So, we saw the oncologist a couple weeks ago to talk about Beauty and our options. The week before the radiologist told us that the mass was likely a swollen lymph node and that it was the size of a lime (yikes!). Our regular vet anticipated that the oncologist would recommend surgery as that is the "normal" course of treatment for this type of thing. We knew that we didn't want Beauty to have to do through surgery again.
The oncologist, however, did not recommend surgery (presumably because we tried it once already). Instead she gave us two medication options. The first was IV chemotherapy. They could do a total of 5 treatments, 3 week apart. Chances of success are 50-60% with possible side effects being vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. There is also a chance of heart damage, which is more of a concern with Beauty because of her murmur and enlarged heart. The goal of the chemo would be to reduce the tumor size.
The second option was a new drug that is supposed to reduce cell growth, which could indirectly cause the tumor to shrink. There is no data on using this drug for Beauty's type of cancer (anal sac carcinoma) and not a whole lot in general. They estimate that it would have similar success rates and the traditional chemo. This would be a pill that she could take at home, but has a higher incidence of side effects. She said that it was nearly certain that Beauty would need supportive medications like anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea medications and that she would be lethargic.
The estimated benefits if either of these treatments worked is an additional 6-12 months. Without treatment, the oncologist estimates 5-9 months until Beauty will be too sick. She still is not showing any symptoms.
So...those are our choices. Beauty is 9 and seems happy and healthy. I keep vacillating between the chemo and nothing options. The pills seem out for me because of the near guaranteed side effects and the less than stellar chances of it making a difference. If she really only has 5-9 months left, I don't want to "waste" those by giving her pills to make her feel sick. That seems to apply to the chemo thing too. So...for now at least....our decision is to do nothing. We will watch and see if symptoms present themselves and deal with them at that time. For now, she is getting extra love. It breaks my heart and I am so afraid that we will make the "wrong" decision, but how do you know what is right? All I can think to do is do what I think is best for Beauty. And give her lots of kisses!
4 comments:
I often read your blog but rarely post on anyone's but I wanted to say that both of my grandparents had cancer. I dont know if there is anyone in your life that you can talk to in a similar human predicament. My grandmothers opinion boiled down to this.....if you can do something for her that would 'fix' it or make it go away for a long time i.e remission then she'd try it but if it was just going to make her miserable and prolong things she was not a fan (similar to what you were saying about beauty). We had watched my grandfather have them do everything possible for 10+ years to stay alive and in the end he was miserable and we saw him sufffer greatly. We have had to make a similar choice to yours on our older dog due to a grossly enlarged prostate he was very weak and refusing to eat and it happened very very suddenly. In the end we chose not to treat because it seemed inhumane, its not always the right choice and sometimes it feels like the wrong choice no matter what. I wish you comfort in whatever you choose to do it is a very ahrd thing.
Nicole (mom2lillian)
I think I would do nothing in this case as well. Beauty is happy, and not hurting that you can tell. It doesn't make sense to do something that would almost certainly cause her discomfort.
I don't know if you remember me blogging about Jordan's dog Cassy on CF.com, but he lost her to this same cancer. She lived with it for some time before she started to show symptoms. Once those started, and she was obviously in pain, we had to let her go.
Looking back, I feel we made the right choices there, because she would not have had any quality of life with treatment, and the chances of it working were so small. We couldn't put her through it.
My heart aches for you, because I know how hard it is to face this with a beloved animal.
I love that picture of her. She looks so sweet. (((((((hugs)))))))))
Stacey
God bless beauty and you
Love Jeanne
i would suggest a more natural approach, i read about Dr Joahana Budwig recently, she has a natural cancer cure i figure why not try it?
http://www.healingcancernaturally.com/pet-cancer-cure-testimonials.html
i wish you the best, your puppy is beautiful
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