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lymphoma

233K views 2K replies 160 participants last post by  Jmcarp83 
#1 · (Edited)
Meggie was diagnosed today with canine lymphoma. I noticed a swollen gland under her left jaw on Monday night and took her to the vet on Tuesday morning. The vet took a lab sample and the results came back intermediate stage lymphoma. My heart is broken. Megs is 9, will be 10 in April.

She will go in on Monday for surgery. Rather than starting with a biopsy, the vet wants to go ahead and take the lymp node out and anything else she might see that appears abnormal. She said we'd discuss treatments on Monday as well. I know I've read here and other places that lymphoma responds well initially to chemo/prednisone treatment and that first remissions can last a year or so, but subsequent remissions are shorter and harder to come by. I want forever with my sweet girl, I know that's ridiculous. I suppose we all do. I also know that many of you have had to face this. Any and all advice will be listened to and appreciated. My vet is very much in favor of holistic approaches along with conventional. She already told me to give her green tea.

So anyone with experience willing to share?

We just ordered our "Cure Canine Cancer" dog tag from The Morris Animal Foundation last week. I had no idea how relevant it would be for us.
 
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#2 ·
I'm so sorry you're going through this. I don't have experience with lymphoma, but wanted you to know that Meggie and your family will be in our prayers. I'm sure you'll get some info from other forum members and lots of love and support.
 
#3 ·
I'm so sorry to hear about Meggie. I lost my Gage to either lymphoma or hemangiosarcoma Sunday morning. His cancer was in his abdomen and wasn't diagnosed until it was too late. I don't have any words of wisdom to offer, other than my wishes that Meggie responds well to her treatment.
 
#7 ·
I am so sorry for you I went thur cancer with a golden I borded for a year It was hard If you ever need anyone just to talk to I will be here for you and help you in any way I can
 
#8 ·
I am so sorry about Meggies diagnosis. There is another member her "For the love of goldens" that is going thru lymphoma right now. Her dog just started chemo and radiation and is doing great so far.
Good luck and we will add a candle for Meggie.
 
#9 ·
I am so sorry to hear this. Why oh why are our golden babies prone to cancer. i l ost my 12 1/2 year old Irish Setter to bone cancer 11 years ago.

Oh thing I have read over and over is cancer can feed on the grains and if a dog is diagnosed with cancer it is best to go to a food with no grains. You might want to google it, talk to your vet, etc. Dogs with arthritis are also suppose to do bettet with n o grain in their food, so i just recently switched my 8 1/2 year old KayCee to Taste of the Wild grain free food. She has had both knees operated on as h er knee caps wouldn't stay in place. her lat surgery was 6 years aog and even tho she doesn't show signs of arthritis i am sure she has it. I am trying to get a jump on slowing it down. (Hve given her sups since her first surgery at 156 months.

Anyway, talk to your vet about going grainless. I hope you get her into remission for many years to come.
 
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#10 ·
Sorry to hear you and Meggie have a battle ahead. It sounds like you have a good vet who is open to natural medicine as well.
Positive thoughts and best wishes that Meggies treatment will see her have some quality of life. I lost our first golden boy to cancer,he had part of his bowel removed we then had another 10 months wonderful months together.It is never ever long enough, but he knew he had a second chance and I told him every day how special he was and how much I loved him!
 
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#12 ·
I am so very sorry to hear of Meggie's diagnosis. We lost our first Golden, Hailey, about 1 1/2 years ago due to Lymphoma. She had just turned 8. She suddenly became very ill one night and when we got her to the vet, she apparently was already in an advanced state of the disease.We were told that we could expect with a best case scenario, maybe a 9-12 month remission. We tried chemo and she did go into remission quickly but unfortunately, it lasted only 4 months. One reason it was so short was she was very sick when she was brought in. The vet explained that those dogs that come in seemingly well (except for swollen glands) generally have a better prognosis and longer remisson (which sounds more like Meggie than my Hailey). We had to make the heartbreaking decision not to continue treatment as a second remission might allow for only another 1-2 months and quite honestly, chemo is extremely expensive. At that point, we put her on prednisone alone and she actually looked and did great for another 6-8 weeks (far longer than expected). Once she started going down hill again and was having difficulty breathing, we had to let her go. I really feel for you and will keep you and Meggie in my thoughts and prayers and hope the treatments she undergoes will provide a good quality of life and long remission.
 
