Cancer

[rnor1120]

Chance has had a mass on his elbow for a few months. I found it in January and it was the size of a grain of rice. I actually thought it was his microchip, so before I left school I scanned him but his chip is still between his shoulders. He had just had blood work done as part of his annual in November (normal) and was otherwise fine, so my radars were off. A colleague of mine said she'd seen similar masses and they turned out to be little benign things, so I made a mental note to check it weekly and panic if it got bigger. This week, it was bigger.

I found it yesterday evening, and the mass has about tripled in size (so now it's the size of three grains of rice...). So naturally, I rushed him to my clinic (which is of course closed at 9pm) and aspirated some cells from the mass to look at it under the microscope. Long story short, the cells were indicative of cancer.

I'm not looking for advice, I'm just a mess right now. He's only four, which is young but doesn't exclude him from cancer. I feel stupid and guilty for not taking care of this thing sooner and I'm worried that it's too late. The rational side of me knows that it likely isn't too late and if the mass is low grade (which it probably is) surgery (possibly even amputation) and chemo could very well cure him. But then there's that emotional and irrational other side that says it could have already spread because it's been there for four months already and he'll die within the year because of my stupid luck.

I have the day off tomorrow, so I'm taking him to my clinic tomorrow and passing him off to another doctor to do some chest x-rays to look for evidence of spread and some pre-operative blood work and having that thing taken off ASAP. I've only had him for three years, I'm not ready to lose him yet.

[JudyN]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear this Don't beat yourself up - the vast majority of owners wouldn't have noticed a lump that size.

I hope there's no spread and it's easily removed.

[Ari_RR]

Good luck! Hope it's under control soon. Wherever we are, we can only move forward from there...

[ckranz]

There is nothing to beat yourself up over. I am very sorry to hear about your dog. I hope his condition is treatable.

[Suzette]

I'm really sorry to hear this news. But honestly, most all of us take wait and see attitudes with our pets when little things pop up, otherwise we would always be at our vets offices. So I hope you are kind to yourself and know that you did what most all of us would have done by waiting and watching. It was such a tiny little bump and Chance is so very young and healthy, it was a very reasonable approach. Unfortunately, in this case it turned into something, but please be kind to yourself, for you did nothing wrong. (I know that is easy to say and hard to do.)

My thoughts and prayers are with you and Chance.

[gwd]

That is never the news that any owner wants to hear.......... sadly, it's all too common.

[CarolineLovesDogs]

I know what you are going through must be horrible, but as others have said, it is NOT your fault. You did notice it early on, and kept and eye on it- that is the best you could have done. I'll keep you guys in my thoughts and hope things go well. Don't be too hard on yourself.

[rnor1120]

Thank you all for the kind words and positive thoughts. Chance's chest x-rays were clean today, so I submitted some presurgical blood work and have him on the books for Thursday.

[minkee]

Good results! Hope it all goes well on Thursday. Well done you for spotting it at all, AND keeping an eye on it, AND taking swift action when prompted by its change! How many dog owners could say the same?

[WufWuf]

You've done all you can do and for sure you spotted this before the vast majority of pet owners would have. We're all rooting for you and Chance. Let us know how you get on and remember that we are hear to "listen" if you need it ))))hug(((( .

[rnor1120]

His blood work is normal. His mass has gotten bigger. I'm doing his surgery tomorrow around noon. If you've got a spare minute tomorrow, send some positive vibes to Chance and his very nervous surgeon.

[Ari_RR]

Good luck

[Erica]

Sending you and him happy healing thoughts!

[lucyandbella]

I'm glad to hear about the chest x-rays and that blood work came out normal. I will be thinking of you guys tomorrow!

[JudyN]

Fingers and toes crossed xx