The C Word

My last post was all about Indy's lump. Yesterday the results from the testing on Indy's removed lump came back - and it came with the C-Word - Cancer.

Indy's lump was a Stage II Mast Cell Tumor. Stage 2 is the in between - it's not benign, but as far as they can tell it's not super aggressive. What this means is that Indy will go back in for more surgery this Thursday to remove more skin and make sure they have clean margins. They will also be checking his lymph nodes to see if the cancer has spread or if it's solely located in the skin of his right hind leg.

There are a few things about Indy's tumor that give us some hope - if the dog has had it for months or years it usually means it's less aggressive. Indy's lump started about two years ago, and when Jason first had it checked out, his vet at the time said it was just a fatty tumor and wasn't harmful. Second, Indy's blood panel from before his first surgery didn't show any signs of cancer - which means it's more likely that it's just located in the skin of that leg and one more surgery should handle it.

Either way, we're grateful that Indy has no idea what's going on. He's just being himself and bringing us joy. He's such a funny dog with such a vibrant personality. Indy's almost impossible to keep still - we're trying to keep him from moving around so much so his staples can heal (Less important now since they'll be opening it back up this week). Add to that the fact that he's decided that his cone of shame should not be an impediment - he has virtually destroyed it in the last two days since he discovered that he can force it past anything he catches on. He's pulled some chairs around my kitchen already, and we just came home to find him in his crate (we're crating him while he's healing so he doesn't tear his staples when we're not home) with his cone looking like this:


Notice the damage from yesterday on the bottom left, and the new damage from the top left! He's a wild man!

Tomorrow I'll break down and buy him the inflatable neck collar at Petsmart to replace the broken cone. Since Indy's decided the cone is no impediment, it's downright dangerous to us - Indy will just continue jab those sharp edges into our legs.

We're just praying that Thursday's surgery will be the end of his mast cell tumor. We're trying to wait until we hear the verdict to make any more decisions.

You can read more about Mast Cell Tumors by clicking here.

Please pray for us and our little Indy!