#15 ·
I too am sorry to hear about Meggie. Andy Farmer passed of the same. One solid piece of advice I can give you...since she is on borrowed time, make sure she enjoys EVERY minute of it from here on out. I can tell you obviously love her dearly so just comfort her (spoil her...whatever you want to call it) as much as possible.
 
#17 ·
So very sorry to hear about your girl. I have no advice but just wanted to say that we are keeping everything crossed for her.
 
#18 ·
Meggie and I both thank you for all the good wishes and advice. We will keep you updated. Surgery is Monday and we are thinking good thoughts... and yes, I have been spoiling... even more than usual. :)
 
#19 · (Edited)
I was talking to our school resource office yesterday at work and told him about Meggie. He owns the county drug dog, Katie, a yellow lab who is 8 years old. He said Katie was diagnosed with cancer last year about this time after he found a tumor behind her ear. He caught it early, the vet removed the tumor and felt that he got all the cancer. She gets screened every few months and for the past year, she has been cancer free. She never had to go through chemo. I hope that Meggie can be so fortunate. He was very sympathetic and wished Meggie well. However, I have been amazed, appalled, and a bit disappointed by some people's reaction. People I thought were animal lovers. Several people have railed on and on about the expense of chemo and one even told me I was cruel to even consider it. Another actually said to me -- 'she's a dog, she's going to die one day'. I don't even know how to answer people like that. I guess all I can do is feel sorry for them because they obviously don't understand the love of a dog. Maybe I should feel sorriest for their pets.
 
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#296 ·
However, I have been amazed, appalled, and a bit disappointed by some people's reaction. People I thought were animal lovers. Several people have railed on and on about the expense of chemo and one even told me I was cruel to even consider it. Another actually said to me -- 'she's a dog, she's going to die one day'. I don't even know how to answer people like that. I guess all I can do is feel sorry for them because they obviously don't understand the love of a dog. Maybe I should feel sorriest for their pets.

am sorry i only came across your post today...and am so sorry that you and meggie had to go thru this...i understand how much torture you can get from waiting but hang on and be strong for your baby....i wish her well....with regards to other people being a discouragement instead of an encouragement, just try to avoid talking to them about your baby...ive been thru that when i lost my pup last march to parvo/distemper...some people even made fun of me for spending lots of money for barney...and when my baby barney went to the bridge, some people even got the nerve to tell me to wrap him in a plastic bag and throw him in the garbage since i leave in a city and youll seldom see a vacant lot or a backyard where i can bury my pup...i wanted to bury him than cremate him and my friend had been so nice to allow me to bury my pup in his backyard...insensitive people really sucks...but i pity those people who doesnt even know and experience how much love a dog can give...i snapped back to one person and told him, if one of your children dies, would you throw him in the garbage, too?...anyway, just hang on tight...good thoughts are on your way....please keep us posted....
 
#20 ·
Hi again Meggie's Mom!

Sorry, I didn't see your thread on Meggie before. I did a lot of research on canine lymphoma when my Flirt was diagnosed in December 1999. She was just 4 years old. Unfortunately, she didn't show ANY signs of anything being wrong until it had invaded her kidneys. She then had exploratory surgery and they took wedges from her spleen, intestines, and liver. All came back with T-Cell Lymphoma. I took her home and began doing research. I found that dogs can live with Lymphoma for 3, 4 or more years after diagnosis, depending on what type (T-cell or B-cell) and when it was found in the body. I took Flirty to Univ. of Illinois for chemo treatments but her kidneys were so bad that even with the chemo she only survived until beginning of April 2000. Her lymph nodes didn't even BEGIN to swell until mid March 2000.

I also did some holistic treatments on her too. She took Essiac Tea in the morning and evening among some other things such IP6, Milk Thistle, Bromelian, Gerimanimum, Mycostat, Vit C and a few others. She absolutely HATED the Essiac Tea and I had to squirt it down her throat. I know now she was beyond any help but I just had to try! If her kidneys hadn't been affected then we would have had a chance

Hugs and prayers to you and Meggie

Jazzys Mom
 
#21 ·
Thanks Lynn. I am trying to read and learn all I can. It is scary that they can not exhibit signs until it is so far gone. I am so very sorry about your Flirty. I am hoping that we are catching Megs early, but I know that's just a hope and a prayer.

