I am very anxious now to see the oncologist. I regret the delay in scheduling the biopsy. I am mad at the lab for not getting the results in sooner. I don’t understand why the report, which was written on May 18, was sent to the vet until his office requested it on May 27th. I am mad at the vet for not recognizing that the growth looked like the pictures of mast cell tumors that I found on the Internet. I am mad that the bleeding didn’t cause him more alarm. I am mad at myself for waiting to do the biopsy after the agility trial.
I am growing more and more anxious about the time we have to wait to see an oncologist. When the prognosis is 2 months, every day counts. And how long has she been Stage III? If we had done the biopsy in April, would she be “only” a Stage II? I call the oncologist’s office and see if I can get in any sooner. Nope, booked up.
I know there are two other good oncologists in the area (Washington, DC area). I do some research about them, call and leave three messages at one of them. Finally at 4:30 pm, I get through to a receptionist and get an appointment for tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
I order a book online from Amazon—Help Your Dog Fight Cancer: What Every Caretaker Should Know About Canine Cancer, Featuring Bullet’s Survival Story, 2nd Edition - Paperback (June 2008) by Laurie Kaplan——it should be delivered tomorrow.
I am worried about how I am going to pay for treatment. I maxed out all my credit cards paying for her back surgery and rehab. How am I going to pay for this? I want to and will do the very best I can for my Abigail. But my resources are extremely limited at this point.
Now, I must read all the research I have printed out to be prepared for tomorrow’s appointment.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
May 30th - Abigail competes in an agility trial
I can barely sleep Sunday night. Maximum two hours. I try to sleep for Abigail’s sake. If I’m not sleeping, she’s not really sleeping. She sleeps in bed with me, right next to me. Usually with one or more of her legs on me. We rise at 6 am. Memorial Day.
We compete in what is likely to be our very last agility trial and she did great. I am very proud of her. But now I am very anxious and beginning to detect that she is more tired than usual after an agility trial. I don’t know if that is my imagination or perception.
We compete in what is likely to be our very last agility trial and she did great. I am very proud of her. But now I am very anxious and beginning to detect that she is more tired than usual after an agility trial. I don’t know if that is my imagination or perception.
May 29th - I read the biopsy report
On Sunday evening, I finally read the biopsy. And I am shocked at what I read. I had only skimmed the information that I had been downloading from the Internet. I wanted to sit down in a focused way and read all the research. But the impression I had formed was that the prognosis was at least several months—without any treatment. That is not what the biopsy report says. It says two months. I am…I can’t even think of the right words. It just can’t be.
May 27th -- Abigail gets her stitches out
Friday we went into the vet’s office to get her stitches removed. She is healing very nicely. The vet and I talk. The vet told me he had cut down to the muscle to remove as much he cold. He said he looked behind her tonsils and down her esophagus and didn’t see any growths. He palpated the lymph nodes around her neck and doesn’t find any swelling, which is a good sign.
He answers my questions. But I have not had time nor energy to really read the material I had found on the Internet so I do not have that many questions. I do ask him if it is OK for her to compete in an agility trial that weekend and he says yes. I ask him about trials that I’ve signed up for in the 2nd half of June. I tell him that I have until June 3 to withdraw and get my entry fees refunded. He says that it would be a good idea to withdraw. I ask for a copy of the biopsy report. He warns me that there are mortality rates in it and I say I know there will be. But I don’t read it the report that evening. Not ready.
He answers my questions. But I have not had time nor energy to really read the material I had found on the Internet so I do not have that many questions. I do ask him if it is OK for her to compete in an agility trial that weekend and he says yes. I ask him about trials that I’ve signed up for in the 2nd half of June. I tell him that I have until June 3 to withdraw and get my entry fees refunded. He says that it would be a good idea to withdraw. I ask for a copy of the biopsy report. He warns me that there are mortality rates in it and I say I know there will be. But I don’t read it the report that evening. Not ready.
May 26th - We get the bad news
Abigail has been diagnosed with a mast cell tumor - Grade III. The diagnosis was made through a biopsy of the growth on her neck. I am devasted. She is my baby, my agility partner, my best friend, and I love her with all my heart. She is 11 years old and I’ve had her since she was 7 weeks old. She is the first dog that I’ve had as an adult.
In July 2009, she underwent surgery for a herniated disk in her spine—just above her tail. She recovered completely and underwent rehab for many months before we resumed competing in agility trials. She was faster and did even better in agility after the surgery—partially due to losing weight after switching to a raw diet.
I had hoped, no, expected her to live to a ripe old age of at least 18—that’s how long my family’s dogs tend to live. I never expected this.
I don’t even remember when I first noticed a growth on her neck. I honestly can’t remember. But when I saw it get bigger, I took her to the vet and he said he didn’t think it was anything to worry about but he did want to remove it and send it in for a biopsy. He said it didn’t seem quite like a sebaceous cyst.
That was the middle of April. We had some agility trials scheduled for April and May, so I said how about in June and the vet said “Don’t wait that long.” So I scheduled it for May 16th. There was an agility trial on May 14-15th that I really wanted to attend—the judge used to run one of the top 2 beagles in agility. I wanted her to see Abigail run.
