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!

Lumpy

For the past year, Indy's had a little lump on his right hind leg. It started at about the size of a mole, and grew to the size of a dime. When it reached that size, we had it checked out. The doctor said what I had suspected - that she thought it was just a fatty cyst that terrier breeds get (and yes, Indy has got to have some terrier in him). My schnauzer, Ripple, had one for about three years prior to his death at age 17. Indy's much younger, though, he's only 5. The vet thought that if we weren't ready to have a needle biopsy done that we should just keep Indy from licking it and keep an eye on it.


Poor, unsuspecting Indy takes a nap with Lumpy in plain view.

Fast forward to this week. The lump got bigger - about the size of a half dollar. So, we decided it was time to have it checked out again. Indy and I took a trip to the vet (Jason was working). The vet told me that if the lump got much larger it would be really difficult to remove it simply because they have to cut such clean margins, and dogs don't have that much extra skin on their hind legs. Since it was already so large, she thought that they'd have to knock him out for the surgery. Why not have his teeth cleaned at the same time then?

Poor Indy...


Close up of Lumpy the night before it was removed.

On Thursday morning, Jason dropped him at the vet where we had his friend "Lumpy" removed. The vet said the surgery went well, that lumpy came off cleanly and had not grown into the muscle under neath. It was solely in the skin and an easy removal. That's a good sign. Lumpy has been sent off for biopsy and we should have some results tomorrow. We're hoping it's just a benign fatty tumor. It COULD come back some day if that's the case, but at least we don't have to worry that it may have spread. PLUS Indy has squeaky clean, plaque free teeth. The vet said his teeth were pretty healthy!


The scar as it looks today.

Indy will be wearing the cone of shame for the next ten days until the staples are taken out. I shouldn't laugh at him, but he's just so pathetic and completely ungainly. When you hear indy moving through the house it's like thump, thump, thump - he's hitting it on everything and having a really hard time getting through doorways of all things. It's also a snore amplifier. I was awake from 4-6am this morning listening to Indy snore in his megaphone cone. He can't help it, so I just have to laugh about it. Something woke him up in the middle of the night with a bark. Indy then proceeded to fall asleep sitting up. I had to physically lay him down. Poor little guy. He was really out of it!


Indy in his cone of shame. He's also pretty loopy and out of it.

Currently, he's coneless and curled up next to me on the couch where I can see him and keep him from licking at his staples. The cone will go back on him tonight so he doesn't lick while we're sleeping.