Anybody know about Lymphosarcoma?

[Bblayla]

We just got devastating news that our 5 year old female,Trudie , has Lymphosarcoma. What the vet is telling us is her lymph glands in her intestine area are enlarged. We initially brought her to the vet because she had vomited and seemed a bit off on Christmas day of all days. We had had a family gathering on Chrismas eve so we thought maybe somebody gave her some cheese or such... she had had a pancreatic attact 18 months earlier and since then we have had her on a very lowfat diet-Timberwolf (12% fat). We also noticed that a tennis ball toy was missing -so we thought maybe she had swallowed it. She only vomited twice over a 3 days , but seemed unconfortable and her belly was tender--she sort of arched her back. Monday morning we took her to the vet where they also notice abdominal pain and they called for x-ray. The x-ray showed no toy or ball but there was a loss of detail throughout the abdomen. That was a big concern-so they wanted to do a ultrasound-which was done and also some needle biopsies of the enlarged nodes that they saw on the ultrasound. The test came back as Lymphosarcoma. Needless to say we are shocked and devastated. We have her home now and she is so thin. The vet has her on a very mild canned prescription diet so the pancreas can heal. I haven't mentioned also that her littermate/brother is beside himself with worry. The night she was at the vets he just walked from room to room looking for her..he even had an accident. They have never been apart in their lives....so sad.
The vet said that we could do chemo-but she recommended that we talk directly to a oncologist We are not sure if this makes any sense--it would probably prolong her life a year...2 at the most. We want ther to have the best quality of life..if chemo and meds are going to make her miserable then what is the point. I would appreciate any comments or imput--if anyone has been down this road before. We have had a female boxer before that died at 10 due to a tumor--but our baby is so young at 5......

WE are looking for answers..

Belinda

 

[Austin's Mom]

I'm so sorry to hear of your baby's diagnosis. You can do a search of the forums and find a lot of info on lymphosarcoma. Consulting with an oncologist would be a really good thing to do, this way you can find out all of your options and do what you think is best for Trudie. When my Austin was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma I didn't want to see an oncologist either, but I'm so glad I did. I didn't do chemo, but we used prednisone for four months and that put him in remission. I still lost him, but not from that form of cancer but another.
Good luck, I'll keep Trudie in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Jerseyjaime]

Belinda-

I'm so sorry to hear about the diagnosis- our Homer was just diagnosed with Insulinoma, which is a from of pancriatic cancer.

We went to the surgeon and the oncologist for a joint meeting- we opted not to due hard medications, keep him on Pred, and follow a consistant diet. I don't know if what we did will help you- I know it comforted me to hear what others had decided.

I completely understand the shock- he is only 4 1/2 with, what doctors say, a short life span.

I don't know anything about the illness your baby has but my advice is follow your heart- you know your dog. Consult an expert, weigh the options, and do whats best for her.

My thoughts and prays are with her =)

Jaime and Homer

 

[boxmom]

I am so sorry you got this news. My first boxer was diagnosed w/lymphoma at about the same age as your Trudie. My initial reaction to doing chemo was a horrified "no-way". After talking to the oncologist, and doing some research I felt a lot better about it for our situation. My Bailey had a very aggressive form of lymphoma which we treated with chemo. She fought the cancer for about 14 months before her liver began to fail. I never felt like the chemo was hurting her--she never got sick or lost her hair. I know it was the cause of her liver to fail, but I know she had a wonderful 14 months of life up until that point.
If and when you talk to an oncologist they will be able to give you some specifics on how successful chemo may be for your situation, and what options you have. I wish you the best in deciding what is right for Trudie. Many prayers and cancer fighting vibes coming her way.

 

[sasmeow]

My sisters lab has cancer of her anal glands (I forget what it's called), and she had chemo. She is 9 years old, and would come home after chemo treatments like nothing happened, jumping around and being her goofy self. She never had one sick day. Her cancer has already returned, but she has never acted sick from any meds. My sister has opted not to do chemo again, not because it hurt her, but the cancer came back so soon. One time during treatment her white blood cell count was too low to get another round, but they waited a week and it was okay then. That's the only side effect she had. But she still didn't show any signs when her wbc count was low.
I think chemo in dogs is a lot different than that of humans. Dogs I think, for the most part, don't have all the horrible side-effects that humans get from chemo. I am sure there are the dogs that do get very sick from chemo and have bad effects too. Our vet told us this, and it seems to be true, at least with my sisters lab Sydney, that there aren't a lot of effects in dogs like humans. Sydney is my only experience with chemo though.
I would talk to the oncologist and see what they can do. I will keep your baby in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Buddy's Mama]

We lost our 5 year old, Buddy, to gastrointestinal lymphoma in September. My only real regret was not going to the oncologist sooner. Buddy's lymphoma was very aggressive and I felt like we wasted weeks with the regular vet when the oncologist could have done so much more to help him. And, through research and experience, I found out that chemo doesn't affect dogs the way it does humans. They don't get sick. They don't loose their hair. And the sooner you do it, the better. When you wait, the treatments just get more expensive and the disease harder to treat. In hindsight, we only had 60 days of very poor health with Buddy once he was diagnosed . . . I would have gladly given him a year of quality life if I could have . . . but I didn't have that choice.

Oh . . . all our prayers. Hang in there. Our hearts go out to you.

 

[Bblayla]

UPdate

Update:

First I want to thank EVERYONE who has posted a comment and all that have read our post--this forum has been such a wonderful resource for us. Unfortunately we had Trudie put to sleep yesterday morning---it was time. She was becoming weaker and weaker everyday and she didn't want to play or chew a bone or even look for squirrels. Her interest in food and "pill pockets" were becoming difficult-even tho she was on a prednazone, which should make her ravenous. We had decided in early January not to go through the Chemo therapy--- we feel now that we made the right decision. Obviously the cancer was very aggressive. We are amazed at how rapidly the tumors spread and the lympnodes became so enlarged. You could visibly see and feel them--throughout her body. She also lost so much weight--all muscle, all in a 3 to 4 week period. We can't imagine that chemo would have made much of a difference. She seemed to go down so quickly.

We can't stop crying--it is so sad. We also have her littermate/ brother named Dudley. He knew she wasn't herself --but would try to play with her. The last few days,however, she would give him a look--he knew she wasn't feeling right. So when we knew it was time, and it was obvious, we put the leash and collar on and ,of course Dudley wanted to go. Our vet is right around the corner and had her put to sleep. We were home within 30 minutes--we came in the door, knowing that Dudley would be expecting Trudie to kiss and lick his face as they always would greet each other. We had the empty leash and collar in our hand and just sat on the floor and hugged him. Dudley smelled and then licked the collar and then our faces as we were crying our eyes out--we were in a group hug. This went on for about 5 minutes of us crying and hugging and Dudley looking in our eyes and lightly kissing us....he knew. He then buried his head. Yesterday he was noticeably depressed. We took him on a walk and he did eat- but we all were so upset.
Today we took him with us to the dog food store--just to get him out of the house. We bought this great nylon/bone that you can put a flavor/disk on--he loved it.
We are considering getting another dog in a few months. Dudley and Trudier were a team--I am crying when I say this--they were always together and played together. It is just so sad.

Belinda

 

[boxmom]

I am so sorry you had to say goodbye to Trudie. I am sure you made the right decision. Poor Dudley. Keep on spoiling him during this difficult time. Trudie is in a better place now, healthy and cancer free, running and playing again with so many other fur babies. She will wait patiently till she sees you all again. Run free Trudie! Many prayers for your family. Godspeed.