reprieve for Boris
Couple weeks ago I had a long talk with the surgeon who initally treated Boris. He said that due to the type (level 3 fibrosarcoma) and location of the tumor (sinuses), the best course of treatment would be a partial maxillectomy followed by radiation therapy. For those not up on the lingo, a maxillectomy means removing part of the upper jaw. The doc said he might be able to save the upper left canine, but Boris would most likely lose the back left part of his upper jaw, plus most of his palate. Said he'd have to take a CAT scan to say exactly.
I asked about the side effects of radiation therapy. The doc said that since his head would be in the target area, mucositis and cataracts were very real risks. Evidently mucositis is painful bleeding and inflammation of the mucous membranes in the mouth.
The kicker is that the doc said Boris would be lucky to live a year.
I didn't like any of that, though I figured he was right, and took Boris to his usual vet for a second opinion. She looked at all the lab work, and examined Boris, and pretty much agreed with the surgeon's assessment. She went into detail on the level of post-surgical care that Boris would require with an open palate - saline irrigation after each meal, constant lab cultures and antibiotics, the constant risk of pneumonia and sinus infections. Carolyn and I have long agreed that quality of life is the most important thing for our dogs, and we agreed that we couldn't subject Boris to all that disfiguring surgery and lingering discomfort.
From the vet we took Boris and Natasha to the park. They had a nice walk, got to chase the ball for a good long time, and once we wore them out we took some pictures. A friend loaned us her Canon digital camera and the pictures came out awesome. Then we gave them a bath.
That following Monday we put Boris in for his second surgery. In this procedure they just debulked the mass in his mouth - which had grown back to its original size. The surgeon actually went beyond the plane of the palate and left the tumor surface somewhat concave. There's still plenty of tumor material in his sinuses, and both doctors warned us that every time you poke or cut a tumor, it stimulates growth. Oh well.
He did fine all last week and really seemed to be bouncing back. We went to the beach on Saturday - even though it was kind of cold and windy. I threw their floaty toy into the ocean for over an hour and a half, and Boris still didn't want to leave. It was kind of goofy - when I put the toy back in the wagon, he tried to get it back out. When I finally convinced him to leave it, he grabbed a towel from the wagon instead and ran back to the water with it. I think he had a really good time. But he didn't eat anything when we got home - you'd think that between the exertion and the cold that he'd be starving.
The next day (Sunday) I took him for a five mile run with me. I've been running the Ravenel Bridge with some folks from work - 2.5 miles each way, so across and back is 5 miles. When I was leaving the house, he saw the running shoes and shorts and pretty much insisted on going. I've run him with me in a couple of 5k races, but nothing this long. He did fine, and thoroughly enjoyed himself, but still didn't eat anything.
Monday I got some A/D for him - A/D is a special food for animals recovering from trauma or surgery. It's very high in fat - we like to say it's half crack and half Crisco. Anyway, he ate two cans of the stuff. I was happy.
Tuesday he wouldn't touch the stuff. I was bummed and C took him to the vet. Turns out the tumor is growing up and in, rather than down into his mouth. It's putting pressure on his left eye, which looks a bit swollen, and is causing pain. We made plans to euthanize him on Friday, took him home and gave him pain meds.
But now he seems to be rallying. We keep up the pain meds - he gets both a morphine-like med and an ibuprofen-like med. He's up to three cans of A/D a day and might hit four today. He seems more perky. We can't bring ourselves to put him down when he seems fine outwardly. If he wasn't eating any more it would be an easier decision to make.
So it's another week of wait-and-see. At least we get to have our pup for a while longer.
I asked about the side effects of radiation therapy. The doc said that since his head would be in the target area, mucositis and cataracts were very real risks. Evidently mucositis is painful bleeding and inflammation of the mucous membranes in the mouth.
The kicker is that the doc said Boris would be lucky to live a year.
I didn't like any of that, though I figured he was right, and took Boris to his usual vet for a second opinion. She looked at all the lab work, and examined Boris, and pretty much agreed with the surgeon's assessment. She went into detail on the level of post-surgical care that Boris would require with an open palate - saline irrigation after each meal, constant lab cultures and antibiotics, the constant risk of pneumonia and sinus infections. Carolyn and I have long agreed that quality of life is the most important thing for our dogs, and we agreed that we couldn't subject Boris to all that disfiguring surgery and lingering discomfort.
From the vet we took Boris and Natasha to the park. They had a nice walk, got to chase the ball for a good long time, and once we wore them out we took some pictures. A friend loaned us her Canon digital camera and the pictures came out awesome. Then we gave them a bath.
That following Monday we put Boris in for his second surgery. In this procedure they just debulked the mass in his mouth - which had grown back to its original size. The surgeon actually went beyond the plane of the palate and left the tumor surface somewhat concave. There's still plenty of tumor material in his sinuses, and both doctors warned us that every time you poke or cut a tumor, it stimulates growth. Oh well.
He did fine all last week and really seemed to be bouncing back. We went to the beach on Saturday - even though it was kind of cold and windy. I threw their floaty toy into the ocean for over an hour and a half, and Boris still didn't want to leave. It was kind of goofy - when I put the toy back in the wagon, he tried to get it back out. When I finally convinced him to leave it, he grabbed a towel from the wagon instead and ran back to the water with it. I think he had a really good time. But he didn't eat anything when we got home - you'd think that between the exertion and the cold that he'd be starving.
The next day (Sunday) I took him for a five mile run with me. I've been running the Ravenel Bridge with some folks from work - 2.5 miles each way, so across and back is 5 miles. When I was leaving the house, he saw the running shoes and shorts and pretty much insisted on going. I've run him with me in a couple of 5k races, but nothing this long. He did fine, and thoroughly enjoyed himself, but still didn't eat anything.
Monday I got some A/D for him - A/D is a special food for animals recovering from trauma or surgery. It's very high in fat - we like to say it's half crack and half Crisco. Anyway, he ate two cans of the stuff. I was happy.
Tuesday he wouldn't touch the stuff. I was bummed and C took him to the vet. Turns out the tumor is growing up and in, rather than down into his mouth. It's putting pressure on his left eye, which looks a bit swollen, and is causing pain. We made plans to euthanize him on Friday, took him home and gave him pain meds.
But now he seems to be rallying. We keep up the pain meds - he gets both a morphine-like med and an ibuprofen-like med. He's up to three cans of A/D a day and might hit four today. He seems more perky. We can't bring ourselves to put him down when he seems fine outwardly. If he wasn't eating any more it would be an easier decision to make.
So it's another week of wait-and-see. At least we get to have our pup for a while longer.