Treatment
Diary: October 2002
Tuesday,
October 22nd
- this was the earliest the sonograms could be scheduled. I brought
Hector in at 7:30am, and he was to remain there the entire day.
The reason given was he needed to be there whenever the vet doing
the sonograms was ready for him. I started calling at 3:00pm as
directed, and finally by 5:00pm the doctor had finished, and said
they came up totally clear. I tried to reach the onocologist to
discuss with her, but she had a family emergency. It wasn't until
Thursday that I was finally able to talk to her, and she said
I would need to schedule a consultation with the surgeon and radiologist,
to decide between amputating his leg or chemotheraphy/radiation.
The chemo/radiation would be 12 sesssions, 3 times a week, with
mild sedation each time, and would cost around $3,000.00. She
said she would call me back with an appointment time later in
the day. I did not hear back from her, and first thing Friday
when I called in they told me the doctor had had a death in the
immediate family, and would not be back in until Tuesday the 29th.
Friday,
Octber 25th - I wanted a third opinion. I consulted with a
vet here at the shelter, who said she would not recommend chemo/radiation.
That she would try either a second surgery to remove a wider margin
around the mass, or amputate the leg. I spoke to another employee
here, who had treated her dog's skin cancer successfully with
an alternative treament, but she said it was quite radical, eating
out the cancer and leaving a wound/hole that bled quite a bit.
But perhaps the internal version of this alternative treatment
would work. She told me to go to see Pat McKay here in Pasadena.
I went up to see her immediately, and she gave me a jar of a black
salve called Cansema. (See Cansema
website).
Saturday,
October 26th - I attempted to shave Hector's lump and apply
the Cansema. The clippers freaked him out, so instead I tried
rubbing the cansema into the fur (as directed, the shaving was
my idea after reading up on Cansema's used on animals on the Cansema
website) and applying a bandage. He had it off in less than five
minutes. I recaptured him and reapplied the bandage, with about
a whole roll of vet wrap and tape holding it on. Hector retreated
to under the bed and exited about 20 minutes later, no bandage.
I should have thought of an e-collar beforehand! Monday, I have
enlisted a friend to hold down Hector while I shave his leg and
apply the bandage and a e-collar. I'm going to take photos of
his leg beforehand too.
Hector's 2nd growth before treatment
Next
> October 28-31: first Cansema application