A week before the biopsy, the growth began to ooze and bleed—I don’t know if it was because Abigail had scratched it or it had begun to abscess. Concerned, I asked the vet if we should move up the surgery but he said no. So Monday, May 16 she went in for a dental cleaning, removal of three lipomas on her chest (which had been aspirated previously and found to be non-cancerous), and removal of the growth on her neck.
She came through the surgery with flying colors. I picked her up at 5:30 pm—the vet tech brought her to me and besides looking a big googley-eyed from the anesthesia, she looked and acted great. In fact, as the vet tech was giving me instructions to soften her kibble with broth (she didn’t know Abigail was on a raw diet) because her teeth and gums were likely to be sore from the cleaning, I looked around for Abigail (she didn’t have a leash or collar on because of the surgery), and heard her back in the storeroom whereupon I rushed back there and found her eating kitty kibble from a bag she had ripped open. Whatever discomfort she felt in her teeth and gums didn’t stop her from pursuing the beagle’s never-ending quest for food. Beagles, as you may know, are very food-focused.
Abigail recovered very quickly from the surgery and seemed back to normal almost immediately. I called for the biopsy results after 3 days—they had told me that results would be in after 3-5 days. But they weren’t back yet. I was told they take 3-7 days. So I waited another 7 days (May to call for the results—I wasn’t worried. OK, well maybe a little bit. Results still not it. The vet assistant said she would call for the results that day. Two hours later, the vet called and left a message. Bad sign when the vet calls. I called him right back. I knew right away that a mast cell tumor — Grade III was very bad. Too shocked to ask any questions, I spoke to the vet only very briefly. I then called him back a couple hours later and he advised me to contact an oncologist right away. I contacted the holistic vet that we have used and her rehab vet and both recommended the same person that my vet had recommended.
So I tried to reach the recommended specialist but his oncology staff is already on vacation for the Memorial Day weekend (this is Thursday afternoon). So I filled in an online request for an appointment. I don’t want to wait until after the weekend, so I called the general receptionist on Friday—fortunately someone had read the online request and had told the general scheduling staff to go ahead and make an appointment for me. But the recommended oncologist was on vacation until June 16th. But I could start tests on June 7th. So I make the appointment.
In July 2009, she underwent surgery for a herniated disk in her spine—just above her tail. She recovered completely and underwent rehab for many months before we resumed competing in agility trials. She was faster and did even better in agility after the surgery—partially due to losing weight after switching to a raw diet.
I had hoped, no, expected her to live to a ripe old age of at least 18—that’s how long my family’s dogs tend to live. I never expected this.
I don’t even remember when I first noticed a growth on her neck. I honestly can’t remember. But when I saw it get bigger, I took her to the vet and he said he didn’t think it was anything to worry about but he did want to remove it and send it in for a biopsy. He said it didn’t seem quite like a sebaceous cyst.
That was the middle of April. We had some agility trials scheduled for April and May, so I said how about in June and the vet said “Don’t wait that long.” So I scheduled it for May 16th. There was an agility trial on May 14-15th that I really wanted to attend—the judge used to run one of the top 2 beagles in agility. I wanted her to see Abigail run.
A week before the biopsy, the growth began to ooze and bleed—I don’t know if it was because Abigail had scratched it or it had begun to abscess. Concerned, I asked the vet if we should move up the surgery but he said no. So Monday, May 16 she went in for a dental cleaning, removal of three lipomas on her chest (which had been aspirated previously and found to be non-cancerous), and removal of the growth on her neck.
She came through the surgery with flying colors. I picked her up at 5:30 pm—the vet tech brought her to me and besides looking a big googley-eyed from the anesthesia, she looked and acted great. In fact, as the vet tech was giving me instructions to soften her kibble with broth (she didn’t know Abigail was on a raw diet) because her teeth and gums were likely to be sore from the cleaning, I looked around for Abigail (she didn’t have a leash or collar on because of the surgery), and heard her back in the storeroom whereupon I rushed back there and found her eating kitty kibble from a bag she had ripped open. Whatever discomfort she felt in her teeth and gums didn’t stop her from pursuing the beagle’s never-ending quest for food. Beagles, as you may know, are very food-focused.
Abigail recovered very quickly from the surgery and seemed back to normal almost immediately. I called for the biopsy results after 3 days—they had told me that results would be in after 3-5 days. But they weren’t back yet. I was told they take 3-7 days. So I waited another 7 days (May to call for the results—I wasn’t worried. OK, well maybe a little bit. Results still not it. The vet assistant said she would call for the results that day. Two hours later, the vet called and left a message. Bad sign when the vet calls. I called him right back. I knew right away that a mast cell tumor — Grade III was very bad. Too shocked to ask any questions, I spoke to the vet only very briefly. I then called him back a couple hours later and he advised me to contact an oncologist right away. I contacted the holistic vet that we have used and her rehab vet and both recommended the same person that my vet had recommended.
So I tried to reach the recommended specialist but his oncology staff is already on vacation for the Memorial Day weekend (this is Thursday afternoon). So I filled in an online request for an appointment. I don’t want to wait until after the weekend, so I called the general receptionist on Friday—fortunately someone had read the online request and had told the general scheduling staff to go ahead and make an appointment for me. But the recommended oncologist was on vacation until June 16th. But I could start tests on June 7th. So I make the appointment.
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