Megs is currently taking milk thistle and green tea extract. I'm trying to learn what I can about holistic supplements. I'll look up your Essiac tea. Thanks again.
 
#22 ·
Thanks Lynn. I am trying to read and learn all I can. It is scary that they can not exhibit signs until it is so far gone. I am so very sorry about your Flirty. I am hoping that we are catching Megs early, but I know that's just a hope and a prayer.

Megs is currently taking milk thistle and green tea extract. I'm trying to learn what I can about holistic supplements. I'll look up your Essiac tea. Thanks again.
Meggie will probably hate it too - it even smells funny!:p: But, it is supposed to increase the immune system. You have to give it I think about 2 hours before or after feeding - on a empty stomach

Lynn
 
#25 ·
I just saw your thread today. So sorry your Meggie was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Sounds like you may have caught it early. I know the earlier you catch it the better. My Daisy was diagnosed with lymphoma in March 07, she was 3 1/2 years old. She was really sick, vomiting, had trouble breathing and all of her lymph nodes grew huge overnight. She was already very advanced in the disease when found (she had the lymphoma in the chest) as well as everywhere else. All of her organs were already badly affected. We decided not to do chemo since it was already so advanced and she was so sick (they didn't think it would help). We put her on predinisone for her remaining time and spoiled her rotten. Unfortunately the prednisone didn't help her, we had to let her go to the bridge 3 weeks later. I know that chemo and prednisone has worked well for many dogs and gave them many more months or years. Give Meggie extra kisses and spoil her( I am sure you already are). I wish you luck and my prayers are with you and Meggie on Monday for her surgery. Please keep us posted on her.
 
#26 ·
Hi, first of all, I'm so sorry. I know exactly how you are feeling right now. It is scary stuff. We thought Sierra had lymphoma too. I found out the day on her 10th birthday and cried most all of the weekend. Later we found out she actually has malignant melanoma which we found last August (it was benign), took out a tumor and then it regrew and had it removed last month and then found out it is malignant. When I first thought it was lymphoma, all of the research did say this was one of the "better" cancer's to get, as it is one of the more treatable ones. I was hopeful as I had made some contacts with other people that had dogs that went through it, and I thought not all hope was gone. Then when I found out it was melanoma, a more aggressive cancer, I felt SAD again. Anyways, I have changed Sierra's diet and added supplements, gone to an oncologist and also will be going to a holistic vet. Sierra does not act sick and her swollen lymph node in her neck has gone down. She has had one chemo treatment (and did quiet well and no side effects). I too was afraid of what people said about it being hard on her. The doctor said that the side effects were low, 5% and that the chemo dosage is not as much as humans. Sierra has also had two radiation treatments and has done well on those too. She acts happy, rolls on her back, eats normal and plays the "paw" game with us. So if your Meggie is in the beginning stage, there is hope!! I think our appt with the holistic vet is either tomorrow or Wed, and I will share with you what we find out. I think the key for Meggie right now, is to change her diet and put her on more protein as cancer feeds on carbs!
 
#27 ·
Thanks so much, all of you. It brings tears to my eyes to read your stories, knowing that you all have been or are going through the same thing. I cannot imagine my life without Megs. I am already planning a beach trip for her next month. She loves it so and has not been for two years because I have been so consumed with my pony who has Cushings.

Daisy's story is so terribly sad. Patty, you had such a short time with her, though we all know that all the time in the world is never enough.

Thank you, thank you, to those willing to share their knowledge and suggestions. Any suggestions on diet are more than welcome. I have recently put Meggie on Wellness Senior because she was having high liver numbers last summer in her bloodwork and the vet wanted her on low protein. This changes everything. Now I'm confused over how to get her on a better diet without causing liver problems -- or perhaps the liver numbers were a precursor to this? I have no idea. What are y'all feeding? I've read Innova Evo was good.

She is in surgery right now as I write this and I am trying to get some work done, but I'm more than a little preoccupied in my thoughts. I better get back to it though. I am trying to get my ducks in a row so I can take tomorrow off and spend the day with her. She usually needs 24 hours after a surgery to get over the anesthesia. I want to be with her and make sure she's drinking and eating.
 
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