Well, today Abby had her lungs rechecked for the first time since her amp/starting chemo. The news wasn’t totally bad, but it wasn’t totally good either. As you probably guessed from the title of this post, there was one spot that the oncologist was concerned about. He said that it is not something we should really worry about or alter our course of action for . . . yet.
First of all, he said it might be nothing – possibly not a met at all, maybe just a little abnormality. He said he needs to get the original x-rays, taken by our regular vet, and compare to see what it looked like before. (When our vet originally took her lung x-rays before her surgery, he said her lungs were clear, but maybe he didn’t notice this small spot, or maybe it’s something that has recently appeared – which would probably not be good news.) On the other hand, if it is in fact a met, the oncologist said a single one is not terrible. He said it’s rare to only have one, but he knew of a dog that had one and it grew into a walnut-size-ish tumor, but wasn’t even what killed the dog in the end. He said Abby could have a single met and still be quite healthy. We’ll see . . .
He said we’ll check her lungs again in about two months and see where we’re at. If it’s all good/looks the same, we’ll go out probably 6 months to a year before rechecking. He said it often happens that after a year, you’ll start to see mets in the lungs. He said that’s not necessarily the end. We could consider another shorter round of chemo, which he has seen add another good year of health to a dog’s life.
Anyway, Abby is now 2/3 of the way done with her chemo. Two more sessions to go! If we keep going on this every-two-weeks schedule, we should be done by January 25th.
We’ll see what happens. I’m a little worried about that damn spot. Worried that we may only have another year or two with our little sweetie, but we’ll see what the original x-ray showed and see what the radiologist thinks.
Even with all that, Abby managed to have some fun at chemo. First of all, she loves to kiss everyone there, and they’re all for it, so she enjoys that. Then, we left to run an errand while she was having her treatment. It was quiet there today so apparently they let her have the run of the place while they were waiting for us to come back. There was a display of toys – a stuffed duck, a tiger, etc. – and other doggy items they’ve been collecting to donate to a shelter. When we first walked in, Abby tried to snitch several of the toys. Well, when we came back to get her, Abby was the proud owner of the stuffed duck. Some poor unfortunate pooch is now not getting a stuffed duck cuz our little cutie talked the gals at the cancer clinic into giving it to her. She is trying to de-quackerize it even as I type. (I don’t know why this print looks so tiny. I couldn’t figure out how to make it bigger! Hope if you made it this far in to the post you don’t need glasses now because of me…)
Thanks for the update. Don’t let that worrying get in the way of enjoying every moment together with Abby. Try to focus on quality of life, not quantity.
Most cancer pups already have what many vets call “micromets” at the time of diagnosis. We chose not to do frequent follow-up x-rays with Jerry, but when we discovered his metastasis we started him on metronomics and K9 Immunity which we believe helped contribute to his longevity.
abby and the duck…sounds like the start of a book!! glad the chemo is two thirds over, and we really hope the spot is just a ‘nothing spot’ too. keep enjoying every moment together, that’s the secret!
charon & gayle
Way to get a duck, Abby! Holly loves ducks, too! And dequackerizing your duck is just the best thing to do.
We’ll keep fingers and paws crossed that the damn spot is nothing to worry about. It sounds like you’re really good at living in the moment – that’s one thing you pups have to teach us pawrents, you know. 🙂
Hugs,
Holly, Zuzu and Susan
We too hope that spot is nothing to worry about.
Your description of Abby at the clinic getting her treatment made me smile. Catie was like that too when she went for her chemo; she loved going there, and demanded kisses and visits from all the staff, no matter how crappy she felt after she left each time. 🙂
Good luck on the xray results; in the meantime, as been said before, keep enjoying each moment with your pretty girl.