First Growth
on Hector
When
I first noticed the small swelling on his front paw, on his "thumb"
toe (the one up on the inside of his leg), I thought it was another
claw growing back (See Hector's history in the sidebar). I took
him in to see Dr. S, who thought it might be that as well, and
prescribed him some anti-biotics to see if that would make the
swelling go away. Two weeks of antibiotics later, the swelling
had just increased in size, and the vet recommended its removal.
She also prescribed more anti-biotics, a different kind, that
he should continue taking before and after the surgery. It was
now about a month after I first noticed the swelling, which was
the shape and size of a large pea, but hard and attached.
Once
the lump was removed, along with his toe, and my vet had it sent
to the lab for a diagnosis. When it came back as Subcutaneous
Hemangiosarcoma I had no idea what that was - until Dr. S explained
it was a very agressive kind of cancer. The good news was, the
lab said that the mass had been completely removed. Dr. S recommended
xrays though of his chest and abdomen, saying she wanted to make
sure the cancer hadn't metastasized (spread) to his organs. The
xrays came up clear, but I wanted a second opinion.
I
took the xrays and Hector to Dr. L, another vet that I have used
in the past (most notably this past March when my 12 year old
dog got sick with a very aggressive cancer, and had to be put
to sleep within two weeks of its discovery when it spread to his
lungs). She repeated the same recommendation, saying the xrays
looked clear, the lab report sounded like the surgery had removed
the cancer, and to follow-up in six months with another set to
make sure. Since with my dog, she had been very conservative about
sending him to the cancer specialist right away, I felt confident
and relieved that the cancer had been taken care of properly.
Hector
during all this time never exhibited any signs of being sick.
He promptly removed the bandage from his leg after the surgery
(during the ride home!) and despite the subsequent e-collar and
re-banaged foot, after one day managed to push open an unlocked
window and was found cavorting about the yard when found! (My
yard is fenced in with cat-proof fencing so he cannot get out,
but I still did not appreciate his climbing the tree with bandage
and ecollar on and jumping onto the roof!
I
began switching Hector (and all my pets) over to a raw diet, changing
the small quantities of dry food they were eating to a different
(supposedly more whole, holistic) brand, stopped allowing Hector
to drink directly out of the faucet so that he would be drinking
filtered water like everyone else in the house.
Six
weeks later, my confidence was shattered as I noticed his leg
swelling in the same area the cancer had been removed.
Next
> 2nd Growth
