I thought this roller coaster ride was over :)
It’s bedtime. I can’t sleep. Barret can’t sleep. He’s licking and biting his incision site until its red and raw. He doesn’t appear to be in any pain and he is on his last week and a half of Gabapentin. Phantom pain hasn’t been an issue since a few weeks post op. So where does this girl’s brain go? Immediately to the Worst Case Scenario.
I’m thinking of calling my vet and asking about metronomic chemo. One half of me thinks its a good idea to try, some preliminary research shows that it does pretty well for soft tissue cancers. The other half says wait until something presents itself before putting those toxins in his body. He is only 4. how long would he be able to tolerate those drugs? A third part of me knows my vet already recommended against it. Surgery was meant to be curative… So should I find another vet? I really wish there was an accurate magic 8 ball for crap like this. Sigh.
Ranting over. Breathing now. Trying to be more dog!
July 30th, 2013 at 3:46 am
I’m not a vet but could Barrett be allergic to the internal sutures for his incision? Codie Rae had problems with her spay site (red and weepy) and it turned out that was the issue. On the face of it I wouldn’t think this would be from cancer recurring or anything like that.
Hope you get to the bottom of it soon. In the meantime do you have a cone of shame alternative you could use to keep Barrett off his incision site? See our latest post at travisray.tripawds.com for a plethora of possibilities….:)
xoxox,
CR’s mom
July 30th, 2013 at 4:21 am
Yeah Codie Ray, my brain immediately went to stitch related too! My thought was that maybe a stitch was actualy left in!
I can’t remeber who, but it seems since I’ve been on this site someone found out the cause of similar behaviour was caused by stitch…or even staple…left in. I don’t think it’s anything more than that at all. It definitely needs to be checked though kf it is stitch related.
Did I read this right? Barret’s surgery “cured” his type of “disease crap”?
I nderstand all to well the agony…..for me anyway, it was agony…of trying to decide which treatment is best and without causing harm. And as so many have said here, it’s always good to get a second opinin.
Sending you some sheep to count, okay? Do ya’ think one thousand will do it?
Lots of love,
Sally and Hapy Hannah
Bless your heart, no matter what’s going on, you keep your sense of humor! Really cute little “cartoons” you slipped in!
July 30th, 2013 at 11:40 am
Thanks guys, Feeling a bit better this morning…
Surgery was supposed to be curative.. BUT with the type of cancer he had, the location and the size of the tumor, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if it started growing back. Hemangiopericytomas are nasty, locally aggressive little buggers.
Its been almost 2 months since surgery, I don’t think its a stitch.. last night was the first night he was bugging at the site… and this morning I found a FLEA on Sara! So much for those natural remedies….. So I think he was scratching because of a flea.
I’m still worried about tumor regrowth, so I started taking a ruler and photographing the surgery site weekly. Only time can tell if anything regrows, I guess. My fear is if I wait too long, with Metronomics even help? Oh boy I am so confused. Guess it is time to call the big guns (the vet).
Thanks everyone, Heather