It’s been not quite a year since I wrote my original post “Fighting K9 Cancer Through Healthy Living”, outlining some of the things we planned to do to hopefully stop Sheba’s spindle cell sarcoma from returning, or to at least slow it down.
We’ll never really know if what we did helped or not. The cancer was most likely not completely removed so was bound to come back anyway. This type of cancer is difficult to remove completely because it sends out little tendrils of cancer everywhere. That was why the second surgery was more extensive than the first. With the second round, which came about 10 months after the first, we found out it was a Grade III type of this cancer which is the worst and it was the most likely to come back regardless of what we did.
First of all, I want to report that right now Sheba is doing very well. She feels great; she’s eating and playing normally. My highest hope for her is that she will be with us through the summer. I still have a few things on her bucket list to accomplish (though because of our impending move we probably won’t get them all). But #1 on that list is getting a pond put in at our new house, and I want her to swim in that pond.
Now as we’ve gone into this second round of fighting, with The Dog Cancer Survival Guide as our main reference, again we’ll never really know for sure if what we’re doing is helping (but we do know that it is not hurting and that it’s making her happy). The cancer is going to come back, it’s just a matter of how much time. It’s not likely to be the 10 months we got before. She already has some lumps and bumps in that area, but some may be scar tissue. She also has some in other places as well, some of those had already been checked so we know they were nothing worrisome.
We opted not to do the radiation which was the only conventional treatment option for this type of cancer. Of course, we had doubts about that decision and that’s where the book helped me. It outlined exactly what the radiation treatments would entail (and confirmed what our own vet told us after looking into it). For this cancer it would mean five treatments per week for one month, each requiring anesthesia. In our case, because there are no canine oncologists near us, it would actually mean leaving Sheba at the treatment center for the full week each time. That’s bad enough, never mind the expense (not that that we would let that stop us) and possible side effects; and the fact that it is not a cure but will only potentially extend her life. I feel much better about our decision knowing all that.
We are also not going to have every lump we find checked out at this point. Sheba will be going for another x-ray of her lungs in about a month, to check if the cancer has metastasized there, and if those are still clear (the original x-ray did show one small spot), we may re-consider that. Our vet has also told us that subsequent lumps can be removed surgically, even if in the same area as the two original surgeries. Again, that is something we will consider when the time comes. We’re just not sure how many surgeries we want to put her through, when what we want the most is for her to be enjoying life. Right now none of the bumps we have found seem to be growing significantly, which was the case before her other surgeries.
With conventional cancer treatments off the table, we have opted for some healthy living choices in these categories:
- Lifestyle
- Diet
- Natural Supplements
I’ll be sharing more about each of these things in subsequent posts. I will also try to share about things we have opted not to try and why. The diet changes are the most involved and will probably require more than one post.
Our main goal here is to keep Sheba happy and feeling good, so we’ve opted for things that have very little potential for side effects of any kind, even if it’s just an upset stomach. We are doing this on our own – our vet does not advise on all natural treatments, other than to say we should be cautious with adding new things and do it one at a time, which is what we have done. Some of the things we were already doing anyway.
It’s tough to make some of these choices. Our dogs can’t tell us what they would like so we have to do our best as humans to try to figure out what that might be. I know there are others that might do more, and others that might do less. I don’t think those decisions are wrong for anyone; I think everyone should do what they feel is best for their pet. My hope in writing this series is that maybe someone might learn even one thing that will help them with their own dog with cancer, or just to learn a little bit about what lifestyle changes might be helpful for even healthy dogs.
My final post in the series will be ways to try to prevent cancer. Almost everything we are doing for Sheba we are doing for Cricket and Luke as well, and will continue to do after Sheba is gone. We’ve had enough cancer in our lives and my hope is that a healthy lifestyle will help all of our pets as well; even though we all know that cancer is insidious and may rear its ugly head in any one of our lives no matter what we do.
Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian and the things we are trying here are our own choice to try, after doing my own research. You should consult your own vet when making any significant changes to your dogs’ diet or lifestyle.
It is never easy to make the kind of decisions you’re being forced to do ongoingly. If it helps, I completely support your approach. I went through a very similar situation with my tripawd, Benji. When the cancer came back he was 13 (almost 14) and at the time I would have had to leave him at the vet school for 6 weeks for radiation treatments and I just could not do that to him. He’d already been through several surgeries and I felt strongly that he should stay at home and enjoy the rest of his time on earch – not be in a strange place with strangers poking, prodding, etc. For me it came down to a decision between quality of life vs quantity. I have a copy of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide and wish it had already been published to help me with Benji. Great book!
It DOES help to know that you support our approach, Sue, and that you made the same choices for your Benji. Thank you so much! ♥
It’s hard sometimes to know what to do, but I think there are no “wrong” decisions in these cases, because we each come to our own decisions based on our love for our pups.
We are also trying hard to keep our Rita cancer-free after losing both Abby and Bailey to it, but it’s hard because it’s such a tricky disease. Cancer sucks!
