Lymphoma

[Anna E.]

My husband and I got the most heartbreaking news today. Our beloved Jake has lymphoma. He is 9/12 years old. He's been our white Boxer since he was 7 weeks. His mother had already had two previous litters and she always had a white puppy.

All Boxers carry that one gene the came about in the 18th century, when white Boxers were popular. Then, somewhere down the road, these dumb breeders realized there were alot of health problems with a pure white Boxer. It exists today, but any white, short haired dog or cat for that matter is prone to deafness, tons of shedding, and with Boxers, cancer.

White Boxers are Boxers, they are loyal, great with kids, always protective, curious, never afraid. Maybe not the prettiest face, but they are there for you. Be it fawn, brindle , red (yes we have a gorgeous red with a black mask).

I beseech any white Boxer to help us with Jake. We have three choices: let him be, put him on Prednisone, or go full blast with the chemo. The latter has no guarantee.

I put down my Springer Spaniel of 15 years, just over a year ago. It was the hardest episode in my life. Anna E.:(

 

[Kathryn Saxon]

Anna, I'm so sorry to hear about this diagnosis. I do want to reassure you that the cancer has absolutely NOTHING to do with his being white. Aside from increased possibility of deafness and sunburn, there is no evidence of any other health risks associated with white boxers (note - it's not really a color but a marking pattern. Jake is a fawn or brindle dog genetically -- just a super flashy one! If he has any spots or patches you may be able to detect which "color" he actually is) I've known of several colored boxers (as young as 4 years old) who also were diagnosed with lymphoma.

Diet has been shown to have an effect on lymphoma -- here's some info that may help your vet help you out with the so-called "cancer diet." Apparently it's available through Science Diet, but there may be homemade recipes too if you'd prefer.

http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/cancer_QA.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10760770&dopt=Abstract

 

[Butterflygirl]

BOOOOOO:(

I am sooo sorry..I dread that day if it ever comes for Tomi..I can only suggest maybe the Chemotherapy..I would do whatever it took to try to save him, but at the same time..keeping him away from pain as much as possible and just let him have the BEST life possible until..
I don't know what else to say but good luck..

-Katrina-

 

[boxers4life2001]

Anna, I'm really sorry to hear about Jake. He is in my prayers. I just wanted to let you my experiance I had with my dog Candy. She was not a boxer but a mixed breed (med size)
She was diagnosed with lymphoma when she was about 15 years old. It was a very difficult choice to make since she was so old but otherwise in good shape for her age (her mom lived to be 19 yrs old and was about 60-70 pounds) I decided to go ahead with chemo and was happy I did. I got to spend another 1 1/2 years with her that I know I would not have had if I didn't do the chemo. She would not have lasted another week if we didn't do the chemo because her lymphnodes were getting so big they were starting to effect her breathing. We did the full blast chemo treatment with her. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy. It was a roller coaster ride for us. She did get sick with some of the treatments but not all. Sometimes she didn't want to eat and I had to force her. But all said and done I would do it again in a heartbeat. She still had a very good quality of life. I made a promise in the begining that if it was to hard on her or she was suffering than I would stop and just do the prednisone or steroid injections every 3 weeks. But she tolerated the full blast chemo pretty good. God forbid if I ever have to make that choice again I would do it, give it our best shot and take it from there. I'm so sorry you have to go though this, it is very difficult. You have alot of people praying and pulling for you and Jake. If you have any ?'s please feel free to ask. Please keep us posted on what you decide and let us know how Jakes doing.

 

[Rena's Mom]

Anna, I am going thru the same thing with my 8 year old female right now. She was diaginosed about 4 weeks ago with stage 5 lymphoma. I was devastated. I wanted to do everything and anything I could to make her better. I can't stand the thought of losing her. She my child since I have no children. She's my everything...

