azsun - 2018-02-06 11:16 AM

Update: We now have an appointment next week with the Veterinary Oncologist. I told my son we need to be prepare for whatever news the vet has. I also told him what you all said, Maisy will let us know when she's ready to go. I also mentioned the quality vs. quantity of life concept. He understands on an intellectual level, but not on an emotional one. He's having a hard time with accepting that she might not enjoy life with him anymore. I think he thinks Maisy is rejecting him, like she doesn't love him anymore. I told him we just need to be patient and enjoy her, love her, to understand that emotionally she wants to stay with us forever and spiritually she will, but our bodies are only designed to last for so long and wait to see what the vet says. I think this is also magnified by the fact that one of the kids on his football team was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, has had two surgeries and a stroke in trying to get the tumor removed but is done with football.

You all are so kind in sharing your stories. Thank you.

azsun - 2018-02-24 9:55 AM

UPDATE (sorry it's long): Thank you all for the prayers and honest opinions and advice. Maisy was seen by the veterinary oncologist and a surgeon on February 15. She has tumors in her colon and rectal areas. He was able to feel a cluster of 3 small tumors in her colon in an area that where tumors are more often then not cancerous. She has another tumor closer to her rectum. He said we had a few options. First, he recommended a CT scan to determine how many tumors there were and their exact location. If there were tumors in areas where he couldn't feel, then we would know surgery wasn't an option. Second, he thought we could operate, pull the area of the intestines-colon out and cut out the tumors and then separate her hips to get to the tumor closer to her rectum. Alternatively, he could try a very focused form of radiation to get the cluster of tumors and surgically remove the tumor closer to the rectum by separating the hips. The radiologist was very candid with me and said she had been doing this work for about 12 years and she did not like the radiation for the intestine/colon as it was hard on the dogs. Basically burning out the tumor and the dogs usually went for about 2 weeks with side effects of bowel issues. The cost of the CT scan $1,600-1,800. The cost of surgery $3,600+. Our third option is to get her NSAIDS which have been shown to slow tumor growth and keep her comfortable for whatever time she had left. The vet felt like they could prolong Maisy's life, depending on what they found with the CT scan and surgery. However, he noted that with some cancers, they can surgically remove and if they don't get everything, the tumor will grow back at a very rapid rate. (We just went through this with my mom's rescue dog). So I talked with my son, showed him the vet report. His first reaction was to do the CT scan and see if there were tumors elsewhere. We discussed the quality of life versus quantity of life and I told him I would give him a few days to think about it. He discussed with a few of his close friends and he came back and said, given her age, he would rather have Maisy have good days even if they were fewer in number instead of a bunch of bad days so he is opting, with my full support, for the NSAIDS. She will tell us when she's ready and although she is having accidents now and then, she is full of spunk when she's awake and sleeps soundly and snores loudly when she is asleep.

It's been a rough few days and I can't thank you enough for your guidance going into the vet appointment. It really helped me understand some of the lingo and options.

TX4FR - 2018-02-24 12:04 AM

I just let my 12 year old corgi go yesterday.  She was diagnosed with lung cancer a little over a month ago.  I had an appointment scheduled with an oncologist but ended up cancelling after doing a lot of research and thinking.  I went back to see her regular vet and we decided to treat her symptoms and keep her as comfortable as possible for as long as possible since there was realistically no reasonable option for dealing with the disease.  It worked pretty well for a few weeks, her symptoms improved drastically, she had energy and wanted to play again so I hoped she might stay around for a while longer.  Unfortunately about a week ago, she started to deteriorate pretty quickly and I needed to give her peace.  Absolutely broke my heart to watch her go through this but I tried my best to always make decisions based on what was best for her.  I may not have always made the right call, but I believe that we are obligated to put their comfort and quality of life over our emotional attachment.  I hope things work out for you, your family and your pup.