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Sadly I also have a 13 yr old lab who was diagnosed with a spindle cell carcinoma. It was localized on her foreleg. Despite keeping an eye on it Sheba's tumour kept growing. She had surgery to remove some of the mass before it burst her skin. This seemed to keep it at bay for two years but it gradually grew back.
Despite the fact she is an energetic old girl with a good mind also with arthritis I had to give her every opportunity. So another surgery which cost about 6k AUD. she had a skin graft from her side which took really well and the specialist hospital were very pleased. Amputation was not an option due to her age.
So after I returned from an overseas holiday I suddenly lost her brother Jasper who was my shadow and best friend due to an internally ruptured disc in his spine causing paralysis. I nursed him for a week with Sheba also by our sides. We still miss him and I am sure Sheba misses her brother.
So now the tumour on her leg has returned after twelve months. It is now over the whole leg causing it to be swollen. She is not in any pain yet and still makes typical Labrador demands. Cost is not an issue for my dogs but time will tell and so will she.
It breaks my heart as these dogs give you total unconditional love. So if anyone as any ideas to help slow the growth or reduce the swelling I would be happy to hear it so that it may help her stay with me for a longer period as the vets have given me about 6 months.
Sadly I also have a 13 yr old lab who was diagnosed with a spindle cell carcinoma. It was localized on her foreleg. Despite keeping an eye on it Sheba's tumour kept growing. She had surgery to remove some of the mass before it burst her skin. This seemed to keep it at bay for two years but it gradually grew back.
Despite the fact she is an energetic old girl with a good mind also with arthritis I had to give her every opportunity. So another surgery which cost about 6k AUD. she had a skin graft from her side which took really well and the specialist hospital were very pleased. Amputation was not an option due to her age.
So after I returned from an overseas holiday I suddenly lost her brother Jasper who was my shadow and best friend due to an internally ruptured disc in his spine causing paralysis. I nursed him for a week with Sheba also by our sides. We still miss him and I am sure Sheba misses her brother.
So now the tumour on her leg has returned after twelve months. It is now over the whole leg causing it to be swollen. She is not in any pain yet and still makes typical Labrador demands. Cost is not an issue for my dogs but time will tell and so will she.
It breaks my heart as these dogs give you total unconditional love. So if anyone as any ideas to help slow the growth or reduce the swelling I would be happy to hear it so that it may help her stay with me for a longer period as the vets have given me about 6 months.
Regards
Sheba and dearly missed Jasper's mum
drsjxc - it appears you have done an amazing job in this situation!! You are to be commended for your diligence and care. She is truly a lucky dog to have you!
Our lab's tumor is also on the leg, the rear leg, and has been growing. We recently asked the vet if it could be 'debulked' (the term used for reducing the size) and she said her experience has been that the results are not that good. In Dusty's case, she said it would kill him. As it is now, he gets cold laser treatments on that knee which is getting pressure from the tumor and causing some pain and weakness of that leg. The treatments are helping strengthen it and help with the pain. He also gets 2 tramadol 2x daily. Our vet is both traditional medicine and holistic med practitioner, and we have been giving him a handful of holistic supplements including one called "Thymex" which has been shown in studies to slow the growth of the cancer. The supplements and complete change of diet (anti-inflammatory/anti-cancer diet) has helped keep him with us, happy and energetic, longer than he was expected to live.
I urge you to look into holistic medicine if you are able access this kind of treatment. At the very least, make sure the diet is free of anything that contributes to inflammation and/or feeding the cancer. The key is to try to starve the cancer cells as much as possible.
My heart goes out to you. I fully understand and wish you the wisdom and strength to love her and to see her through this to the end. Send me a direct message if you have detailed questions or comments about any of this.
Thanks. Southward Bound. It's a week by week at this stage which is good. Done lots of research and found some grain free dry food along with some other good foods for her. Luckily Sheba loves broccoli and chicken so if I can try and get some more time will be good.
Her leg is swollen and has heat in it so have to keep an eye on it. She is on supplements for arthritis and has had a course of cartrofen.
So will see how the anti cancer diet goes and fingers crossed.
