Dawn's Brandy: Good News on Lumps

[k9diabetes]

I picked this up from the CDMB and wanted to post it here for Brandy's friends here:

May 9th:

Back from the vet. We found another lump on her side. This lump is just a fattie lump. The lump on her knee has Sarcoma cells. The vet was very concerned. He said it need to be taken off ASAP. So surgery is set for Tuesday. No food or insulin in the morning Brandy get sick. He will watch her BG and give insulin if needed. But everything else checks out. Her heart is strong no sign of a mumur (doberman are known to get them). He want to do a the blood panel the same morning. Just to make sure everthing is ok just before the surgery.

I have started to do some search on Sarcoma cells. It didn't sound good. So I just stopped for now. If anyone has any site for this I would love to see. My brain is still in fog mode.

Good thought and prayer please.


May 10th

Thank you all for the kind responses. You are right I have been reading to much. My brain is in overload. The vet said he saw some sarcoma cells. He didn't say if it was cancerous. He would need to wait for the path report to tell him. The girls and I were working in the yard today. We had a wonderful day together. I needed to keep my mind busy. I was crying and doing yard work. My wonderful hubby ask me what is wrong. So I was explaining all that I have read. He asked me what is the most important thing to do? I didn't know the answer. He said silly it simple!! Getting Brandy through surgery and worry about the rest when you know for sure. You need to put it in gods hands. So that is the plan for now.


Today

BRANDY POST:

Thank you all for the good thoughts and prayers. You are all the best!!! You keep my mom from going crazy. She wouldn't let me sleep last night every hour she keep kissing me and asking me if was ok. All I wanted to do was sleep.

MOM POST:
Well when I pick up Brandy last night. I was waiting at the vet office. It was so busy everyone was picking up their babys after surgery. The vet walk through and saw me waiting and said" she is ok". A few minutes later her come Brandy with her favorite vet tech. She tells me Doctor said "Brandy mommie is waiting you better take Brandy out to her mom or she will be back her to see for herself". LOL Did my face look that bad? LOL
She got home and went pottie for like 10 minutes(Brandy hates to pee anywhere but her own yard). She came in the house and drank a gallon of water. She just kept wanting to drink, I ended up taking the water bowl away (I know bad for a diabetic I was afraid she would get sick). So tried to give her dinner. Took fasting BG and it was 485 WOW. That explained all the water. Vet told me to feed canned food. Brandy will not eat any canned food. So I ground up her kibble and mixed it with water and ground turkey. I ended up spoon feeding her. Gave her 26 units of insulin. Don't worry I gave her the water bowl back. I would put two cups of water in the bowl every half hour. After about 3 hours she stopped emptying the bowl so I just filled it with water.

This morning fasting was 169 Yeah!!! She ate her ground up breakfast all by herself. Gave 23 units of insulin. Tested 3 hours later and it was 189. I wonder if the ground up food had anything to do with the lower fasting (fasting are 250 normal).

BRANDY POST:
Mom went to work this morning. She came back home before dad left for work. Now she tells me she going back to work later. Mary will come and babysit for 3 hours. Then she will go back to work tonight after dad get home from work. What does she think I am a baby. Will someone please give my mom some. She will not leave me alone.

Sorry I got so long winded.


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[bowens2]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

My prayers are with you and Brandy.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Dawn,

Just want you to know that I'm thinking of you and Brandy and hoping for good news from the pathology report. I'm thrilled to hear that she cruised through the surgery.

Natalie

[Brandy mom]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Natalie
Thank you for posting this. That was a nice thing to do. The vet has called every day to check on Brandy. I keep asking if the report is in. No it will take 5-10 days. GGGGGGRRRRRR I ask him for an opinion. He will not give me one after Penny. But he did tell me the lump was encased(what ever that means) and he took a larger margin than normal. When I asked why he told me that it could have roots that he could not see and wanted to make sure he got it all. So we are still in the waiting mode. I trying to stay positive.

For anyone who want to know. Penny (non diabetic) had a lump removed for her lip in October. The vet thought it was nothing serious. When he ask me if I wanted the path report done. I said if it was your dog, what would you do? So he sent it in. To his surprise it came back cancer. Well the lump hasn't come back. So we are in the wait and see mode. Now he will not give his opinion on a lump until he has seen a report or look at it under a scope.

Dawn and the girls

[rhodesian46]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Hi Dawn,
You have to stay positive or worry will kill you. I have been in your shoes with my boxer Kahlua that has had mast cell cancer stage 1 and 2 The last surgery was not cancer and I had to wait 4 days!!! Kick back and try to relax All will turn out fine. Pebbles sends hugs to Brandy!!

[Brandy mom]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

I at work and can't post all the information. The vet just called and it IS NOT CANCER. I just wanted to share this with everyone.

Dawn and the girls

[Brandy mom]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Ok here is what the vet told me. I don't have the path report yet. It was a spindle cell tumor. It had a few other names but I can't remember. It is a type of tumor that attack the musle. The path report said all the margin were clean. YEAH!!! But can't say if it will come back. So we need to be checked every 6 months or sooner if I see anything.

