Hey all,

Rudy has had a spot on his leg for many years. I'd say up to 8-9. I have had
all the vets check it out, and it came up, with a needle biopsy, as a lipoma
at first. Then it was diagnosed as a fibroma. We watched it, it has always
been the size of an M&M. I used to tease him when he licked it to not eat
chocolate, so no M&Ms. wry grin
In the past 4 yrs he's developed two more very close to this one. I was
talked out of surgery to remove because of his age and the fact that they
were keeping an eye on it, without change.

Anyway, about two and a half weeks ago, I noticed he'd been licking it
again, for 2 days. I took a look on the second day, (as I had the day before
with no change), and this one was now *outside* of his skin!
It was the size of a marble, discolored, (black to pink to red), looked like
mice had been eatng it, (teeny "scoops" taken out in one area), and it was
hard as a rock. I immediately took him to the vet, who when looking at it
with me, when asked if it was cancer, he couldn't tell without a biopsy. But
from the look of it, he thought the same thing I did, cancer, for sure.

So we had that one and the other two under his skin taken out, right away.
He had to go back in for re-bandaging, as the vet really wanted to keep an
eye on it, healing. The lab misplaced it somehow, and it took about two
weeks for us to get the results.

The vet called this am, about ten minutes ago, and from the caller ID, I
knew.

My baby boy has cancer. Mast cell sarcoma.

In only the one found outside his leg, the other two are fibromas. He's had
this, as I said, for many years, and the vet told me that if it's been 23
'weeks' (I think, maybe months), that it was a good sign that he'd had it
for so long without spreading. He just turned 14 on Valentine's Day and I
know we've been lucky so far. I'm going in to discuss treatment this
afternoon and vet wants to put him on Prednisone, at least, for now.

My very first reaction was chemo. But as I watch my own mom's quality of
life diappear in the past few months, I will NOT do this to Rudy. If he was
much younger, maybe. But I *refuse* to take away from him any last
months/years he has left feeling as good as he does. He will go peacefully
at home, in my arms. If at all possible. Of course, God may choose to take
him in his sleep one night, and that's okay, too. I just can't see any
reason to put him on any meds that may affect his quality of life.

Rudy is still VERY frisky, and has a great appetite. He does not in any way
shape or form, look sick at all. He is such a happy guy, and if I can help
him stay that way until no longer possible, I will.

I know this has been discussed at length on here, but I would certainly
appreciate any views/experience/opinions/whatever, from anyone here.

(The one thing I ask, is please do not quote anything in this thread made by
howe. It will be nasty and ugly and I really don't need to see it. I have
him filtered, and can catch his newer IDs right away and kill file them, so
as long as no one quotes what he says, I can deal. I can deal with/without
him as he's not anybody to me, but I just don't need the added snarky ****
from him. I'm sure that 99.999999999% of you will understand. Thank you)

If you'd prefer, and I would, you can e-mail me directly at
marbethsATcoxDOTnet anytime to share anything with me. I know this is going
to kill me when it happens and I've sworn all my life that the only way I
could LOVE anyone as much as him was if I had given birth to my own child. I
don't have children so he's IT!! My big brave boy,

If you want to e-mail and post, to share with others, that's fine, too.

PHWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW

So there it is, the ONE SINGLE post I've been dreading since I first came on
here when he was about 3 years old.

Thanks to all that have gone before me and can empathize, and to all the
rest who may help.

I keep in mind the one thing I read many years ago about Euthanasia.
"It's the one true biggest gift you can give to your faithful companion.
When you take away his pain and make it your own."

This will help guide me as nothing else can.

Love to all and your beloved pups!

MaryBeth & Rudy

I forgot to add that the cancer is at Stage 2.

Thanks again,
MaryBeth & Rudy

I don't have any helpful infomration to share but I did want to say that
I'll keep my fingers crossed for Rudy.

