole lymph node for biopsy as at Madison and she said yes. We took Red home and the next morning drove back to the University for Reds biopsy and first chemo treatment.

On 4/9/97 we arrived at the University early and
signed the surgery papers and Dr. Kitchell told us Red was to have an excisional biopsy, surgery to remove a lymph node to see what type of lymphoma it was. We picked up Red later that day but Dr. Kitchell did not do surgery instead she did a needle biopsy and gave Red his first chemo treatment. We asked her about the surgery and why she did not take a whole lymph node and she said not to worry Red would be fine. She told us the first few chemo treatments were very crucial as to how Reds cancer reacts to the chemo so be sure and watch Red and have him here next week. In a few days Reds lymph nodes went down. Now we have learned Dr. Kitchell treated Red with powerful chemo drugs without the benefit and expertise of a proper Histopath report. Red was biopsied and treated with chemo on 4/9/97. The Histopath report was not verbal until 4/10/97.
Read the report the bottom when the veterinarian was contacted and the comments. This histopath wants more samples but Dr. Kitchell has already treated Red the day before with powerful chemo drugs. This is just one of the many many unprofessional way they did things at this University.

On 4/16/97 we returned to the University for Reds second most important follow-up and chemo treatment. We were greeted by Dr. Biller. Dr. Kitchell was out of town. We asked if Dr. Biller was an oncologist and she said yes later we found out differently, she was an intern and also she had just returned from maternity leave. She supposedly treated Red with chemo drugs the exact same drugs Dr. Kitchell treated Red with the week before. Three days later Reds lymph nodes enlarged.

Dr. Kitchell should have been there for this most important follow-up and second treatment as the drugs needed changing or adjusting and Dr. Biller apparently did not have the expertise to see this at this critical time. I now have learned Red was in trouble but not because of his cancer but because of Dr. Kitchells negligence and absence. When Dr. Biller examined Red he was in partial remission from his first treatment. This meant the first treatment killed 50% of the cancer cells and 50% of the normal cells Not Good. Dr. Biller gave Red the exact same drugs in the second treatment. What a mistake? This second treatment killed Reds normal cells and 0% of the cancer cells. How stupid a mistake. This brought Red out of remission and this was very bad.

On 4/21/97 we took Red back to the University and left him overnight as they were to decide what to do.

On 4/22/97 Dr. Kitchell treated Red with
adriamycin. I was still upset that Red had failed his second chemo and confronted Dr. Kitchell. I blamed it on her for not being there for Reds crucial follow-up exam and second chemo as she said it was very important. I told her I did not think Red even had the second treatment because we left the school that day at noon and three days later his lymp nodes enlarged. The first treatment took all day. Dr. Kitchell could not comment because she was not there for Reds second treatment so she knew nothing about it. Now we have learned you get about two trys to get a dogs lymphoma into remission and you must keep it there. Remission is a hault to the cancer and all its symptoms. The first remission on Red should have been about a year at best some dogs have less time three to six months for there first remission, but remember Reds prognosis was one to two years as stated by Dr. Kitchell. When the dog comes out of remission at about a year or whatever a second remission is usually achived for about half of the time as the first remission. Reds first remission according to this was 10 days but Dr. Kitchell never told us he was in trouble had she done this she would have had to admit a screw-up in Reds early second treatment. Our records show Red is doing great. Isn't this deceit?

Reds first chemo treatment took all day and Dr. Kitchell told us to plan to be there all day for Reds second treatment too. We took Red home at 1:30 after Dr. Billers supposedly second treatment. Did Dr. Biller really give Red this second treatment?
Why did we even have Dr. Biller an intern for Reds most crucial second follow-up and treatment. When we first took Red to the University Dr. Kitchell said Red would get the best of care. Does this sound like the best of care. We paid alot of money for Reds treatments.The first treatment was 348.00 and Dr. Billers second was 378.00 and we should have had a trained oncologist as promised at least until Reds cancer was under control.

On 4/23/97 I took Red to another doctor for a second opinion and he said to take Red off the cytoxan pills. He said Red was on the cytoxan pills the first two weeks of chemo and failed, this proved the cytoxan pills did not work and if Red stayed on them he would be urinating blood soon, or worse they would damage his kidneys and they were only killing Reds good cells. We tried to contact Dr. Kitchell several times about the cytoxan pills but could never reach her. This also was a problem at this University we could never talk to Dr. Kitchell when Red had a problem, they always said she was busy or gone and she only returned our calls a few times while Red was under her care. One time we called and they told us: When Red was here we treated him, today we have other patients. Then another time we called after failing to reach Dr. Kitchell we were transfered to Dr. Parker and he told us, No wonder you can not talk to a doctor there is only one doctor for every thirty patients. We kept Red on the cytoxan pills as this was Dr. Kitchells call.

