The Diagnosis. Thursday, October 14, 2004

Thank goodness for routine, yearly physicals.  They truly can save a life.

That was when my dog’s vet, Dr. Bianca Zaffarano at Pennyroyal in Lexington found swollen lymph nodes underneath George’s chin and behind his hind legs.  He also had two small growths on his body, one on his ribs and one on his back.
Dr. Z as she is known by all her patient’s “parents” did a needle aspirate to send off to the lab, but told me right there she feared this could be cancer.

I went to work, but I was a wreck all day worrying about the results. When I went home for lunch there was a message on my machine saying early indications are cancer. 

I cried a lot that night.  I couldn’t imagine why this was happening to my dog.  George is truly one of those “once in a lifetime” dogs. Everyone who meets him falls in love with him. He has personality plus!  He didn’t deserve this.  Not to mention he is what I call a “purebred mutt”!  An adorable mixture of golden retriever-terrier! (we think!) I thought being a mixed breed made him less susceptible to some of the illnesses that are inherent in some purebred dogs.

I went to work the next morning, again a wreck.  Having the last 24 hours to let it all set in was hard.  I was struggling with what lesson I was supposed to learn from this.  Also realizing that may not become apparent any time soon.
I spent the weekend at home, with George.

Monday, October 18, 2004

What I already knew was confirmed by the lab report. George was diagnosed with cancer. Lymphoma. I was immobilized. I know it is hard for people who have never had the special bond you can have with an animal to possibly understand what I was feeling.

The good news if there is such a thing with a cancer diagnosis is of all of the cancers I was told Lymphoma is a “good cancer” IF it is caught early which it appeared George’s was.  There is a high success rate in treatment.
Dr. Z thought it would be best for me to take George to an internal medicine specialist.  I didn’t even know there was such a thing for animals.

When I told my friends George had cancer, several of them expressed their sadness for me but said it was time to “put him down.” This was not an option for me. He was only five and a half years old.  Still young. Plus to see him, how happy and how healthy he appeared to be even though there was cancer in him spreading.. this was not a dog who was ready to go.

One other friend told me she thought I was getting bad advice since I was referred to a veterinary oncologist out of town. She said she told her local vet about the diagnosis and that he had recently attended some “continuing education” classes on cancer and would be happy to administer the chemo in town and save me the three hour round trip.  While I know the intention to help was genuine the theory struck me.  How on earth is it bad advice to be sent to the expert, the person who knows the most about cancer treatment and has the most experience?  When people get sick we seek out the specialist, why would it be any different with your pet’s medical care?

The Treatment. October 22, 2004

In the five days between George’s diagnosis and his first chemotherapy appointment, his lymph nodes swelled from the size of dimes to the size of large walnuts.  Proof that time was of the essence.  Our first visit to Dr. Joe Bruner at the Greater Cincinnati Veterinary Specialist in Wilder, KY was a good one.  There was no pressure to get chemotherapy. Instead he spent a lot of time talking to me about my options and left the decision up to me.  I had already made up my mind before going there, George was getting treatment.  Without treatment he only had a few months to live.

His first dose of chemo lasted about 25 minutes.  When he was brought back up to the lobby to see me, he was bouncing, wagging his tail as if to say “no sweat!” I thought he would instantly get in the car and take a nap for the hour plus ride home. He didn’t. It wasn’t until halfway through the ride that he finally rested.  That night at home, he was playing and going through his usual routine.

His appointment was at 4 p.m. Friday.  By 11 a.m. the next morning, his lymph nodes were back to normal.  You could not feel any swelling. This was amazing to me.

I learned quickly that the concept of treating cancer in pets was not only new to me, but to a lot of people.  I had to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy that night for prednisone.  When the girl at the pharmacy realized I was dropping off a prescription for a dog she looked puzzled, told me she wasn’t sure they could fill it and turned to the pharmacist.  He saw it was a common drug used for people and said no problem.

In the beginning I had to take George to Northern Kentucky once a week for treatment.  But that did not last forever.  As his success continued we were able to space the appointments out. Every other week for a few months. Every three weeks and so on. By 2007 George was only getting chemo every five weeks and the trips to N. KY were infrequent as some of his treatments were prescription drugs and whenever he was due for Vincristine, he got that in Lexington at Dr. Z’s office.