--
Tara

I'm afraid I can't be helpful either, but I just wanted to extend my deepest
sympathy and support. Day after tomorrow I will find out if we're going
through something similar; Saskia's biopsy turned up "suspected sarcoma". So
I can only imagine how you must feel, and I just wanted to say, well, I'm a
total stranger, but I'm here for you. Rudy will be in my thoughts and in my
version of prayers.
--Katrina

On Mon, 3 Apr 2006 10:21:44 -0500, "Mary Beth"
wrote:

I forgot to add that the cancer is at Stage 2.

Mary Beth, first of all, I'm very sorry to hear about Rudy's
diagnosis. I haven't dealt with mast cell cancer first-hand, but one
of the greyhounds we placed had two or three mast cell tumors removed
over the course of 3 or 4 years. I do not recall at what stage they
were, don't know if they would know. But mast cell cancer didn't take
this dog's life; she developed osteosarcoma and in January,
fortunately while at the vet's, her leg shattered. They didn't do
chemo for the mast cell tumors. Surgical removal alone might buy Rudy
as much time as he'd have anyway, considering his age.

Best wishes.

Mustang Sally

"Mary Beth" wrote:
My very first reaction was chemo. But as I watch my own mom's quality
of life diappear in the past few months, I will NOT do this to Rudy.
If he was much younger, maybe. But I *refuse* to take away from him
any last months/years he has left feeling as good as he does.

The good news is that dogs don't usually suffer the side effects of chemo
and other cancer treatment. At least, that's what I've been told by those
whose dogs have undergone such therapy.

The bad news is that chemo and other treatments only buy a little more
time, at best.

Hugs to Rudy

Mary Healey wrote in
.4:

"Mary Beth" wrote:
My very first reaction was chemo. But as I watch my own mom's quality
of life diappear in the past few months, I will NOT do this to Rudy.
If he was much younger, maybe. But I *refuse* to take away from him
any last months/years he has left feeling as good as he does.

The good news is that dogs don't usually suffer the side effects of
chemo and other cancer treatment. At least, that's what I've been
told by those whose dogs have undergone such therapy.

The bad news is that chemo and other treatments only buy a little more
time, at best.

Hugs to Rudy


Oh, one more thing. Sam had a mast cell tumor removed from his side when
he was ... 9? 10? Something like that. No chemo, just a HUGE incision
site (the hair never did grow back right). Mast cell cancers are nasty and
aggressive but not necessarily untreatable.

"Mary Beth" wrote in message
news:f4bYf.3691$IG.353@dukeread01...
I forgot to add that the cancer is at Stage 2.

There is a difference between the stage and the grade of cancer. I am
assuming that you mean it is a grade II mast cell tumour because staging
involves taking information from xrays , bone marrow aspirates and sometimes
ultrasound exams whereas the grade of a tumour comes from the histology
report. Grade II mast cell tumours do not have a tendency to spread to
other organs (metastasize) but are more likely to recurr in the same
location from which they were removed. You need to ask your vet if the
margins were read for evidence that cancer cells may be outside the margins
of the removed mass. If margins weren't read then ask your vet to request
this be done. If cells are present at the distal margins of the removed
mass then you should arrange to have another surgery to remove as much
tissue as possible from the site. If this is done it is more likely the
mast cell tumour won't grow back.

J. dvm

MaryBeth & Rudy



my thoughts and well wishes are headed your way and I am very sorry for what
you are going through

"Mary Beth" wrote in message
news:mAaYf.3686$IG.3030@dukeread01...
My baby boy has cancer. Mast cell sarcoma.


..........chemo doesn't have much effectiveness with mast cell cancer.
Radiation maybe. But since Rudy has had this spot for so long, and he's at
an advanced age, I wouldn't go off the deep end. In all likelihood he'll
die, not of cancer, but with it. I'd suggest a consult with an oncologist
if you want to explore further options. But keep in mind, that while cancer
is their area of expertise, most medical personnel like to DO something, and
personally I don't think that's always the answer.

Best of luck to you and your boy

buglady
take out the dog before replying