Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Hemangiosarcoma - Dozer
Dozer is an 8 year old male neutered Pitbull and is absolutely the most amazing dog I have ever had. I can't imagine my life without him...I would do anything to keep around. It crushes me to imagine my children growing up without him. They love him so much and he loves them even more. He's the type of dog that ignores when little ones sit on him or try to take food off of him. Incredible just doesn't say enough to describe him.
With that said this battle started in April when Dozer came in from outside limping on his foot. The foot appeared swollen right behind his large pad. My husband and I figured he was playing rough and sprained his foot. Unfortunately this was not the case as the lump grew larger. We took him to his veterinarian and she thought it was just a fatty tumor, but that we should remove it and biopsy it. We set up the surgery for May 20th. Upon picking him up following the surgery the vet explained to me that it was not a fatty lump as she had originally thought and that we might be dealing with something much worse. Unfortunately she was not able to completely remove the growth as it had grown between his toes and tendons. In addition his lymph node on that leg was also enlarged indicating the cancer may have already spread. Thankfully his blood work was within the normal limits. The biopsy came back on the May 29th as a sarcoma, but could not specify whether is was hemangiosarcoma or lymphangiosarcoma. I scheduled an appointment with an oncologist for the following week, June 5th. At this appointment they took radiographs and performed an ultrasound as well as a biopsy of the lymph node. They also requested that additional cuts be made from the tumor that was removed to pinpoint exactly what type of cancer Dozer has. Radiographs and ultrasound showed that the iliac lymph node was also enlarged, but there were no other indication of cancer anywhere else. On June 13th we received the lymph node biopsy which came back as just inflammation. Yes! Some good news, although the oncologist said she wasn't convinced that it was just inflammation. It's still nice to hear. The following week the second biopsy of the tumor came back as hemangiosarcoma. It was at this time that amputation of the leg as well as chemotherapy was recommended. With this course of treatment he was given a prognosis of 6 months to 1 year. With no treatment we would be looking at 2 to 3 months. Needless to say this was devastating news. The more my husband and I discussed it the more we agreed that it seemed too harsh to amputate his leg for six months. I would do anything to save Dozers life, but I don't want his last weeks to be full of suffering. He has hip dysplasia and I just don't think he would make an easy transition to three legs. So I began to research homeopathic remedies and found a holistic drug called Neoplasene. The more I read the more I wanted to pursue this treatment. So that's where we are...I'm waiting to hear back from a holistic vet regarding scheduling an appointment. I will keep detailing the course of Dozer treatment in the hope that his story can help someone else. Please comment on your experiences with canine cancer and conventional or holistic treatments. Thanks.
With that said this battle started in April when Dozer came in from outside limping on his foot. The foot appeared swollen right behind his large pad. My husband and I figured he was playing rough and sprained his foot. Unfortunately this was not the case as the lump grew larger. We took him to his veterinarian and she thought it was just a fatty tumor, but that we should remove it and biopsy it. We set up the surgery for May 20th. Upon picking him up following the surgery the vet explained to me that it was not a fatty lump as she had originally thought and that we might be dealing with something much worse. Unfortunately she was not able to completely remove the growth as it had grown between his toes and tendons. In addition his lymph node on that leg was also enlarged indicating the cancer may have already spread. Thankfully his blood work was within the normal limits. The biopsy came back on the May 29th as a sarcoma, but could not specify whether is was hemangiosarcoma or lymphangiosarcoma. I scheduled an appointment with an oncologist for the following week, June 5th. At this appointment they took radiographs and performed an ultrasound as well as a biopsy of the lymph node. They also requested that additional cuts be made from the tumor that was removed to pinpoint exactly what type of cancer Dozer has. Radiographs and ultrasound showed that the iliac lymph node was also enlarged, but there were no other indication of cancer anywhere else. On June 13th we received the lymph node biopsy which came back as just inflammation. Yes! Some good news, although the oncologist said she wasn't convinced that it was just inflammation. It's still nice to hear. The following week the second biopsy of the tumor came back as hemangiosarcoma. It was at this time that amputation of the leg as well as chemotherapy was recommended. With this course of treatment he was given a prognosis of 6 months to 1 year. With no treatment we would be looking at 2 to 3 months. Needless to say this was devastating news. The more my husband and I discussed it the more we agreed that it seemed too harsh to amputate his leg for six months. I would do anything to save Dozers life, but I don't want his last weeks to be full of suffering. He has hip dysplasia and I just don't think he would make an easy transition to three legs. So I began to research homeopathic remedies and found a holistic drug called Neoplasene. The more I read the more I wanted to pursue this treatment. So that's where we are...I'm waiting to hear back from a holistic vet regarding scheduling an appointment. I will keep detailing the course of Dozer treatment in the hope that his story can help someone else. Please comment on your experiences with canine cancer and conventional or holistic treatments. Thanks.
The Canine Cancer Database
This blog is dedicated to my dog Dozer. Dozer was just diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma two weeks ago. From the moment he was diagnosed I began researching this type of cancer as well as varying treatment options. I just couldn't find what I was looking for. I wanted to find a site that detailed individual experiences such as my dog has (blank) type of cancer and we opted to treat with (blank) and so on. So, that's what I want to start here. I'm going to detail Dozer's treatment so that I can share our story with others. I would hope that others will comment me with their own stories and I will eventually create a website detailing all of our individual stories.
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