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Sadie - 3 years old - Lymphoma

11K views 46 replies 32 participants last post by  Pilgrim123 
#1 ·
My Golden Retriever, Sadie from Gold-Rush Goldens in Princeton NJ was just diagnosed with Lymphoma 2 days after turning 3. Not sure how many other have dealt with Gold-Rush and have had similar experiences, but my heart is broken.

This was her yesterday, the day we found out she had lymphoma.


Leading up to this she had been acting very lethargic, threw up and wouldn't eat her food; and when Sadie doesn't eat her food I know something is wrong. Brought her to a local animal hospital and had an x-ray done, something was clearly in her stomach, we just didn't know what. I also had a CBC done (blood work, which came in the next morning), her WBC count was over 50,000; the normal range would be anywhere from 3,000-10,000.

I decided the morning of finding out about her WBC that I would bring her to Oradell Animal Hospital to have a sonogram done. Tests come back, she indeed has lymphoma and has about a year to live. I broke down immediately. The lymphoma is concentrated solely in her stomach and hasn't spread to any organs or anywhere else for that matter. All other lymph nodes that are easily detectable by touch on the outside of her body are completely normal in size, which is why this wasn't detected earlier. But, she has a softball size cluster in her stomach. I asked the doctor how long we would have if we didn't take the chemotherapy route; they told me 1 month. A single month of life left for my 3 year old baby girl. I contemplated not taking the chemo route before I knew she'd only have 1 month to live. But after I heard, I decided to immediately begin chemotherapy as the cancer was spreading really fast through her GI tract.

As of last night her first round of chemo is complete. She's feeling a lot less lethargic and much hungrier and energetic with her steroid prescription. Although she was given the easiest injection of chemo first, I'm hoping her responding well to the initial medication is a precursor for the rest of the treatment to come. It's nice to see her feeling a little better, but we have a long and difficult road ahead of us.
 
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#7 ·
So sorry to hear about Sadie. I swear she is a Golden that trips my trigger. So beautiful. It just freaks me out all these cancer stories. 1/2 year out losing my Golden girl Skye it's no wonder I haven't gotten a pup yet. I'll say a little prayer for your awesome Sadie.

dlm ny country
 
#8 ·
I am so very sorry for you and your pup. She is much too young to have this diagnosis. Prayers and best wishes.
 
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#10 ·
Sadie



Your Sadie is absolutely gorgeous and I am sorry to hear this news. I know many people on here have gone through lymphoma with their dogs. I hope people can share their experiences.
 
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#12 ·
I am so sorry to hear about your Sadie :( . She looks like a very sweet girl. We had a Gold Rush boy Cosmo that we lost to hemangiosarcoma at 8 YO. Unfortunately in our area there are a ton of Gold Rush dogs. A lot of my friends have had their dogs and have had similar stories. I'm just curious do you know who Sadies sire is? Try and take one day at a time and enjoy every moment with her :)
 
#14 ·
Thank you everyone for your warm wishes and prayers during this difficult time. I'll be sure to keep you all updated on this unfortunate journey we are now undergoing.



Thank you and I'm sorry to hear about Cosmo. Gold Rush has really beautiful and wonderful dogs that unfortunately have a bit of a downfall. Sadie's sire is Gold Rush Troubadour (a.k.a. Tru) and the dam is Gold Rush Elsa, who is now retired and living in North Carolina. I was contemplating giving Anne/Amy a call to let her know about Sadie. I'm curious if any others in the Tru x Elsa 1/31/14 litter have developed cancer.
 
#13 ·
Your Sadie is beautiful! I am so sorry for the horrible news. I hope the chemo works well and you have lots more time with her.
 
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#17 ·
I am beyond saddened and then very angry to read that another very young Golden is stricken with a fight with the demon cancer.

I am so sorry to read about the devastating diagnosis you have just received with your precious Sadie.

Please be strong...help her fight this...she is so, so young.

Please immediately change her diet...eliminate all carbohydrates.....cancer loves carbs and feeds on them. If you are able, move her to a totally biologically balanced appropriate diet ( preferably raw or home cooked, but it needs to be balanced)....no kibble no matter how "good" it is.

Please take some time to watch this:


Please eliminate anything that may be compromising and making her immune system weaker: flea/tick/heartworm medications and any other toxins you can think of.

No more vaccines.

Read, read, google and attempt to find a holistic vet who can help guide you on this difficult journey.

My heart is with you on this journey you are on with your beloved Sadie.

May you have many more years with your girl....
 
#19 ·
I'm so sorry you have to go through with this while she's so young, but i'm praying lady luck is on your side because of her age too, and i hope she beats the odds. It's horrible for any dog to have to go through cancer- even worse because she's so young and she ought to have much longer.

Wishing you and dear sadie all the best, keep fighting!
 
#21 ·
I'm so very very sorry for you and Sadie. Our Haylie was diagnosed with that at age 5 (we noticed her neck was extremly swollen). We took her for chemo every other week for a year. We were "lucky" that she loved her vet and loved going there. She lived a very happy additional year. Agnes
 
#22 ·
I really hope she continues to handle her treatments well and that she responds well to them. Keeping our fingers and paws crossed for her. So young, it's hard to hear, can't imagine how devastating it is for you.
 
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#26 ·
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#27 ·
Hi everyone, I figured I'd jump on and give you all an update. The past month of chemotherapy was proving to be quite successful, the softball mass inside of Sadie's stomach was shrinking and we were all relieved. Sadie was dealing with the ups and downs that come with the destruction of her cells and trying her best to tough it out.

Unfortunately, this past week has gone in the opposite direction. The lymphoma, although confirmed to be B-cell(the better and less aggressive lymphoma) is proving to be incredibly aggressive. It has already gained resistance to the chemo. 2 days ago I had noticed that Sadie's eyes had a slight shade of yellow to them and she was urinating orange. I took her to the hospital immediately to have an ultrasound done. My worst fears were confirmed, the cancer had begun to spread to vital organs. The size of the lymph nodes were slowly beginning to grow out of her stomach and into her liver. Sadie's life expectancy has dropped considerably, giving her only weeks to live(if we're lucky) with the continuation of treatments. My heart is so heavy and filled with sadness. Sadie means so much to me, she has been the light of my life for the past 3 years and I'll never be able to fully reciprocate the amount of pure love and happiness she's brought to me, my family and everyone who knew her. I don't know what my life will be like without her. I always thought I'd be able to watch her grow old. I'd eventually get married & have children and I thought I'd always have my Sadie there watching and playing with the kids. I guess life had different plans for us.

Tonight is Sadie's second night staying at Oradell Animal Hospital. I went to visit her today in the afternoon and brought her some of her favorite foods as the doctors had been unsuccessful with getting her to eat. A baked potatoe(which she scarfed down), and a full chicken from Boston Market. I laid on the hospital floor with her in my lap, we stared at each other in the eyes. She was speaking to me through her eyes, I could feel the pain radiating out of them; it was like she was begging for help. I tried to compose myself, but it was just too hard. I told her how beautiful and strong she was and how I wished so hard that there was something I could do to make her better. I'd do anything to make her better. I told her that she was going to see Shannon(my little sister) and that she was going to take very good care of her.

When it was time to leave Sadie mustered up all the strength she could to stand up and walk to the door with me to go. She didn't want the doctors to take her back, she just wanted to come home with me. I knelt down and kissed her all over and promised her I'd be back tomorrow. It's for her own good that she stays the night one more time.

All the bitterness in the world couldn't take away from my Sadie's sweetness.
 
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