Spanky is back home today after having a massive primary lung tumor removed yesterday. The entire right caudal lobe (the largest part of the lung) was excised. What was initially diagnosed as a seed abscess in her lung turned into something far more sinister and her condition was rapidly deteriorating. Her post surgical prognosis will depend on how the histo-pathology comes back. If it is good news, the surgery should allow her a normal life again. If it is an aggressive form of cancer, it will come back with a vengeance and there is no chemo that will stop it.
Spanky initially presented in June with textbook lung tumor symptoms. Weight loss, lethargy, no fever, coughing and her chest xray showed a large mass in her lungs. To complicate matters she responded well to antibiotics and prednisone, but the progress was unsustainable, often leaving her feeling worse. In all fairness to my general practitioner, I have had a dog (Mia) go down hard from a seed to the lung, about the same time of year, when the brome is going to seed. When taking into account the many other seed/awn injuries my dogs have had over the years, I suppose it wouldn't be hard for him to assume Spanky's mass was yet another field related abscess upon taking the initial xray. However, it should be noted that Mia presented with a fever of 106F, and an obvious infection with a cough. Spanky's condition was different and although I went along with the initial diagnosis of seed abscess, on multiple ocassions I asked our vet about a possible tumor. Google and the amazing Merck veterinary manuals make it easy to look up things, afterall. We tried many different medications and treatments over a period of months.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to get a second opinion from a specialist when nothing your general practitioner does is working. The money wasted following our GP's (clueless) course of action far outweighed the consultation and surgery fees by a specialized vet who sees lumps and bumps, inside and out, all day long. It took the specialist one look at her xray to know exactly what it was! One week later it was out. Now we wait...
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