When she was first diaginosed, I didn't care what had to be done, I just wanted to do all I could to keep her with us. She had to be hospitalized for three days, she hadn't been eating and was going into renal failure. We had to leave her 150 miles from home. When we left her, chemo was what I wanted to do. I cried for those three days and I thought alot also. Chemo would give her 6 - 8 months and without it they gave her 30-90 days. So they gave her the first treatment. I had 3 days to think about this. Was I doing this for her or was I doing it for me? I realized (my own opinion) it was selfish to put her thru all that just for a few extra months. So we decided against continuing with the chemo. I got some good advise from others to enjoy the rest of the days and take them one by one.

But one of the best pieces of advice I think I got was to feed her the best dog food possble. I seriously thought about putting her on the BARF diet (raw food) but couldn't bring myself to it. So I researched some all natural, no perservative foods on the internet. In case you didn't know the carbs in regular food feed the cancer and dogs don't need carbs for energy. Not to promote them but I ordered Flint River Ranch. First of all, she absolutely loves it and has put back on the 13 pounds she lost (she is also on prednisone).

I don't if it the food or not, (or maybe the one treatment) but she's almost back to herself. She's not doing her hot laps around the house, but she's active and lively, she sleeps almost all night, chases the chipys again and barks at the UPS man. Her lymph nodes in her chest and under her stomach are undetectable by feel. Her quality of life is great... I haven't regretted the decision to stop the treatment yet. But you have to do remember, you have to do what's you think is right for the dog... I like to think I have...

Sorry for the long post and I wish you luck with whatever you decide to do... My thought and prayers are with you...

Joan
Proud mom of Rena a beautiful brindle girl... My everything...

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Originally posted by Anna E.
I beseech any white Boxer to help us with Jake. We have three choices: let him be, put him on Prednisone, or go full blast with the chemo. The latter has no guarantee.

I am not the owner of a White Boxer but still hope my well wishes will be accepted.

As Kathryn said, a White Boxer has no more and no less risk to Cancer over a colored Boxer. Cancer is the #1 cause of death in Boxers with Heart taking a quick second.

But that is neither here nor there. Please accept my wishes for quality of life and quality of care for Jake. He is your baby boy and you will make the right decision.

 

[rc]

Anna, i know this is a rough time I just got a white boxer rescue and she will be having surgery for 3 tumors -- I hope and pray for you and Jake-- all boxers have the geno for cancer-- new studies and research is being done -- but it seems that some people think of their pets as such as we think of them as real family members -- keep your chin up and positive thoughts -- the road ahead may seem rough -- but the destination is love

 

[bolsen]

LYMPHOMA, CHEMO TREATMENTS

ANNA, MY WIFE AND I WENT THROUGH THE SAME ORDEAL
ABOUT 1 YEAR AGO, WITH OUR 1ST, BOXER KAYLA(BRINDEL
NATL. EARS) WHEN 1ST DIAGNOSED I FELT 2 LARGE BALLS
ON THE BOTTOM OF HER NECK, CHIN AREA. DOCTOR RAN TEST
AND CAME BACK AND SAID THE SAME THING AS YOUR DOCTOR
IF WE DID NOTHING, MAYBE 30- 60 DAYS. CHEMO MIGHT HELP
BUT THERE WAS NO GUARANTEE. WELL WE WHEN WITH THE CHEMO, IT WAS 10 WEEKS ONCE A WEEK, BUT AFTER THE 1ST TREATMENT 2 DAYS LATER THE BALLS IN HER NECK WHERE GONE.
AFTER ALL THE TREATMENTS, THE SPECIAL CANCER DOCTOR SAID WE SHOULD KEEP UP EVERY OTHER WEEK W/ BOOSTER. SHOTS
WE DID NOT FOLLOW THROUGH W/ THESE TREATMENTS.
WE HAD ALREADY LAID OUT ABOUT $3,000.00. AFTER THE LAST REGULAR CHEMO TREATMENT THE BALLS CAME BACK ABOUT
6 MONTHS LATER. WE DECIDED TO NOT DO IT AGAIN, BECAUSE
SHE WAS NOT LEADING A NORMAL LIFE WHEN GOING THROUGH
THOSE 10 WKS. OF CHEMO. SHE LASTED ABOUT 1 MONTH AND I HAD TO PUT HER DOWN. (THE HARDIST THING I EVER HAD TO DO)
SO I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, THE CHEMO WORKS ONLY IF YOU KEEP IT UP, IT WILL BE A ONGOING ORDEAL AND IT WILL NEVER GO AWAY I GUESS IT ALL MATERS HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO SPEND? I TRULY AM SO SORRY FOR YOU. BILL O. KAYLAS DAD