On 4/29/97 we returned to the University and Dr. Kitchell examined Red and said his cancer was in remission. She said come back in two weeks for Reds second adriamycin treatment. We now believe Dr. Kitchell was going out of town for the next two weeks. Since she is the only oncologist and Reds second treatment was screwed up by an intern she wanted to treat Red herself. If this is true this is terrible making Red wait 2 weeks when he should have been seen weekly. We will know more about this when we get the records we requested and check her work period for the month of April. We have learned this was some sort of a rescue technic this adriamycin every three weeks and other doctors said Red was not in need of rescue this early on in his treatment. He just needed to be put into remission and kept there. Red should have been seen weekly or had special treatment until he was in remission.

On 5/7/97 early in the morning we called the University and wanted to talk to Dr. Kitchell as Red was urinating blood just like the second opinion doctor said he would. After several attempts to reach her we took Red to an emergency hospital here and later our Red was diagnosed with sterile cystitis from the cytoxan pills. In the morning we took Red to the University and Dr. Kitchell took Red off the cytoxan pills. Now Red developed another problem he was drinking very very large amounts of water and urinating for 2 - 3 minutes. He would drink a litre and a half of water then go outside and urinate come back in drink a litre and a half of water and a half hour later repeat the process. Red was up all night every night and we were too.

On 5/13/97 we took Red to the University for his second adriamycin treatment. Dr. Kitchell took my wife and I in a room and told us the next step was to take a lymph node from Reds leg and send it off to Rhode Island and have it tested to see if there was a better drug to fight Reds cancer. Also she said they or she would make a vaccine from Reds lymph node and inject it back into Red to help his immune system fight the cancer. I asked her why this lymph node was not taken as was scheduled on our first visit when Red was physically ok. She acted absent minded and really did not answer the question at all. I was worried about Red. How could he have surgery in his condition he had not had a full nights sleep for a week the most he had was an hour or so between urinating and drinking water. She said the surgery was minor and Red would be fine. This surgery cost 1500.00.

We left Red at the University and we were told we could pick him up the next day. They would do the surgery in the morning send the lymph node off and we could pick up Red in the afternoon.

On 5/14/97 we called the school and were told Red was not doing well he was not waking up from the surgery. Later we found out Reds kidneys were damaged from the chemo drugs and your kidneys remove the anesthetic from your system and Red was slow to awake because of this. We were told to pick up Red the next day. Other doctors have told us Red should not have had this surgery in his condition also the main objective was to keep Red in remission this surgery did nothing to accomplish this. We now can see what it did accomplish it gave the University 1500.00 of our money. Also if Reds kidneys could not remove the anesthetic why
were they giving him chemo drugs?

On 5/15/97 we picked up Red he was slobbering out the side of his mouth and his face was swollen on one side. Reds gums were white. That night when we went for our walk Red could not make it a block when we always walked two miles. Sadly this turned out to be Reds last walk. Red was never the same after this surgery.

On 5/19/97 we called the University to find out the test results and to know which drug would be best to fight Reds cancer. Dr. Kitchell was unavailable.

On 5/20/97 we called again and Dr. Trott told us the lymph node was destroyed when the testing facility received it. Red went thru this surgery that almost killed him for nothing. We were never told this was even a possibility that the lymph node could be destroyed. We asked him what we should do next and he said it was up to Dr. Kitchell. We tried to contact Dr. Kitchell but she was out of town for the Memorial day weekend. Poor Red had no medication and when we called the University they said we had to talk to Dr. Kitchell. What a poorly run University we had taken our dog to. Dr. Kitchell should have called us no matter where she was. Also now we have found out the vaccine they were going to make out of Reds lymph node, if the vaccine would have worked Red would have made history. Red would have been the first dog it would have ever worked on. We were never told this at all. What deceit.
The Tuesday after Memorial day Dr. Kitchell called us to see how Red was doing and I told her what I thought about her so called doctoring. This was
the last time we saw Dr. Kitchell. Can you believe it after telling us she was the best and then screwing up everything she did to Red, and now she has abandoned him.

On 6/2/97 Red was getting worse I thought he needed blood so I took him back to the University and they gave him more chemo. I tried to take Red to other doctors here but they said to take him back to the University after they heard the horrible story and what the University had done. Red was seen by another doctor this day as Dr. Kitchell did not have the decency or guts to face my wife and I. This just proves the kind of doctor she is. Dr. Ravi saw Red this day and on our receipt he wrote what should have been written on our receipts immediately after the surgery and lymph node mess he stated Red was getting worse. Well I guess so after the failed surgery and lymph node mess and all the Universitys plain screw-ups. Red was worse but I really do not believe it was the lymphoma.

