Weise's World

Friday is the day, the ultrasound... The moment of truth... I'll update when I know more.

Steven Weise

13 September 2011

I got a call with the results of Jedi's blood workup. Basically nothing conclusive. Various things are slightly off from normal but the markers that were off normal could very well be off normal because of the tumor and the problems associated with it. So nothing definitive.

I also clarified what the 3 possibilities are... I was correct except the first one (benign tumor not on the spleen) is actually a hematoma on the spleen. So in all 3 cases it something on the spleen, either a hematoma or a tumor. In all 3 cases if surgery were to happen the spleen would be removed and then the exact nature of the growth would be determined after removal.

So what's the prognosis?

• For a hematoma (blood clot) - If no surgery is done, the hematoma would either remain the same size or shrink -- it is possible (though he has had this for a year so I would say it is not likely) for it to go away completly without surgery. He would continue to have his pain, ie have difficulty after walks, etc...  So long as it doesn't rupture he should be fine overall. If we do have the surgery, it is curative - the pain would be gone and it wouldn't come back in this form.
• For a Hemangioma (benign tumor) - If no surgery is done then the pain continues as above plus there is a greater chance for a rupture to occur than a hematoma. Surgery for the most part would be curative. It is possible for the tumors to appear on other organs as well, if so, well, not much you can do in most cases. But after surgery the pain would be gone and he should be good for the long haul.
• For a Hemangiosarcoma (malignant tumor) - The outlook is bleak no matter what. I cannot get a definitive answer as to what no surgery would mean in terms of longevity and quality of life. I know he's had this tumor for 11 months as he was having problems walking last November and probably earlier than that. So I don't know what it means if he has cancer and we don't remove it. But if we do remove it then the prognosis is up to 3 months to live if we don't do chemo therapy and up to 6 months if we do. If you do Chemo then the quality of life starts to suffer (which it probably would anyway). There are circumstances that where life continues for a year or longer, but less than 10% do it.

So right now, I don't know what I'm going to do. I did find out that the ultrasound is $450, not $800, so that's ... well... good I guess. The ultrasound would look at the tumor and surrounding organs. If it is cancer and it has metastisized to other organs it may show up as lesions on his kidneys andor liver. That MIGHT be visible. The US also gives a general look at the various organs and whatnot - a final diagnostic step. If that's inconclusive as far as cancer goes then the next step is the big one --- surgery.

So we'll see... I've spent $1000 already, the US would bring that $1450 or so. Surgery would be another $3000. Ouch... If it turns out to be benign then it is all worthwhile... That's the gamble.  

Steven Weise

13 September 2011

Yes, football is back!! The Raiders play tomorrow night (GO RAIDERS - yes, pity me, I am a Raiders fan!!), The 49ers won today - but this story is not about the official start of the football season - but the start of Christian's games!!

Yesterday we officially started the soccer season! We're in division 3 (out of 3) and took on the Rovers. Christian got to play bench, forward, mid-fielder, bench. We have 11 kids on the team and only 7 take the field so there are 4 kids are sitting on the bench each quarter... But everyone plays well on the team and gets along which is good. Overalll Christian was aggressive to the ball and played well, though he peters out quickly (he has speed, not endurance). He needs to remember where he's playing and not just chase the ball all over the field - it'll help him keep some reserves of energy if he's not back playing defense as a forward - plus it'll keep him in the right spot for when the defense takes the ball away and they kick it downfield to a forward --- who should be there.

Today was the first waterpolo game, all teams from the 4 sites came together and played. We were told each site would be a team and play another site, but that didn't happen. They just grouped the kids based on where they were during warm-ups and formed the teams. Christian didn't care - he just had fun playing! Personally, I would like each site as a team so they get used to playing with each other, calling out names and playing like a team. We'll see how it progresses, having fun and learning the game is the most important aspects and he's getting that. Like he did when he tried it back in April. He played aggressively on both defense and offense, passed the ball, shot it (and made it), stole it, blocked it. He cheered when his team scored and jeered when the other team did. He quickly gets into the game. Lots of fun! They got to play 2 games of about 20 minutes each, afterwards he was nice and tired!

