Nina's tumor part 2

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RatPack

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
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Location
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So we just got back from the vets a little while ago and not with good news....It has been about 5 weeks since we removed her first tumor that we thought was mammary...It isn't :( It is cancerous and the vet gave us a few options. #1 being to have her remove it and have it biopsied and then send the results to a specialist in Columbus,OH (about 2hrs from us) and then start radiation treatment..#2 is to have her remove it and see if it has spread and where and go from there.#3 is try and make her comfortable until her quality of life is compromised and well there is a #4 but we didn't discuss that because she doesn't seem to be in any discomfort at this time....So what is everyone's opinions of our options and which one do you think is best for her?
 
Yes...this is in the same exact spot of the old one but this one is dark purple/blue/blackish in color :(
 
I am trying to find a picture of the original...not sure I ever got a good one of it but I am looking in between cleaning cages cause I didn't get it done today....Nina is already pushing bedding out of hers trying to bury her food bowl as deep as she can haha atleast she is burying it in clean bedding now :)
 
Waiting for the iphone to charge...if there are any pictures of it then this is the the last place they could be since I have searched everywhere else they could possibly be.......If I find any then I will post a side by side of the old and new for you.
 
Ok so here are the best I could find of the tumor before surgery...a bunch of pictures are missing on my phone :( and then I took some today pictures of it :) first 3 are the original tumor and last 3 are today
 
Are they growing or stay about that size? If finacially able I might remove it, but I wouldn't pay for testing or radiation. How well or quickly did she recover from the last surgery? I would take that into consideration too. I definiately would not do the "not talked about" option until her quality of life was a factor.
 
Where the first tumour was invasive (had tentacles) and the second grew back in the same spot and grew to a large size quickly, I don't think I would do any more surgery. If the vet couldn't get it all the first time, then it is probably there for good. And I would never put an animal through chemo/radiation unless there was pretty well 100% probability of a cure and they were going to live a long time afterwards. Otherwise they are just going to feel like hell, and not understand why you are doing that to them, and die anyway.
It's all about quality of life, and being realistic in what we can accomplish trying to save them.
 
Her recovery from the last surgery wasn't too bad once we got her pain under control because the vet dosed her wrong...Even though she chewed out most of her stitches the first day she still healed pretty quickly but like joanne said I don't wanna send the vet back in there and piss this thing off if it is malignant and make things worse for her...assuming we haven't done that already by removing the first one..I am gonna probably just let her spend the rest of her days with her brothers and when the time comes that she is no longer able to sustain a comfortable life then I will put her to rest :( I just feel bad that she came from a crappy life to a chance at a better one and then this....How is that even fair? Frustrating!
 
Sounds like a great plan. It might not be fair, but she's being spoiled and taken care of and being given medical care and pain meds if needed
I'd say she's pretty lucky.
 
So recently I noticed Nina's tumor was growing but I think it is growing more inward like the last... Today we have been in a lot of pain as I suspect the growth is trying invade her hip :( her leg is pretty much useless now and I have been giving her infant IBU which takes the edge off enough to sleep which is all she wants to do. I am gonna have to force food and fluids until Monday when I hope the vet can see her... My heart is breaking for her especially since she hasn't had enough time to completely learn to trust us and I am afraid she will leave this world not knowing how wonderful and loved she really is.
 
We seem much better today but I am still gonna keep giving her the IBU until I'm sure the vet can see her tomorrow... I don't wanna take the chance with the pain returning like it was.
 
If you are planning on saying goodbye, I wouldn't bother force feeding her. Just give her lots of pats and snuggles so she has a lovely last day.
Cancer is not always fair. :(
 
Since I've gotten her pain under control she is eating and drinking fine. I'm not sure what else to do unless we try to manage the pain until the tumor grows bigger but as I said I fear its affecting her leg staying in the socket and even with meds that can't be comfortable.. I'll have the vet do xray so maybe we can get an idea of what's exactly going on with her leg
 
It is all about quality of life. I know you want to give her the chance to really enjoy her life, but keeping her constantly on pain meds until she is in agony and then euthanizing her may be waiting a little too long. We don't know that she is NOT in pain with the meds you are giving her, only that the pain is reduced enough that she will eat.
Do what you feel is best for her. Good luck tomorrow at the vet's.
 
So our tumor now has a name its hemangiosarcoma... I haven't had to give her any pain meds today and her hip is fine however the vet drained about 4 syringes of blood out of it.. It is now half size and she has a few weeks maybe a month before she becomes anemic from so she is gonna be eating whatever she wants for the next few weeks or until she starts experiencing pain or whenever the anemia starts then we will say our goodbyes.. I know some might not agree with our decision but it is about quality of life and for now she is ok
 
So something weird and mind blowing happened earlier... Nina's tumor after the draining started to fill back up with a week it was almost full size again but then the past 4-5 days I noticed it was shrinking and today it fell off! Yes you read that right...there is no tumor any longer it just fell off....I still can't wrap my head around it but calling the vet in the morning since it left a decent sized crater in her side...
 
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