On 6/5/97 I returned to the University and again Dr. Kitchell was unavalible. Can you believe they gave Red more chemo, they did what they called a MOPP rescue protocol, but they only gave Red two of the four drugs. Mustargen and vincristine Red did not get the procarbazine the only drug his cancer had not seen. The other doctors that have reviewed Reds records have said Reds blood work does not show a need for a rescue protocol. What is going on here? Did Red need intensive care and blood?

On 6/10/97 at 6:45 am what I had tried so hard to prevent happened Red passed away in my arms with my local veterinarian on the phone something my family and I will never forget. Red died just two months and two days after his first treatment began at this University. Red was 5 years and six months old to the day. What happened to the one to two year prognosis. We have always dealt with honest veterinarians we could not believe it. Also we have learned the day after Reds surgery Dr. Kitchell gave Red a drug called CCNU or lomustine a powerful chemo drug and another drug could not be used for three weeks as this CCNU supresses the bone marrow. What is Dr. Kitchell doing here, if the report from Rhode Island would have indicated a drug to better fight the cancer Red could not have had it on top of the CCNU. Our Red was treated at this University by the worse doctors of animals I have ever seen. We were completely misled by Dr. Kitchell through this whole ordeal. We could have went to Madison and Red would still be here. We could have went to a much better equiped University of Missouri that has a new laser beam treatment to fight cancer. We could have not treated Red at all and he would still be here. We asked the University for our money back for the surgery and lymph node mess and they said no. I called Dean Vallie and told him what happened and he said he would call me back and he did not. We have taken legal action against this University for killing our Red. My Red had the most treatable kind of cancer in some cases curable. Their are dogs that have been in remission for over a year with proper treatment. We have found one lady that took her dog to the University of Illinois and on the first chemo treatment they gave her dog CCNU a rescue drug, it did nothing for the dogs cancer except it almost killed the dog. After that she went to another doctor and her dog is still alive today and he was diagnosed long before Red. Another lady started chemo and took her dog off because it made the dog sick and the dog lived 4 more years.

Three doctors reviewed Reds case and said like any sick person Red should have been signed into the hospital ICU (intensive care unit) on 6/2/97 when we had him there. Then on 6/5/97 we drove their again and they had another chance but they chose to give Red a rescue chemo treatment when his blood work indicated he did not need it. This is just terrible. All three doctors agreed Red should have been put in the Intensive Care Unit as IV fluids can do wonders for an ill feeling animal and if Red started to deteriorate the situation could be brought under control quite rapidly. Intensive care and cancer treatment go hand and hand most dogs that get chemo treatments have a few crisis along the way and need intensive care. The University and Dr. Kitchell should bare the responsibility for Reds early death as it was nothing but their terrible treatment and poor judgement that caused it.

The Attorney General will be working for the University. Can you believe it, the Attorney General is supposed to wipe out fraud and deceit and he is backing up the most deceitful people I have ever been involved with.

I tried to reason with the University I asked them this:
If Dr. Kitchells dog or child had lymphoma do you think she would have let a doctor treat him with powerful chemo drugs without the benefit of a proper biopsy report knowing if the drugs were not correct the patient was doomed. I Think not. Then what do you think Dr. Kitchell would do if when she returned with her child for the most important second chemo treatment and follow-up to see if the drugs were working and she had discovered the oncologist treating her child is out of town. Now three days later the lymphoma comes back
and she discovers an intern gave her child this most important check-up and second chemo treatment. Would she be upset? Would you? I think so. What do you think Dr. Kitchell would do if someone did surgery on her child or dog when they were in a weakened state and they almost died. Then when she was waiting for the all important results from the surgery she found out they had been destroyed. Then the most terrible thing possible happens the child dies in your arms at home.

Dean Vallie, Dr. Troutt and Dr. Kitchell still don't get it. If they do not have the common sense to see it this way they have no business teaching young veterinarians. My Red was very important to my wife and I and he should have had every opportunity to get better. This hospital and its doctors did not follow standard every day procedures if they would have Red would still be here. We paid good money for proper treatment for our dog Red and we never got it. My poor sweet boy Red never had a chance. How many other animals and people have suffered and will suffer as our Red did from this Universitys terrible care.

When Red was diagnosed with lymphoma, we wanted the best treatment possible so if he did die we would know in our hearts everything possible was done for him. We now will feel miserable forever because our Red was just plain left to die by this Universitys failed procedures. When a biopsy report is not studied first before any treatments have begun, then surgery is done when the patient is weak and the samples taken during surgery are lost and the patient dies, and the Dean of the school says nothing is wrong I say he is wrong along with Dr. Kitchell, Dr. Parker, Dr. Troutt and anyone else that allows this kind of deceit
and dissension to exhist.

sincerely, Jack Austin
http://members.aol.com/jaustinred/index.html