Have been reading through posts and am really interested in the no carb diet and holistic treatments. I have a twelve year old boxer who has a spindle cell tumour on her elbow. It is now the size of a golf ball and growing. She was diagnosed three months ago. I put her on a raw meat diet instantly as read that it would not feed the cancer. Please cud you send me the names of holistic meds you have been using and sort of food I need to get as am not going to put her through surgery or chemo. She is really well in herself and would rather she spent however long she has happy and pain free. This info would be much appreciated
Have been reading through posts and am really interested in the no carb diet and holistic treatments. I have a twelve year old boxer who has a spindle cell tumour on her elbow. It is now the size of a golf ball and growing. She was diagnosed three months ago. I put her on a raw meat diet instantly as read that it would not feed the cancer. Please cud you send me the names of holistic meds you have been using and sort of food I need to get as am not going to put her through surgery or chemo. She is really well in herself and would rather she spent however long she has happy and pain free. This info would be much appreciated
I understand completely and my heart breaks for you and everyone else going through illness with their beloved pets. I felt like you do. We also wanted to provide quality of life, and a happy wagging tail and good spirits, for as long as possible.
I'll send you a direct message and you can research and pick and choose what would work best for you and your boxer.
I am so glad I found you all tonight! My head is spinning with online info! Our most amazing , 11 year old Portuguese Water Dog, Bella, had a needle aspiration done and results came back today with Spindle Cells. We discovered a golf ball size lump on rear leg just last week. Our vet is sending us to a surgical consult on Tuesday and recommend we remove it as soon as possible. I, like all of you, will go to any lengths for my beloved girl...but would like more info on this surgery from those who have experienced it.... before we decide on a course of action. So gratefully to learned about No Carbs and lots of fish diet! My husband is a commercial fisherman in RI and Bella has been his faithful , fish eating , deckhand since she was 6 months old ! Obviously surgery would be a big set back and dont know if I can put her through it all.
I am so glad I found you all tonight! My head is spinning with online info! Our most amazing , 11 year old Portuguese Water Dog, Bella, had a needle aspiration done and results came back today with Spindle Cells. We discovered a golf ball size lump on rear leg just last week. Our vet is sending us to a surgical consult on Tuesday and recommend we remove it as soon as possible. I, like all of you, will go to any lengths for my beloved girl...but would like more info on this surgery from those who have experienced it.... before we decide on a course of action. So gratefully to learned about No Carbs and lots of fish diet! My husband is a commercial fisherman in RI and Bella has been his faithful , fish eating , deckhand since she was 6 months old ! Obviously surgery would be a big set back and dont know if I can put her through it all.
Oh, so sad to hear this. Cancer is so prevalent in our society and it seems it's everywhere in the canine world. I can only think it must be what we all (pets and people) eat (or don't eat). It has been shown that inflammation of cells breaks down the cell wall and allows changes to take place, so I'm taking a very focused stand on anti-inflammatory diets for us two-footed and four-footed beings.
Bella sounds like a wonderful companion, and she should have a few more good years in her. I hope you can help make this happen.
Our yellow lab was diagnosed over a year ago. Our vet, the University Vet school clinic, and a specialty hospital all recommended surgery. The lump was, as Bella's, about "golf ball size". It's on his right rear inside stifle/thigh. Our main concern was that everyone said it was not certain that they could get all the cancer cells. They would remove the lump with the standard allowance of margin for "safety", and pull the remaining skin together, but did said they may not get all the cells. We talked about chemo and radiation -- the former is not said to be effective in this kind of cancer and radiation didn't seem something we wanted to put the dog through. It would mean several treatments at set intervals and we did not know how well he would tolerate those. Again, we had no guarantees. They all gave him 3-6 months without surgery. The only way, the specialty surgeon said (and this is a top notch surgeon!) to "cure" it is to amputate the leg.
We decided not to put him through that at his age so we consulted with a vet who practices western and eastern medicine and holistic treatments. In fact, she is on the leading edge of all the latest in these fields, and we decided to keep our Dusty happy and comfortable as long as possible. He is an amazing dog - energetic, high spirits, tail wagging constantly - so happy all the time. He has bad joints but he's been living with those since a puppy and has been on joint supplements and pain meds as needed. Vets say he has an amazingly high tolerance for pain.
He's been on a comprehensive holistic program since diagnosis and is doing well. The tumor has grown to about grapefruit size and is pressing on the knee some; sometimes he has trouble going up and down the 5 rear porch steps and we have to help him. Today he went down and came up without help, so he surprises us. He's very toy oriented, and will do anything to get to a stuffed toy!
His supplements consist of Standard Process brand capsules, tablets and powder, and eastern mushroom preparations in capsule form. One of his tabs has shown in research to help slow down cell growth, so it was added about 4 months later. His tumor is well encapsulated and has not spread to his lymph nodes. His appetite is excellent and he loves the food we cook for him. We had been feeding Wellness Sweet Potato and Whitefish but vet had me take him off that because even though it is supposed to be 'grain free' it still has a small amount of grain in it. He can have no carbs and is on an anti-inflammatory diet (25% protein which comes from mackerel) 1 medium microwaved sweet potato (NOT yam!!) and dark green vegetables (spinach, collards, kale, green beans, chard). I eithe saute them in a small amount of olive oil, or I buy canned if good fresh is not available. Canned is sometimes easier and quicker if the days are extra busy.