  
     (Christian is white #9, his friend Jackson is Blue #10 - first picture he scores a goal, second playing defense)
 
  
                          (passing the ball) 

Steven Weise

12 September 2011

There were 2 main tests included in the $800+ diagnostics... The Blood test was one and we'll get those results on Monday. The other main test was the X-Rays, several of them. Abdomen, back, each hip, each knee, etc. She did say we could hold off on the X-Rays until after the blood tests, but all the blood test would show is if the liver, kidneys, etc were acting properly and it would not show any indications of arthritis or any other joint/bone issues so I just ordered it all at once so we can figure it out...

I was called in late Friday afternoon to review the results:

• Spine/Vertabrae - Each Vertabrae in the spine is evenly spaced and the bones have rounded edges - just what we wanted to see in it, no problems in the back/spine area.
• Hip joints - Both hip joints are slotted properly and nice and smooth. No inflamation, no problems there. In fact the vet said he has the hip joints of a puppy!! Perhaps that's an indication that we haven't taken enough walks - I didn't ask... It was good that there wasn't anything wrong with his hips.
• Knees - Next we looked at his knees - Well, actually we looked at one of them as she said the other looks the exact same. The knee cap is in the proper place and connected with the ligament correctly. The fluid sac is the correct size, his knees also look great. No problems.

So basically the above were the results of the bone and joint analysis, but she did see something else...

On the X-Rays you can get a general shape of each of the internal organs... So what she saw was a mass right near or on his spleen. She said this is very common in older, larger dogs especially German Sherards and retrievers.    So what is it... She listed 3 possibilities:

• A benign tumor that is NOT on his spleen
• A benign tumor that IS on his spleen
• A malignant tumor that IS on his spleen

So we get the blood test back on Monday just to confirm what things look like with his overall system, but that tumor is the main culprit of his pain. So what's next? I have decisions to make... Basically to determine WHERE it is he needs an abdominal ultrasound --- either $400 or $800, I forget... If it's not on his spleen then I think she said we could remove the tumor and everything should be fine. If it is on is spleen then it would require the removal of his spleen... If it's benign then I believe he can live without his spleen and be okay, if it's malignant then it has most likely spread and his life expectancy is about 6 months. The surgery is in the neighborhood of $3000...

I'm right where I didn't want to be... Having to decide between cost of treatment for an animal, quality of life for a pet and longevity of life as a member of our family. For now I wait for the blood test but his diet is being altered to a more cancer friendly diet just in case. Which means wet food, not dry, and preferably home-prepared foods (rice, chicken, etc). This sounds like it's going to be expensive just to feed him now! UGH! I knew I shouldn't have gone to theh vet!!

OH, as for his shots - due to the tumor she did not want to give him the vaccinations but I have a waiver letter from the doctor so hopefully I can still register him, though that is the least of my concerns right now. Sometimes ignorance is bliss!
 

Steven Weise

10 September 2011

For the past year or so Jedi has been having problems walking and getting around --- getting old sucks, but the alternative is worse!! He's been due his rabies vaccine for a while but with him being inside most of the time I haven't been too concerned with it. Got notice that his registration is due --- needs the vaccine for that. There have also been some reports in Sac regarding rabies, so I decided to take him in to the vet...

I've been a bit wishy-washy about taking him to the vets as I'm worried about hearing that he has XYZ wrong and you'll need to spend $XXXX to make things better for him. Not a decision I want to make about a pet, as even though he is a dog he is also a member of the family.

Anyway, I took him in this morning, he's getting the vaccine and then they gave some brief info regarding what I might be able to do to ease his hind leg pain, but that they really needed to do blood work and X-Rays to get down to it all... They estimated the cost at $850!!!! Ouch! Well, I couldn't say no. So now he's there getting his XRays done. We'll see what they say and how much it's going to cost...    

Steven Weise

09 September 2011