Lymphoma here too :(

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joeys mom

joeys mom

Boxer Insane
My Joey has also just been diagnosed with lymphoma last week.

I have been reading the last several threads on lymphoma and I wanted to know as much as possible about what to expect. Joeys vet along with myself do not think chemo is a good idea for Joey due the seizures that he has had over the last 3 yrs. so right now all we are doing is prednisone. This is his second round in the 2 months. The first round was given after doing some xrays of his heart and a mass was found.... After the prednisone more xrays were taken and the mass was gone....we were so happy... then 2 weeks ago his lymph node under his jaw was enlarged so back to the vet we went and had a biopsy taken and confirmed what we feared.

Joey acts TOTALLY fine, silly, goofy, typical boxer crazyness as well as eating normally..

So I am wanting to know what others have experienced. I know that I will have to make THE decision at some point and I know that I will know when that is but just wondered with out chemo what time frame others have gone before seeing any signs of getting worse.

I did read on another thread about holistic and herbal treatments and am doing some research on those.... I am also already giving Joey vitamin e...
 
Gus's Folks

Gus's Folks

Boxer Buddy
So sorry to hear about the diagnosis. My heart goes out to you. We are going through the same thing. Our beloved Gus last week got diagnosed with Lymphoma (stage two) after we found a lump in his neck. No other lumps yet. In all likelihood we will go with the prednisone treatment, but we are going to the oncologist tomorrow to hear him out on chemo. Gus has a terribly sensitive stomach and we fear what chemo will do to his GI tract. Our vet said that once we start him on prednisone there is no switching to chemo. Prednisone will cause the dog to develop multidrug resistance, so you can't do it BEFORE chemo. However, evidently you can start them at the same time and be okay. Right now he is sleeping a lot and not eating much. Started him on an appetite stimulant yesterday, but it takes a few days to kick in. The prednisone will help too. He does well on his walks and is bright eyed when he gets up. I will let you know what I hear on treatments. Please share what you hear as well. I will ask my vet about vitimin e as well. The way I understand it prednisone acts as a immune suppressant which is how it slows down the lymph nodes from growing. If vitimin e supports the immune system, I wonder how it interacts with the prednisone.
 
Gatorblu

Gatorblu

Boxer Insane
I haven't gone through lymphoma but I just wanted to say I am so sorry that you got such awful news. I'll be saying a prayer that you get lots of time with your baby!
 
packblt

packblt

Completely Boxer Crazy
So sorry that you and Joey are going through this. Hope that he continues to feel well. Sending prayers and hugs.
 
Gus's Folks

Gus's Folks

Boxer Buddy
We noticed the lump on 5/16 and got the diagnosis on 5/23. As you may know there are different stages depending on the extent of the cancer. We thought he was 2 at first but yesterday the oncologist said he was 3. Each stage can be further broken down by a) or b) by whether or not they are showing systemic or system wide symptoms like loss of appetite, etc.


Here are some links you might find useful. I found the Wikipedia page on canine lymphoma pretty good too.

College of Veterinary Medicine

01 Lymphoma in Dogs - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!

I don't have time at the moment but in another post I'll fill you in on our visit to the oncologist yesterday.
 
joeys mom

joeys mom

Boxer Insane
Joey is doing good. Appetite is out of this world still. He might be sleeping a tad more but nothing major. 1 week ago I reduced his prednisone dose (20 mg) to every 3 days and was good but last night I noticed that a lymph node In his groin area is enlarged so I have a call into the vet to ask if I should go back To giving pred Every other day. Thanks for checking on Joey. I have been watching for updates in Gus as well.
 
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