It certainly does suck! It’s frustrating to think that no matter what we do, it might not make a difference. But I guess all we can do is feel like we’re doing something positive, and hope for the best. I try to just cherish every day that Sheba is feeling well, and not to worry about when that will change.
I’ll be reading this series with interest. My Sinead just went through mast cell tumor removal yesterday, and since her tumor was super close to her eye, they couldn’t do the full margin protocol the books advise. So it’s likely she’ll have “dirty margins,” and I’ll be on the hunt for a solution. I have a feeling that you’ll help me a lot!
Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie
Sorry to hear about Sinead, I hope she is doing well after her surgery. I’d really advise reading the book I mentioned (here’s a link to my review of the book: http://www.afarmgirlsfinds.com/book-review-the-dog-cancer-survival-guide/). I know the book does have a chapter on mast cell tumors as well. I also hope my future posts can help you…I’ll have the next one up next week.
This is SUCH an important post, and I’m so proud of you for putting it out there and sharing your experience. It’s not easy. None of it. The not knowing what’s right, for me, has always been the hardest thing with cancer treatment. Because, really, there’s nothing “right,” just doing what’s the best–which is exactly what you’re doing. Hugs to you and scritches to your sweet pup! (BTW: Can’t WAIT to see the pond you guys put in!! That is so awesome!)
We are SO excited about the pond…it’s about the first thing on our “to do” list!
I agree, there are no rights in this…we just have to follow our hearts, do what we think is right, and hope for the best. I know you know that too well….you have done SO much for your dogs. Thank you for your support, I hope I can do this series justice.
Sheba is blessed to have you all in her life. As I am sure you feel the same way about her. I will pray that she gets to swim in that pond all summer long. Promise me you’ll share plenty of videos with us. God bless you Jan
I promise I will! Thank you so much for your support, Cathy. ♥
Sheba is a very lucky girl to have you!! I’m on the exact same page as you are – I’ve incorporated a ton of lifestyle changes since my girl Missy kicked cancer’s butt almost exactly one year ago, and so far, so good. Both pups just had their annual wellness screen, and their vet was very happy with both pups’ health!
I am looking forward to your series!
I’m so happy for your good news on your pups’ wellness exams! I would be thrilled if we were to get at least another year with Sheba, so I’m glad to hear some of your changes are probably helping.
You are doing a great job with Sheba. I know you have thought all possibilities through. I hope she gets to swim in the new pond!
You are doing great with Sheba! Hang in there and keep up the good work with doing things to hopefully prevent anything else from happening.
I love this series, Jan! And I am so glad that Sheba is doing so well right now!! I will be reading every single part. And Callie will continue watching over Sheba for you, doing her best at being a guardian angel.
Callie is still doing a wonderful job of watching over Sheba!! ♥
As I face some difficult medical decisions with my pets myself, I’m really loving this series. It sucks that you are going through this with Sheba, but as one who tends to process and make decisions the way you do, I love what you are doing for Sheba.
You are right, it is hard, so damn hard, I wish they could tell me what they would want to do. My goal is to be as honest and thoughtful as I can when thinking through the process and hopefully in the end, I will have no regrets about the decisions I’ve made. I’m so grateful to have my husband to help me with these decisions too, I’m sure yours is a great comfort to you as well.
Yes, my hubby is a great comfort too. We tend to think the same way when it comes to things like this (only he doesn’t worry like I do); and he helps to bring me back if I’m on the edge of the cliff thinking we’re making the wrong decisions. 🙂
It is tough to make these sorts of decisions.
I hope that you can keep Sheba happy and enjoy the time you have left with her while she still has a good quality of life.
These decisions are so tough. I hope Sheba does well for as long as possible.
We know you will do whatever is best for Sheba. We purr that she continues to have many good days.
It’s tough to see what Sheba has been through already and no radiation, etc. is a choice definitely for the benefit of the dog. We hope that your bucket list for Sheba will be for her, though and not what you want. But we are pretty sure that everything you do is with Sheba’s best interest in mind. Love Dolly
Thank you, Dolly, I am definitely trying to keep that in mind as we go through this. Keeping Sheba as stress-free as possible is one of our goals, so that means everything has to be for her benefit and enjoyment.
((hugs)) I hope that Sheba is able to be as happy as she can for as long as possible. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. <3
Thank you so much, Lauren. The support and understanding of friends like you is such a great help to me going through this.
This is going to be tough series for me to follow, but I’m going to read every post, because there is so much for me to learn. Thank you for being so forthcoming.
It is tough to make those decisions, but whereas radiation or surgery may add years to a human life, they only seem to add months to a dog’s life and when you figure in recovery time, it doesn’t always seem worth it. We pray she will continue to feel good for as long as possible and the cancer will come back very slowly.
It is such a difficult journey but Sheba is very lucky to have loving parents to take the journey with her. I am sending all sorts of love and POTP your way. ♥
Very important post since we experienced it with my Benny boy
Snorts,
Lily & Edward
it is a hard decision and I think you made the right one… I wish you that Sheba does very very well for a very long time…POTP and crossed paws for a lot of time …