The other thing the vet said is it can be treated with predsone after it is removed. This wasn't recomended on the report. Just some research he has done. But with Brandy being diabetic he doesn't want to do this unless necessary. Brandy had such high BG spikes from the predsone eye drops and that was a small amount. The amount that would need to be taken is much larger.

So it is still a wait and see thing. So now I have two dogs that have to be checked for lumps every six months.

Now that Brandy has her own thread. I need to tell you her story. Soon I will try and post it in the other form.

Dawn and the girls

[We Hope]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Good News Deserves Some Posies!

[k9diabetes]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Hi Dawn,

I'm so relieved to hear that the margins are clean!!!

According to this, the prognosis is very good when that's the case: http://www.swvets.com/downloads/Cani...e_Sarcomas.pdf

Sending Brandy a huge hug,

Natalie

[Jody]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Dawn - wonderful NEWS! You must be elated! Now go and check on Brandy and make sure she's OKAY! Hi Brandy!! Jody

[eyelostit]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

I'm so happy you got good news, its enough to drive ya nuts when they get these things!!!

[ladysmom06]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Hi Dawn,

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!! Hugs to you and Brandy.

[Brandy mom]

Brandy 6 month eye check up

Cateract surgery on July 3, 2006. Right eye only the left eye showed some partial retinal detachment

The bad news first. Both eyes have some mild uveitis. So she will be back on the predisonlone eye drops for another month. She has been off these drop for almost 5 months. So here we go again with the wackie BG again. The opth vet said on a scale of 1-4 left eye was a -1 and right eye was a 1+. So it not to bad. We have caught it early. I notice both eyes a little red after she had the lump removed. He said it could of been there all along and the surgery just made it a little worse.

The good news. Schirmer tear test was great in both eyes. >15 minutes. So no sign of dry eye.

The better news. The pressure in both eyes was 5. So no sign of glucoma.

The best news. The left eye(non surgery eye) has regained most of it sight. The cateract has started to clear. He can see most of the retina in this eye. It appears to be normal. And her vision is good. He did notices this 6 months ago. But didn't know how much sight would return. He has never had this happen in all his years. So he was very pleased.

We are still going to use the Flurbiprofen drops. Twice a day in the right eye and once in the left.

Dawn and the girls

[k9diabetes]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

Can you use the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drops for uveitis?

Chris' Voltaren is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that he gets for inflammation from existing cataracts.

It is a lot more expensive but Voltaren here is now available as a generic (Diclofenac) so has dropped in price.

It's our veterinary ophthalmologist's first choice for cataract inflammation.

The cataracts do sometimes break down and clear. But that process is very inflammatory so is likely also the source of her uveitis as well.

From: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1945&SourceID=

What Does it Mean when a Cataract is Mature?

A cataract’s maturity is determined by how much visual impairment is felt to be present. Since we cannot as a dog to read an eye chart, we must determine this by visual inspection of the eye. A light is used to look into the eye and view the colorful area at the back of the eye called the tapetum. (This is the area that flashes or appears colored in certain lighting.) When less than 10% of the tapetum is obstructed is very young and does not significantly change vision. When 10% to 50% of the tapetum is obstructed this cataract is called “early immature.” When 51% to 99% is obstructed, the cataract is “late immature.” The mature cataract obstructs the entire tapetum. Ideally a cataract is removed in the early immature stage for the lowest surgical complication rate.

When a cataract is “hypermature,” it is starting to actually liquefy and dissolve. While this can actually lead to the restoration of vision which sounds like a positive turn of events but the dissolution process is quite inflammatory.

All cataracts do not progress all the way to hypermature and may stay static or progress at changing rates; however, diabetic cataracts are notorious for reaching hypermaturity and creating inflammation.

What is Uveitis?

Uveitis is inflammation of the uveal tract of the eye, which consists of the vascular tissues of the eye. In simpler terms, uveitis is the inflammation that results when the hypermature cataract begins to liquefy. Uveitis is painful and tends to cause the eye to become reddened and the pupil to constrict. When uveitis is present prior to surgery, success (pain-free vision) is present in only 50% of cases 6 months after surgery as opposed to 95% of cases for whom there was no uveitis preoperatively.

[Brandy mom]

Re: Dawn's Brandy: Surgery, lump removal

How can you find all that information? Wow You amaze me!!

Brandy was on Diclofenac last year. For some reason this drop brother her eyes. We tried it for a few weeks and Brandy would just keep rubbing her eyes. I was afraid she would do some damage. So we put her back on Flurbrophen. This isn't the vet first choice but it will work. The vet told me that Flurbrophen can cause a spike in pressure. So he doesn't want to use it more than twice a day.

That is what the vet called it a hypermature cateract. I didn't notices this until this morning on the instruction. The uvitus is worse in the right eye that is the one that had the lens implanted. So that is why we are using the prednisone drops. I found that if I give them to Brandy 1/2 hour before she peaks the lowest that helps. It only for a few weeks this time. She was on prednisone drops for a year. I just hate seeing number in the low 300's. But if I try and increase the insulin she will drop to low. Then we end up bouncing between highs and lows. So even thought the number are higher I would rather see a flat curve. I don't know what is worse the bouncing or the higher numbers.

Dawn and the girls