Just got back from our trek to K-State to get Syd his 3 month lung radiograph checkup. He was very anxious when we arrived in the lobby and kept jumping up into our laps with his one front leg. People were laughing at his antics. They took him back to the room and the student vet gave him an exam. Said he was looking real good. I mentioned that he had been panting more, even when it's been cold and she listened to his lungs and said the left side seemed a little raspy and she would have the oncologist listen to it. She said his heart sounded great. The oncologist came in and also said he was looking good. She said it wouldn't take very long with the lung radiographs and we could be on our way. She said it wouldn't take more than probably 30 minutes and if we wanted to grab some lunch, they would call us when he was ready.
We ate lunch and did a little shopping and an hour came and went with no phone call, so we went back to check in. They called us on the phone just as we were sitting down. They normally bring Syd up to take us into a room and discuss things, but they did what some other members had warned me about that they always dreaded seeing.....the oncologist saying "let's step into the room to discuss the x-rays" and Sydney was not with them. They said they had taken x-rays of both sides and top and bottom. She said the right lung looked clear! Yay! Then she showed me the xray they had taken on 10/30/03 of his left lung (the one the student vet had said sounded a little raspy). She then showed me the x-ray taken today of his left side and there was a suspicious shadow there. She explained that in the x-rays taken in October, the x-rays caught Syd when he had a full breath in his lungs and thus the lung or something was over the area where today it showed up since the lung weren't as inflated. She said it was about 1/4" width and it looked grayish. It had several white dots throughout it and she explained those were blood vessels "looking" at the camera. I asked her if she thought it was a blood vessel (remembering Cruz) and she said no, it's too big for a blood vessel. She thought it might be some time of non-cancerous legion or it could be the tip of the iceberg and be lung mets nodule. She said whatever it was was NOT causing Syd to pant more. She said since we weren't scheduled to come back until the end of April for lung radiographs, she said we could either bring him back in 1 month and do the x-rays again and if it grows, then she'll suspect a lung mets. If it doesn't grow, then it's a legion or scar from something else. We elected to come back in one month.
Since Syd is on the clinical trial for piroxicam, she explained that he will be on the "P" pill (unk if placebo or piroxicam) until the disease progresses. She said if this thing in his lung increases in size next month, they will take him off the study and break open the code and let me know if he was getting a placebo or piroxicam. She then said I could begin giving him piroxicam if he wasn't already on it because that seems to help them with coughing as the lung mets progresses or I could give him anything else since he would no longer be a part of the study. I told her about the CBC list and all the people who are giving the Artemisinin and supplements. I also mentioned the Metronomic Protocol (although I couldn't remember the name at the time, but told her it was 3 drugs that alternated including piroxicam). She mentioned that she worries about Arte because of the high toxicity propensity of it. I also asked her about the procedure that some other dogs I've heard about (the cutting out of the mets from the lungs). Unfortunately she said for someone to be a candidate for that, they had to have been clear of mets from 9-12 months after chemo. Wouldn't you know it, that Syd would be 3 months shy of that window of opportunity. <sigh> She also said if we did that right now, it would probably be the tip of the iceberg and if we took it out, there would probably be others just popping up like popcorn all over the place. I asked her if, when we came back, that the "thing" had grown, how long would Syd be before he started showing signs of the mets. She said usually 2-4 months before he would start coughing and having a hard time breathing. God, I was hoping he would make it with lungs clear clear to his 1 yr anniversary of his diagnosis. <sigh> She said that we could spend $300 and do a CT scan, but she said that would only show that the possibly nodule is there and wouldn't provide any other answers.
Anyway, I tried to be strong while I asked her the questions and did fairly well. That is until after I made the appt for next month. I sat down in the waiting room with my husband while they went to get Syd and started bawling. My husband said not to worry right now cause they don't even know if it's mets or not, that it could be just a scar or legion from something else. When the student vet brought a refill on our pills, I asked her if they had compared the original lung x-rays we had taken in August to see if they got that area that the one in October was apparently hiding. She said yes, and the one in August was unremarkable. She said even the one in October, even though the lung was extended a little, if that "thing" would have been there, they could have still seen a little bit of it through the tissue, that the tissue wouldn't have made it opaque. I asked her what causes legions that would pop up to look like lung mets and she said bronchitis, pneumonia, extreme coughing, etc. We did tell her (and the oncologist) that he did go through a period of violent dry heaving and vomiting between his 3rd and 5th chemo treatment, perhaps that caused some type of legion on his lung. Does anyone know what might cause legions of this sort? And what do met tumors look like? Are they gray or white? This one was kinda of oblong or rectangle and had white dots through it which were blood vessels. She did write down on our discharge papers that it was a "possible lung met". At least it's just a POSSIBLE one.
So it looks like, once again, Syd is the "odd man out". He was slow in recovery from amp surgery when everyone else did so faster, he got nauseated more during chemo when everyone else was doing so well and now I was really anticipating that he would be a "miracle" dog and have his lungs come back crystal clear so he could be on his way to wonder dog status. Now, I'm back to feeling the same way I did on 8/1/03 when he got his initial diagnosis. I know that there are so many other owners/dogs going through a lot rougher time that me right now, so I feel a little guilty feeling so selfish. But I was SO hoping and praying Syd would be one of those that laughs at the stats for a little while longer. Now I have to start from square one again in my thinking and not be so darn complacent. I guess we'll just sit on pins and needles for another month and hope and pray that it doesn't grow and it's merely something other than a cancer nodule.
I also asked the oncologist if they pass out any info about support groups. She said they had one on campus, but that doesn't seem to be flourishing. She said there was another one in Wichita (where I live), but again, they are having diminished interest. I told her about CBC list, Endless Love, and CanineCancer list and gave her the website to the Canine Cancer Awareness. I didn't realize until someone forwarded one from canineswithcancer and some other canine cancer lists that there were so many others! Thought about making up some business cards with those various groups listed and send them to her to distribute to those people who are interested. Goodness knows it always helps to be able to talk to someone who KNOWS what you are going through because they've walked in your shoes. The folks on these lists are non-judgemental, stress that it is your dog and you have to follow your heart with all the information you get and basically are a support group from beginning to end. They don't dispense medical advice, but share their experiences and how they cope with this disease. They are a godsend. |
