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As if dealing with nasal cancer with Dash has not been enough for me. Jazz has been driviing me nuts. She sits and whines at me and when I say "do you want a treat?" she paws at me and does not run in the kitchen like she does if that is what she wants, "Do you want to go out?" gets me another smack with her paw instead of her running to the door," Do you want a toy?" Another smack of the paw instead of her picking up a toy and waving it at me, then she usually gives me a snort like " what can I do to make you understand?" This has been going on for about two weeks. The other night she was so frustrated with me and I was so annoyed with her that I went to bed to read and she followed me and sat by the bed and started up again. I finally invited her up on the bed where she then continues and really started smacking me in frustration so I stopped readingand pushed her back in doing so I felt a bump so took a look and she had a quarter sized mass on the front of her chest.
I called my vet and said I need the first available appointment with any of the vets ( there are 4) so got in later that day with the newest vet that I did not know, She said " Oh that is a cyst" I will do an aspiration and it will have lots of fluid and blood but she poked it and got very little back but kept telling me it is nothing to worry about it and I am most certain it is not cancer so don't worry . My gut was telling me different and if I have not said this here before go with your gut feelings as that little voice is usually right.
Later that day I got a call saying they were sending the slides to a pathologist as there were too many abnormal cells. Knot in my stomach got huge. They called today and the report came back soft tissue sarcoma and it needs to be taken off asap so we can get a histology and a grade on the tumor. They said they could try to get it all off or we could consult with an oncologist and see if he suggests surgery or reducing it with radiation first so I told them I would like to consult with Dr. Ayl ( Dash's oncologist) first so they called and he said get it off and then we will know what we are really dealing with so tomorrow while Dash and I take a drive to Sherman Oaks to see DR. Scanalan about Neoplasene Jazz will be back here in Santa Barbara having surgery.
When it rains it does indeed pour. Yes she has stopped whining at me so I think she was trying to tell me about this as she is such a smart dog it is frightening at times.
Anyone have experience with soft tissue sarcomas? Anyone have a padded room I can borrow as that is where I will be soon!
Hopefully, give the location, it will be easy to get it all out and that will be the end of it. My dog's was an oral sarcoma, so the location was very difficult and we were not able to get it all.
I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the surgery is 100% successful and we'll be hearing the good news from you soon .
I am sorry to hear about your dog. I am glad, that Dash is able to communicate to you in that way and that you are in tune with her.
Since there is a question of excision versus consulting an oncologist, a bridge to that decision tree is seeing if a Core biopsy can be performed. We, as radiologists, will performed a core biopsy of a mass (larger sample of tissue that just an aspiration), giving the histology and grade of a tumor so that treatment is effectively planned.
Soft tissue sarcomas in humans can be highly aggressive and spread to other parts of the body, like the brain, lungs, bones. I don't know how animals are 'staged'. The masses can be painful if close to vital structures or if there is involvement of an adjacent nerve. Humans can get excision, radiation and/or chemotherapy given the grade (or aggressiveness) of a tumor.
Thanks everyone. I did not sleep much last night so am up early. Dr Ayl ( Dash's oncologist) told my vet to try to get all of Jazz's tumor today and if that was not possible to do the best he can so that is the plan. I am so glad we have him to consult with as I like him and trust him ( I have learned he is one of the best oncologist in Southern CALIF) at least.
So we are soon off Jazz to surgery , Dash to meet Dr. Scanlan and start the neoplasene. It will be a long busy day.
Thanks everyone. I did not sleep much last night so am up early. Dr Ayl ( Dash's oncologist) told my vet to try to get all of Jazz's tumor today and if that was not possible to do the best he can so that is the plan. I am so glad we have him to consult with as I like him and trust him ( I have learned he is one of the best oncologist in Southern CALIF) at least.
So we are soon off Jazz to surgery , Dash to meet Dr. Scanlan and start the neoplasene. It will be a long busy day.
Good luck. I hope they make her as comfortable as possible.
Whata day. Glad it is over but now we have to play the waiting game and how I do hate that game. I got to know it too well in my mom's battle with Lung Cancer It will take 5-7 days to get the report.
Jazz's surgery went very well and my vet feels he got all of the tumor as he said unlike most soft tissue sarcomas it was encapsulated pretty good. So now we wait to see if the pathologist says the margins are clear and to give us a grade and the type of sarcoma we are dealing with. I am praying for clear margins and grade 1 as then we should be in pretty good shape.I will consult Dr. Scanlam who started Dash on Neoplasene today to see what she recommends to keep it at bay. If the grade is higher I will consult Dr. Ayl and Dr. Scanlan and come up with a plan that puts quality of life first.
She was in pain when we got home but I could not give her her pain meds until she could eat and I had to wait until after 8 to feed her. Well now she is fed and has had her pill and is asleep. It is a pretty big incision so I imagine it does hurt as he said he did go down a couple layers to make sure he did not see any fingers of the tumor so I do imagine it would be painful.However, Jazz is a drama queen as if you step on her paw she will act like you broke her leg until you kiss up enough and even then if you tell her No about something later in the day up comes that paw and the look of " well you own me as you did break my foot and it still hurts". Shots are a big deal to her too as I said she is a drama queen! But she is my baby so that is OK with me.
Time to go make up for the sleep I did not get last night. I am feeling better about both she and Dash right now so should be able to sleep.
Sounds good - so all of you take a well-deserved rest!
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. I finally invited her up on the bed where she then continues and really started smacking me in frustration so I stopped readingand pushed her back in doing so I felt a bump so took a look and she had a quarter sized mass on the front of her chest.
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