He's down to 64 lbs and looks a bit thin to me, but he seems to be feeling good. His coat is amazing!! Soft and shedless. Have you ever heard of a lab that doesn't shed!!
He gets acupuncture, B12 shots in the rear leg for strength, and cold laser treatments -- all as needed but the need has been infrequent.
So far, he has exceeded the vets' estimates by some 9 months and it looks like he may be able to enjoy another summer catching tennis balls and gathering up all the toys in the house(and, of course, shredding them to get to the squeaker). (I bought a bag of squeakers and am making our own toys for him. )
Prayers and hugs to you as you make the difficult decisions. Whatever you decide to do, you CAN do it! I can tell by your words that you have it in you to see this through. Everyone in this thread has shown the same strength of commitment that comes from love for their pet. I'm in my 14th month of home cooking and counting out pills for the pillbox (takes me a 1/2 hour just to fill the pillbox for the week). Sometimes it feels like a chore, but when I look at Dusty's attitude, it makes it all a breeze. We can learn a lot from our dogs!
Best wishes to you and let us know what you decide to do, and your progress. Hope Bella is back on that boat out fishing with your hubby very soon!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your help! You are a wealth of information and I feel so much better having found you! Bella is scheduled for surgery this Saturday. Since her mass is only the size of a ping pong ball ... Dr is very optimistic we caught in early enough. We were told the same about "margins" etc... and risk of regrowth...but my husband and I agreed we have to give it a try.
There is a new experimental "chemo like" gel they will apply to the area before closing incisions. It is Vertigel (antibiotic) with a carboplatin (chemo like) element that hopefully kills any cells left on the margins. So new, she'll be part of their case study! Two weeks....keep her low key with staples in the leg. Another 2 weeks to completely heal ...than she should be back on the boat... keeping the seagulls away ! I want to share the cost with those who are looking at these posts for help and info. Here in the east bay of RI (Newport area) this type of surgery with lung xray, blood work, drugs and overnight stay is estimated at $2,200. I didn't have a clue and assume most people wouldn't either. By no means are we wealthy ( We're fishermen for goodness sakes ...But Bella is in good general health and just turned 11 this month, so we feel we have to give it a shot.
She already eats Buffalo Blue holistic dog food...so I just switched her to the salmon and sweet potatoes formula. Even the cats got a new "diet" because she LOVES to get into the cat food!!!! ( just realized you stopped all "dog" food in general) Her favorite is grilled fish, so she'll have that most nights. Surgeon didn't think dramatic diet change would have an impact....that's the only thing I didn't agree with him on. We are a very health conscious family and eat very "clean" and organic as much as possible. You seriously are what you eat!!!! Pets included! Just ask my 17year old cat...lol.. Going to speak with vet about vitamins and supplements at our follow up appointment.
Hi,
I'm new here and don't know my way around yet, but I too, would love more info on the holistic foods, herbs, etc. Our 14 year old Black Lab/ German Shorthaired Pointer had surgery for a spindle cell sarcoma on her side 10 days ago. When got the results a week ago and my son and I took her to our holistic vet the next day (we used her for a previous dog with cancer, mast cell tumor, 9 years old and she gave us another 5 years with him). Once again she provided Chinese herbs, switched up her diet big time, added fish, no chicken, no carbs or sugar. She acts like a puppy, seems happy, etc. I won't do another surgery on her... It's grade 2 and aggressive we're told, but our hopes are we can delay the growth through diet. I'd love to hear thoughts and food ideas. She's "hot" the vet says so things like fish, watermelon and yucca will help cool her down. Thanks so much for any help.
Fishwife, thanks for the encouraging news! Hope all goes well with surgery and recovery! Thoughts and prayers go out to you, and others dealing with various illnesses. Stay strong and positive. Your news sounds very good. (Yes, our vet had us take Dusty off all commercial food.)
Kalamity, we were told that spindle cell is a slow growing cancer. Maybe there are different types of spindle cell cancers.
We are using something called Thymex, made by Standard Process (human and canine holistics), which has been found in recent studies to slow the growth of cells. You can find many of their products on Amazon but be sure to check with your vet before you add or change anything. You're lucky to have a holistic vet available.
Keep on keeping on, all of you and let us know how things are going! I'm pulling for everyone!! Wishing you sunshine and good news day by day!
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