|
My best friend Reggie had a splenectomy today after the discovery of a ruptured hemangiosarcoma. Hoping he makes it through recovery, he had lost a fair amount of blood and was anemic prior to surgery. My vet said he has 6 months, but I'm seeing 1-3 months in online studies, because I'm doing the classic panic move of reading all about cancer after a cancer diagnosis. I don't think I can afford chemo, which is apparently like 3-5k and I just spent $2k on the surgery so that I didn't have to put him down today. He turns 8 next month  I don't necessarily expect any help or advice, I'm just despondent and looking to vent.
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2020 21:45
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 10:52 |
|
|
Reggie survived surgery and he's home with me now, he's so full of energy, it kills me to know that he can't just fight it off. Is there anything I can do to improve his situation? Far as nutrition or supplements of any kind? Right now they just have him on painkillers and antibiotics for his scar
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2020 22:04
|
|
|
Some of my friends Venmo'd me $400 to help pay for the surgery 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2020 22:06
|
|
|
YourCreation posted:Sorry to hear about Reggie. Not a whole lot I'm afraid. Just focus on him enjoying all of the dog things he likes until he's not able to do those things anymore 8( He was suddenly lethargic for 2 days, starting to get bloated, lose balance. One night it got really scary and he couldn't get up on the bed. Next morning we went to the vet first thing, doc gave him an exam, drew blood from his belly, one of the two tumors on his spleen had ruptured. They took him into surgery within an hour. He recovered super quickly and was h home the next day. Staples out next week. His passion for life is still there, he wants to play soccer like we do every day but I can't let him run, so we walk around a bit, and I pet him. I hope he can make it past the summer, I finally saved enough to afford a down payment on a house in 2018 and this was going to be our second summer with a big back yard to our own. It's odd because I've been here before with my human best friend in 2013, who died of clear cell sarcoma, an incredibly rare tendon cancer that was truly horrifying. I know what's coming and I can only hope he can heal up quickly and get back on the pitch for a few months. Is there a consistent decline in health with this condition or do things just eventually reach a state where he'll become sluggish again? God it's just so hard even to write all this. He's a being of pure love, and my heart breaks every time he does something he's done a thousand times, whether it's pop up whenever I stand up, or grab his ball from the back step when we go outside.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2020 01:58
|
|
|
YourCreation posted:Just to clarify - have they confirmed the diagnosis by sending the spleen out to a lab or is this based on best guess +/- some X-rays of the chest? I only ask because ~2/3 of the time there is cancer and ~1/3 of the time it is benign (roughly). It was confirmed. Fortunately he recovered from surgery quickly and has been pretty energetic over the last couple weeks. We spent his 8th birthday out at a park yesterday, and he was doing well. Selfishly, I'm really glad I'm able to work from home during this COVID crisis, because I spend every hour with Reggie.    
|
|
#
¿
Apr 9, 2020 15:38
|
|