 

[King_Author]

Hello all.

My wife and I are currently going the same thing. Our 6 1/2 old boxer, "Sasha" was diagnosed with Lymphoma last week and it blew us away. I was taking her in for what I thought was a UTI and they found a tumor in her intestine the size of a soft ball. During surgery they found 5 more smaller tumors.

We bought Sasha when we first got married and treated her like our baby. We know have 2 1/2 yr old twins but always refer to Sasha as our first born.

We have just begun Chemo and prednisone and she is already doing better. However, I really don't know if it is the treatment or just the fact that she is recovering from her surgery she had about a week ago. In addition, I am going to look into using the cancer diet.

In any case, this is my first post. I have just found this site while trying to find more info on lymphoma and Boxers. I would like to see more discussion on it. Is there any way to help minimize the chance of getting a Boxer prone to Cancer. Is it in their bloodline and will investigating the deaths of family members help?

What is the most common death of Boxers? I would be interested to hear from some of you who have had Boxers that have passed and find out how they died.

For those of you who have dogs with Cancer, I also found this link to be a little informative and it is always nice to hear from other cases:

I have tried to attach a picture of Sasha. She is fawn and white with black mask.

I noticed that some people have pictures by their name .... how do they get that there?

Good luck with Jake.

 

[BXR MOM]

Dear Anna:

Like several others, I too have recently walked in your shoes. My 8 1/2 year old was diagnosed with Lymphoma on September 6, 2002. She had absolutly no outward symptoms, except she had started coughing about two weeks before and about one week before her diagnosis she had stopped eating. She had a mass in her chest and several areas in her abdomen. When I found out that it was more involved than in her chest, I was going to let her go. However, she was in such good sprits that I couldn't and wasn't ready to let her go. We decided to go ahead and do chemotherapy. She initially responded very well to the chemo with no side effects and had began to eat again. However, within one week she had again stopped eating and began vomitting. Repeat x-rays showed that the mass in her chest had not decreased at it should have with the chemo. Because she was so weak (she had lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks) and her oncologist did not believe that she was going to be one of the 85% that chemo helps, we made the very painful decision to let her go to the bridge on September 16, 2002.

I don't think anyone can tell you what you should do. You will know in your heart. Here are some things to think about though.

1. I did not like Lexus' reaction to the prednisone. Because of the excessive need to drink, she had several accidents in the house at night - which I know she felt upset about.

2. Altough I would have spent it all again for Lexus, we did end up spending about $4,000 for the treatment and hospitialization associated with her diagnosis and treatment. That did not even include the remaining 7 treatments she would have gotten.

3. Chemo is not a cure. On the average you can get an additional 9-12 months. Although most dogs do not have side effects from the chemo, you may have a few days with each session where Jake isn't himself.

No matter what decision you make, Jake will let you know when it is time to go. I knew on the 6th, that it wasn't Lexus' time. She was giving Boxer kisses and doing the Kidney bean dance. However, on the 16th, when she was too weak to hardly stand I knew that I could not, even if it was to make me feel better, let her continue to suffer.

Best of luck to you and Jake. Please feel free to email me.

P.S. I also have a white!! They are the cutest!