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My mom's pup (warning -- kinda sad.. and long)
Sorry in advance.. I just need to vent..
My mom is having her dog's toe amputated today. The whole thing has become such a mess and she is so upset. He had that mast cell tumor on his foot that they thought was just a fatty growth until they went in to remove it. They had the inital procedure at the regular vet, and he couldn't get it all without compromising the functionality of the foot, so he closed up as best he could (hard w/all the swelling) and referred them to an oncologist.
Oncologist said -- good news, radiation to just the foot and we're 90% sure we can get it all. They also mention amputating the leg as a 100% cure, but obviously not best quality of life thereafter. Test results come back... bad news, there are cancerous cells in the nearest lymph node, but --good news-- not the abdomen. So then it was, ok we can do radiaton on just those 2 spots, no change in the already-expensive cost or treatment time. We just need to wait for the wound to fully heal, because radiating the area before it's healed will actually KEEP it from healing...
couple weeks go by.... wound's not healing. at all. So they give him a dose of chemo because obviously the cancer isn't taking a vacation while his foot heals. That's another $150 drop in the large bucket. Goes back the next week.. wound's not healing, and the chemo has tanked out his white blood count so much (from 12,000 to 1,500) that he can't get another round.. he can't even get groomed because even a tiny miniscule infection could be life-threatening. They give him a week to recoup and get his counts back... wound's still not healing.
The oncologist takes a bunch of pictures and has a couple of surgeon colleagues look at them for their take on the wound. They both think that tumor regrowth (expected) is making it so that there's not enough skin to cover the wound and let it close/heal. They also both think the best option is to amputate his toe. $3K. This will *maybe* get rid of all of the original tumor mass and *maybe* eliminate the need for radiation of the foot. Most importantly, it will provie enough skin for the wound to close properly. They will still have to either do radiation on the lymph node, or remove it.
So he's having the toe removed today. The whole thing breaks my heart, because I just have this awful feeling that they're going to do all of this, max out like 10 credit cards, and it's not going to work... because no one is talking about the fact that a good bit of time has gone by since their initial, optimistic prognosis. But my parents had already decided to treat, and so they're kind of on this path.... I just pray it works... and that he's not miserable... He's only 7, and I keep just looking at Clancy who will be 8 this year, and I have no clue what the heck I would do or how I could deal with this.
Meanwhile my mom's other, older golden is at home thinking "WTF is going on? Why do you keep taking him fun places? And why is he wearing that ridiculous collar?"
Re: My mom's pup (warning -- kinda sad.. and long)
Ugh. I'm so sorry. I've been there. Exactly. Same cancer, same age, some cones and after surgery care, same type of specialists etc. Are they in FL? Do they know what stage the tumor is? A spread to the lymph nodes takes it out of the first stage. I completely understand your concerns, because the care & expenses are definitely a slippery slope. It adds up fast as the different procedures stack on top of eachother.There is a lot to process after that first initial visit to the oncologist. It's hard not to let your emotions rule your decisions.
Thoughts & prayers headed their way. Keep us updated!
No, they're in NJ, just outside PA, so they're seeing an oncologist at UPenn in Philly. I think they initially said it was grade I, but then upgraded to II after finding cells in the knee lymph node.
Sorry for your mom's pup. I hope the amputation goes well.
We had to amputate our family dogs front right leg because a stupid neighborhood kid shot her with a beebee gun. She did very well on only one leg.
Wow, that is a lot for the poor little pup to handle! I hope that amputating his toe, as unfortunate as it is, will be the solution.
I apologize, but I did have to laugh at your last line.
How is it that my BABY is going to be 3?
BFP-2/25/11; 8 Wk U/S-3/25/11-No HB, measured 6.5 wks; D&C
lol Pookie -- I'm glad. It was my lame attempt at a mood-lightener.
Thanks, guys.
As an update... the surgery didn't go as planned yet again. They took the toe but STILL couldn't close the wound.. since it's a pinky-toe, they cut a slit on the inside edge of the foot and created ANOTHER wound there, which allowed them some extra room to work with on the other side. *sigh*. They're sure the new incision will heal just fine bec it's all healthy skin, but they aren't 100% confident about the original wound (sooooooooooo you took the toe without even being sure it would WORK?!) and may still have to do a skin graft. For those keeping score at home, that's $3K for the toe, and I'm assuming if they're still talking about not being sure the wound will close that they weren't able to get all of the mass, which means the $5K radiation is still in play..... but only after perhaps a skin graft ($)... and I'm sure they'll give him chemo for another month or so while all this is going on ($)...... This is going to be in the ballpark of $10K if not more, and no one's even being up front with them about his odds at this point. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.
First off, I'm so sorry that nothing is going as planned and your family & the poor pup is going through all of this. As to the quoted part above, what I learned through my experience is this: Dr's/Vets want to heal. The Oncologist I met with was awesome. I honestly didn't get the feel from her that it was motivated by money. She supported our decision either way. She was also brutally honest.
With that being said, you could tell that she "thought" we should proceed with radiation & chemo if money would allow it. It would have been $8k. Without it he had an estimated 4 months left. So after we absorbed the info for a bit I thought to ask," How long WITH the radiation & chemo?" Her answer? 8 months. I think they just think,"Can I help these people & extend this dog's life?" They think "in the now." They don't think about what will happen financially if this occurs again.
My heart breaks for your parents. I totally understand the need/want to do everything they can. My DH, who is extremely cautious & conservative with money even said that if they could have guaranteed us 100% that the treatment would have worked and the cancer (exisiting or any new tumors) would never come back, we gladly would have spent the $8k. Of course though, they can't say that.
I hope none of that came off as "know it all-y" or "preachy." I can definitely just relate with your concerns & I think it's really great & sweet of you to be so supportive while still looking out for your parents, the dog and the big picture of everything. Brodie was also definitely in worse shape than your parents sweet pup. His final (6th) tumor was worse and progression was worse. I'm definitely not trying to directly compare the two. I'm sending lots of healing healthy vibes to their sweet boy.
Thanks for the thoughts/vibes, Christie! You didn't come off wrong at all, no worries. I know all of this is still so fresh for you, and you're honestly the #1 reason I put the little warning in the title. So truly, thanks. I appreciate all of what you said, and I totally agree. I know the oncologists want to help, but I think they can only look at what they can control, which is still a small part of the overall picture. They see: "Cancer. How do we fix it?". They don't think about the financial burdens, or the hugely emotional risk/benefit in terms of the dog's quality/length of life. And they probably can't without letting their job suck them dry emotionally. So I don't blame them at all for not being wrapped up in all of that, but I DO wish that they would at least give my parents all of the information and then encourage them to do their own soul-searching. I admit, that wish is partly selfish, because their lack of doing so makes me feel like I have to step in, and holy crap is that the last thing I want to be bringing up. lol.
Anyway, thanks for your input.
I just had to do this for a close friend that was in the same situation. It's not a fun position that you're in. They actually just put their young American Bulldog to sleep this past weekend after they decided against chemo.
Another big factor in the chemo/radiation game is that I didn't know for sure how Brodie would respond to it. Because of this I knew that if he had a bad reaction and we lost him after 1 month due to complications when we could have had 4 months with him, I never would have forgiven myself. The possible benefits didn't outweigh the risks in our situation. But if life expectancy is much better for your parents dog (which it sounds like it might be) maybe it's worth the risk? It stinks that they're not local so you could go with them & ask those questions to the vet instead of your parents.
Anyway, I'm glad I didn't come off the wrong way. I thinking of you all!