Side Effects.

When most of us think of chemotherapy we think of the terrible side effects our friends and family have suffered through.  This is not the case with pets.  They do not receive the potent dose of chemo that people receive.  So side effects are minimal.  When George first started his treatment he lost some hair.  The only spot that was bald for a while was his tummy where there wasn’t much hair to begin with.  But the rest of the hair on his body just thinned out.  If you had never known he had longer “scruffy terrier like” hair before, with what I call the signature beard and bushy eyebrows you would not know he had lost hair.  You would just think he was a short haired dog.  His oncologist told me short haired dogs typically do not lose hair; longer haired dogs like George will have some hair loss.

The shedding typically only happened after he received what I call the “heavy duty drugs” in N. KY.  The Vincristine he received in Lexington never caused his hair to thin.  And as the treatments were spread out the hair loss stopped and three years into his therapy, his hair is all back, beard and all!
One other small side affect he would get from some of the drugs was a soft stool for one or two days after a treatment.  Other than that, nothing else to speak of!

The Drugs.

I don’t know anything about chemotherapy drugs. But I have had people ask me what drugs George has been receiving.  Many of them, perhaps all (I do not know) are the same drugs people get.  So here is a list:
Vincristine, Adriamycin, Leukeran, Methotrexate, Cytoxan, Prednisone, Cyclophosphamide, Lomustine

The Cost.

The cost of the care has been expensive.  Each visit varies depending on what drug is used.  I have paid anywhere from $75 a visit up to $250.  The first year was the toughest financially simply because of the frequency of the treatment.  By the end of the first year I had more than $2,000 invested in George’s chemotherapy.  I could not have made it, especially in those first couple of months, without the generosity of friends and co-workers.  It sure proved the theory that sometimes when you just trust everything will work out, it will.  Unexpected donations here and there added up!  I am forever grateful to those people who supported George’s cause!

Celebrating Survival.. And then a setback. June, 2007.

George has been so lucky. His chemotherapy treatment has been such a positive experience that I have almost taken it for granted that he has beaten cancer.  After all in October, ‘07 we will be celebrating three years of survival.  He has been happy, spunky and spirited through this whole experience. 

This June when he was in for his regularly scheduled chemo in Lexington, Dr. Jennifer Walker at Pennyroyal came into the lobby to say bye to George after his treatment. She was petting him and felt a lump.  She said it didn’t feel right and took him back to aspirate it.  After looking at the sample underneath the microscope she was concerned and sent it off to the lab.

Her suspicion was right.  George’s cancer was back.  This time it was a mast cell tumor.  I was devastated.  Even though intellectually in the back of my mind I knew the cancer could come back, I just never thought it would in his case after this much time.  I was a mess for a couple days.  George on the other hand… Not a care in the world.  I finally decided if he was not going to “worry” about this neither would I! He had surgery to remove the tumor and thankfully they got all of the cancer out.

That’s the good news. The bad news is he is now fighting not one, but two cancers. We have had to change he course of treatment as there is a higher probability of another mast cell tumor returning within a year.  He is getting chemo every three weeks now, but that will eventually be spread out.

The Future. September ‘07.

I am looking forward to celebrating George’s three year anniversary of survival.  I am cautiously optimistic his success will continue.  However knowing he is fighting two cancers has made me more grounded about the long-term prognosis.  In the meantime, I don’t take one day for granted with him and enjoy the time I have left with him, however long that will be.

Join the Discussion.

When I was growing up I never heard of pets getting cancer.  In the last three years since my dog was diagnosed I have known more than half a dozen people whose pets have been diagnosed with cancer.  It is a troubling trend, but one thankfully that has options for quality care.

In the future I will provide updates.  I invite you to share your experiences on this blog if your pet has been diagnosed with any illness. Or if you have questions.  Of course I am not a medical expert, all I can offer is the experience I have had with my dog.  I hope this can be a forum for all pet lovers to enjoy as well as a support network.  I also invite discussion on anything else pet related.

Thank you for visiting my “dog blog”!

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