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Weird growth in mouth


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Thank you all. You're support and prayers and good thoughts mean a lot.

 

Here are the results from the lab:

 

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I googled fibrosarcoma and melanosarcoma and then quit looking because I couldn't find anything good.

 

If anyone has any experience I'd love to hear about it.

 

I'm still a mess. Haven't been able to get any sleep because I keep crying every time I try.

 

Crow is great though. He's just as happy and bright and rambunctious as he always is. He and Tess both got a new bone and a new toy today.

 

We have an appointment with the specialist Friday at 9:30. I'll keep you all updated.

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I'm so sorry. Who is your specialist? Are you anywhere near Pennsylvania? If you are I highly recommend contacting Dr. Ann Jeglum at West Chester Oncology services in West Chester, PA. She used to be the head of the Oncology department at University of Pennsylvania. Now she has her own practice. She's extremely intelligent, high energy and at this point in her life has probably seen it all. Even if you aren't too close I'd try to get a phone consult to get her opinion.

I've had experience with fibrosarcomas but never in the mouth. I had a cat with it on his nose but it was low grade and locally reoccured for years and then suddenly quit. The vet I work for has a Jack Russell who had it on his foot. She couldn't stand the thought of amputating his foot so he went for radiation. It has not come back and it's been 5 years. The foot isn't normal (radiation burn) but he is 16 this year and does fine. I'm not familiar with melanosarcoma. I hope further testing comes up with a definite diagnosis.

You and Crow are in my prayers!!!! I never thought this would be the result.

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Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. I wish I had something to offer, but I have only my best wishes and prayers for Crow. I can imagine how shattered you must feel. Hang in there. Don't give up and keep asking questions, go for second opinions and talk to other vets, if you feel that might help. Please keep us informed. God bless you both.

~ Gloria

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Thank you all so much.

 

We are going to Metropolitan Veterinary Specialists in Louisville, KY tomorrow. I honestly don't know anything about the clinic, only that it is the one my regular vet clinic referred me to.

 

Tess and Crow are the first dogs I've owned on my own and even growing up the most intensive things any of our dogs had done was a spay or neuter so to say that I'm a bit overwhelmed right now is an understatement.

 

I will be sure to let everyone know what we find out tomorrow. Thank you all again for your support, it really means a lot.

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Purdue has a really good oncology department if you feel like you want another opinion/option after tomorrows visit.

 

There are a a couple grants available if you meet certain requirements. Let me know if you want to look into that and I'll find the information.

 

Write everything down that you want to discuss as it can be hard to remember everything during the actual visit.

 

Big ((((hugs)))) I'm so very sorry you're going through this with your sweet boy

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Good wishes for tomorrow.

When I did a search for melanosarcoma I realized that it's another name for malignant melanoma. I did know someone who had a schnauzer with it, it was an older dog with other issues so she opted to keep her comfortable but this is what I know (for what it's worth.)

Melanoma is locally aggressive and can spread elsewhere but, you can do surgery, radiation +/- chemo and there is a vaccine out that is supposed to help prevent reoccurance. Perhaps a university is doing a study that you could take part in and they would foot part of the cost.

Fibrosarcoma is locally aggressive but does not spread to other places. That is what my cat had and my boss' dog. My cat had surgery. It did reoccur and then after quite a few surgeries quit coming back. My boss had her dog go for radiation and it never came back (five years later.) Hopefully you will get a definite diagnosis and can form a plan of action to get rid of it for good! The fact that it is in his mouth makes it trickier to attack. I'm sorry you aren't closer to Pennsylvania, Dr. Jeglum is top notch, but if you want a second opinion (honesty, I'd want another lab to look at the biopsy, nothing against Antech) Purdue would be a good option.

At least the biopsy report said intermediate grade and not high grade.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. Update us when you can.

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We went and saw the vet yesterday and they x rayed him and whisked him off to surgery. It was really all a kind of blur.

They had to take some of his top his jaw, three premolars, and had to go into his naval cavity a bit. The good news is they ran blood work and xrayed his chest and it doesn't looks as if the cancer has spread yet. The surgeon was also confident that he was able to get all of the mass and get good margins, but we will know more when we get the results back from the lab.

However as far as prognosis goes they pretty much said that it will come back and as far as treatment goes with the second surgery we've done as much as we can do. We just take it one day at a time until his quality of life is diminished.

He is back home with me now. We go back for a checkup in two weeks to make sure the surgery site is healing properly.

He is exhausted today. Two surgeries in as many weeks is a lot to handle for a little guy. But he is in great spirits. Happy and wiggly like always. I'm already having to take him out in the yard on leash because he wants to run around.

So now I'm just going to make sure that each and every day is fantastic for him and hope the horrible tumor take it times or decides not to grow back at all.

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So glad that they were able to get clean margins. And glad to see his happy face :)

 

I'm truly sorry about the long term prognosis. Cancer sucks at any age but it's just gut wrenching at his age. Did they mention any radiation or chemo after he heals from surgery? Or is that not really an option in this situation?

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Neither are really an option in this situation. Radiation would be really risky because it is so close to his eye. They said this type of cancer doesn't respond to chemo usually.

 

And his age is a factor, because he is so young they said it will just keep coming back and keep coming back. I don't want to put him through treatment after treatment or surgery after surgery and not making any headway.

 

Basically this surgery is to buy us some time. And I hope it buys us a lot. We might know more when the results come back but the vets pretty much said it'll just be a waiting game.

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I'm so sorry. What type of cancer did they decide it is? Where the tumor was, was his gum originally pink or pigmented (black?) When they x-rayed him was the jaw bone affected? Do they check the mitotic (how fast the cells are dividing) index?

I'm praying it will be like Fenser's (my cat) fibrosarcoma and the cancer will give up. No clue why his did. He had many surgeries over the course of several years. Then my vet had told me the tumor was down in his nasal passages and was inoperable. She said when it came back he would need to be euthanized. It never came back. He lived years and years after that. I'm praying for that with you and Crow!!!!

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So very, very sorry! So incredibly hard to believe with such a young dog.

 

I'm glad they got clean margins and am praying for many, many days ahead enjoying life with him to the fullest.

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