Colon Cancer
- Thread starter beckyboo028
- Start date
beckyboo028
Forums Enthusiast
The vet called back and we are actually going to be taking Dakota to a specialist in Charlotte. They will be doing a colonoscopy and biopsy of the mass. After the results come back...we will go over the options. Hopefully, the biopsy will come back with another curable diagnosis. If not, we will consider chemo if Dakota will benefit from it. If Dakota is not given long we will consider options that will give him the best quality of life (and pain free). Keep praying....God works in wonderful ways!!
Ann- Thanks for your words of encouragment by sharing your story. How is Ivy doing? I hope she has many more years left!
True is keeping me from breaking down by running laps around me every minute.
Thanks everyone...you and your words are greatly appreciated and your prayers mean the world to me !
Ann- Thanks for your words of encouragment by sharing your story. How is Ivy doing? I hope she has many more years left!
True is keeping me from breaking down by running laps around me every minute.
Thanks everyone...you and your words are greatly appreciated and your prayers mean the world to me !
missjenneygirl
Forums Enthusiast
I'm wishing you the best news that could come with this situation. We are all thinking of you and sending your little Dakota our prayers.
My fingers are crossed....xxx
Connie Nelson
My fingers are crossed....xxx
Connie Nelson
Ann
Moderator
Ivy is doing splendidly, all things considered. We were given several options: one, surgery; two, a very expensive new form of chemo med; three, the more commonly used chemo med which consists of two parts, which we chose. Three times a day, she gets a dose of Prevacid-type stomach med to counteract stomach upset from the second med designed to slow the tumor growth, which she gets once a day. So far, so good. She acts perfectly normal, eats well and you can only tell she has a problem by the number and length of times she needs to go outside.
It took several rounds of tests and procedures to get the diagnosis, and by the time we got it, we were not willing to put her through anything more than medication to retard the tumor growth, control any pain and give her the best quality of life. We've been very pleased with the results and she has done remarkably well.
So trust your instincts, Becky. In the long run, you know what is best for your dog, and Dakota will help tell you that. As long as he's happy, comfortable and pain free you're doing the right thing. We know that Ivy and her Sheltie roommates will tell us when it's her time...they always know when something's wrong. And so far, life here is normal. True is telling you the same thing. Aren't dogs amazing?
We wish you a good diagnosis and an easy treatment. We're here for you if you need an ear.
That's terrible. How did they find out it was cancer?Boy, I am probably going to get a time-out for this.......but
You are victim of your own ignorance.
Your statements in this post are outrageous and quite frankly you don't belong in the health care field or owning a dog.
There, now I'm in the corner waiting for my official time-out.
This is a clearly a Biased post. You just don't like me. because i talked about using the prong colar.
I know chemotherapy better than anyone. IF the indication is only to slow down the tumor growth and Not a cure,,,,,,then in these cases, it just isn't worth it for the dog. Yes the pain med is worth it cause you don't want them suffering.
Now in humans, this is completely different. Now if the chemo will keep the human patient alive 6-12 month longer then we all do it. Because there is no value we can put on human being's lifetime and they may need to put their affairs in order before they pass away. but with dogs,, this is just not the case. Ok sure, if you have money and you want to keep the dog alive 6 month longer with chemo, just for your pleasure then go ahead. But these Chemos are Very expensive and the Side effects are Terrible. Sometimes you can't tell you are causing more pain with Chemo or by leaving the Cancer alone.
I will say that with Dogs,,, IF there is NO chance for Cure with The Chemotherapy,,,,,, then i would not use it,,,just cause the side effects are so terrible. but on the other hand, if there is a chance for Cure then i will literally spend tens of thousands of dollars to do everything for my dog....
Ann
Moderator
Enough!!
Speaking here as the Moderator, I was stunned at the insensitivity of the post that made a blanket statement that chemotherapy was "wrong" and "not worth it for the dog" or ineffective "just to slow down the growth of a tumor" from a "health care professional," on a thread by someone who is dealing with a sick dog and will have life changing decisions to make.
Speaking as someone with a dog who HAS cancer, I am equally appalled since my dog *is* on very successful chemotherapy medication and has been for months -- without side effects or any of the other horrible predictions made by FedAce.
Please know what you're talking about before you presume to make pronouncements for those of us who have to make the decisions.
Speaking here as the Moderator, I was stunned at the insensitivity of the post that made a blanket statement that chemotherapy was "wrong" and "not worth it for the dog" or ineffective "just to slow down the growth of a tumor" from a "health care professional," on a thread by someone who is dealing with a sick dog and will have life changing decisions to make.
Speaking as someone with a dog who HAS cancer, I am equally appalled since my dog *is* on very successful chemotherapy medication and has been for months -- without side effects or any of the other horrible predictions made by FedAce.
Please know what you're talking about before you presume to make pronouncements for those of us who have to make the decisions.
Depends on what your opinion is of "Successful" ??? Successful meaning your dog will be cured by the chemotherapy ?? or your dog will live few month longer ?? or dog's suffering is lessened by the chemotherapy ??---This is termed PALLIATIVE treatment in humans..
True that some tolerate the chemo better than others but most chemos cause bad side effects,,like Terrible Nausea and vomiting(none like you can ever imagine), Slughing of inner intestinal lining and thus causing unstoppable diarrhea. Destruction of immune cells thus predisposing the dog to infections that are life threatening.
Only other time that Chemotherapy is justifed is when the PALLIATIVE treatment is used. ie,,, the chemo can shrink the tumor so the Pain is lessened but then even in these cases the tumor will just keep growing and overcome the palliative chemo.......