I need "please not malignant cancer" vibes for Spike!

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by LDG

So does this mean you're looking at surgery tomorrow?

Yes - surgery is in the morning. I'm about to pull up all the food and water bowls and close the toilet lids (he drinks out of them).

Spike and DH are snuggled together on the love seat right now. DH will sleep with him there tonight, then he takes him in at 7AM. The vet said that he won't be ready to pick up until after 3PM tomorrow. I have strict instructions to call me the minute he is out of surgery.

I'll try to sleep tonight, but it's not going to be easy.

 

[carolpetunia]

I'll be thinking of Spike tomorrow and hoping for good news.

 

[rapunzel47]

Amy

Lotsa for Spike.

 

[shorty14788]

Prayers and vibes for spike!

 

[momofmany]

DH just called a few minutes ago after he dropped off Spike. He said he did his best to keep things up beat for the ride to the vets, but he cried once he walked outside. For the last 45 minutes, Sam has been running from window to door to window then from room to room crying and looking for his brother. I've heard of separation anxiety in dogs but that usually involves a dog and their owner, not a dog to another dog.

I was going to go out shopping today to take my mind off of all of this but I think I'll just stay home to comfort Sam.

And as I laid in bed last night thinking of all the things that could come out of this, I realized that if it comes to it, Spike will not be able to lose his leg. He's 90 pounds with hip dysplasia and losing a back leg would shift his weight on the other back leg, which has problems already today.

I'm an optimist but am expecting the worst. The mass grew quite a bit from Monday. Our vet is a good surgeon (she did Stumpy's full extractions) so she'll do all that she can.

I'm going to be climbing the walls today. But I must remain calm.........

My mother always told me that when the going gets tough, the tough do laundry. I see a squeaky clean house in my future today!

 

[pami]

Oh Amy .... I will be thinking of you all today and saying a prayer for Spike. Poor Sam he loves his brother. Calming vibes for you all

 

[xocats]

I am joining with Pat in the "be benign" dance for Spike.

 

[momofmany]

And the tumor looked malignant to the vet. I trust her judgement - she is an excellent surgeon. I didn't talk to her directly, only through a vet tech. I don't know how much of his foot she had to remove, nor any follow up treatments at this time. With the holidays, they don't expect the results to come back until later next week. Usually it's 3-4 days, but will probably be a week this time. I'm meeting DH up at the clinic at 4PM to talk to the vet about his prognosis and to take him home. He was just waking up when I called them a little after noon and needs some time to come around.

My DH came home for lunch just as I was hanging up from the vet. He took Sam for a walk and all he did was to run around the yard looking for his brother. He spent the entire morning running around the house and panting out of anxiety. DH's comment about this? We need to look for another dog immediately and in earnest for Sam's sake. I reminded him that if Spike is having a bad time, now's not the time to adopt another dog.

So if Spike has a fairly good prognosis, we'll be out looking for a third dog very soon. We won't put him through that if his prognosis is bad. We're pragmatic folks. I'll cry my heart out over Spike, and will miss him forever, but life goes on for Sam and we have to look out for his welfare also. We just think it's totally strange that both of us started talking about adopting a third dog last month, and our reason was that Sam would outlive Spike and Sam needed a constant companion. This was probably about the same time that the cancer started in Spike. Is our intuition that strong or just coincidence?

I'll let you know what the vet says this afternoon. I'm off for a good cry.....

 

[pami]

Oh Amy

 

[pat]

Amy, sending hugs.

 

[ldg]

Oh Amy, I am so, so, so sorry. I am glad Spike's coming home this evening.

I'm also so sorry you're going to have to wait so long for an answer to whether or not it's malignant. But I trust your intuition - you two are sooooo in tune with your animals.

I am, nevertheless, sending out loads of vibes that it isn't malignant, and that the prognosis is good!

Also - whether or not it's malignant, if he needs to lose the leg and the outlook would be good if there were some way to change the weight placement - is there any way to look into a custom prosthetic? I know you two go to the end of the world for your babies, and I'm just wondering if that's something to look into.... ??????????

Laurie

 

[lnbandcats]

Awwww, sending you hugs and prayers - and I hope that when do get news about the tumor, that it will be benign!

 

[crazyforinfo]

I am so sorry to hear about Spike. I am hoping the test results come back benign.

 

[littleraven7726]

sending vibes that the prognosis is good.

 

[momofmany]

Her best medical diagnosis at this time is that it is either fibrosarcoma or neurosarcoma. She found 2 tumors in the webbing between his toes. She removed all she could, but was limited by the amount of tissue in that area. Usually they will remove 1/8 - 1/4 inch of tissue surrounding the tumor, but there just wasn't enough tissue in that location to remove. She said that once this heals, we won't even know that he had surgery there. He is actually walking on it fairly well in spite of the large bandage on his leg.

Both types of sarcomas are slow to metastasize. If it is fibrosarcoma, he will need radiation treatment. If neurosarcoma, he will need chemo therapy. In both cases the prognosis is good. If they get it through additional treatment, and it doesn't reoccur, he could live a normal life span. The odds are still on his side right now. Our vet doesn't do either treatment and would refer us. We either have a 2 hour drive to the university or a 30 minute drive to a specialist in town (provided they do this).

If the additional treatment doesn't get it, we talked about amputation. She would have to get current xrays of his hips to see if they could take the load. And I just heard about a prosthetics company in Denver who makes prosthesis for pets. We would possibly pursue this as long as he retains a good quality of life.

Right now he and Sam are sleeping at my feet, in complete bliss to be together again. They will get their favorite all time meal for dinner: boiled chicken and rice. Spike needs something bland for the next 24 hours.

And I'm going to crack open a big bottle of wine and pass out early tonight. I've had a tension headache all day long.

 

[ldg]

Amy, I'd have to say this sounds really encouraging! Not what we all wanted - but better than a lot of options.

I am SO glad Spike and Sam are back together again.

Share some of that wine with DH - he deserves to pass out too!

Laurie

 

[rapunzel47]

Originally Posted by LDG

Amy, I'd have to say this sounds really encouraging! Not what we all wanted - but better than a lot of options.

I am SO glad Spike and Sam are back together again.

Share some of that wine with DH - he deserves to pass out too!

Laurie

Couldn't have said it better.

and tons of for all of you.

 

[momofmany]

Originally Posted by LDG

Amy, I'd have to say this sounds really encouraging! Not what we all wanted - but better than a lot of options.

I agree. I was expecting a lot worse, so when I heard the words "he could live a normal life span", I was greatly encouraged. We just have to kill off all the cancer in him and hope that he isn't prone to it.

And btw.....they just had their boiled chicken and rice dinner and OMG are they sitting here smiling at me.

 

[babyharley]

Continued prayers are being sent your way

 

[pami]

Awwww Amy they sound so adorable together

Laurie said it best, I will continue to keep him in my prayers