Confused and Overwhelmed-Diagnosed Anal Sac Carcinoma (Woody has passed)

Oh dear...I am so sorry to read the news of Woody's diagnosis. You have a lot to think over...but there are options that could work. I hope once you can sit with the oncologist and get more detailed information you will feel better able to decide what would be best for Woody.
Thinking of you and hoping for the best.

Barbara

Hi Tracy

I am back! I have had a bit of a lookaround at some of the websites detailing this condition. Just a wee word of caution when you do start to research it, just be careful what you look at. A lot of them are vet websites that are not involved in a lot of research. The website I have selected to post to you in is from the Veterinary Society of Surgical Oncology. I believe this is good information from a society who are focussed on cancer surgery in our pets. They also outline the medical treatments if that is the path pet owners decide to go down.

The treatment of choice appears to be surgery to remove the tumour plus any affected lymph nodes, with radiotherapy to zap any local recurrence +/- chemo. Did they mention if the lymph node they have biopsied from Woody was affected? But surgery plus radiotherapy does appear to give the best options for longer survival. High calcium is common in these dogs as parathyroid hormones come into play and high calcium can affect the kidneys and maybe causing the excessive drinking and peeing you are seeing with Woody, you have mentioned it had been elevated on earlier posts but his latest one is OK, so that has to be good!!! The other good thing is that Woody is on Fortekor (Benzapril) which is a kidney protector as well as helping his heart murmur. What were his kidney tests? Creatinine and BUN?

They list the prognosis as fair to GOOD for this type of tumour!! So by golly we are sticking to the GOOD end of that spectrum! :D They include mean survival times and disease free intervals so only have a look at this if you feel up to it, you may want to spend the weekend loving your gorgeous little Woody and deal with all this next week before you see the oncologist. But some of the dogs can live over three years.

It is a tough road to be sure, I know exactly how you are feeling as I have been given the news that my dog has cancer twice, first in his liver when he was 10, where he went from nearly being put down to having major surgery to remove a large tumour that had spread out of his liver onto the omentum (that was two years ago!), no sign of any recurrence at followup scans so far, fingers crossed! Then adrenal cancer which was also operated on (10 months ago), doing good from that one too so far. I wanted to give you some hope telling you these stories Tracy, so once you get over the shock of the initial diagnosis we will most certainly help you look at what needs to be done.

I refuse to look at numbers, my dog Flynn is not a number and neither is Woody! The specialist veterinary surgeons these days are an impressive bunch and we will help you put a list of questions together to ask if you decide that going to see the oncologist is the way to go for you guys.

Hope you got some sleep, I am not going out tonight so might be about when you get up later on if you want to talk more xx

http://www.vsso.org/Anal_Sac_Tumors.html

Hi Tracy... just reading now about the news and Woody. Never give up hope, dogs are miracles in themselves.

I know exactly how you feel watching Woody play normally, meanwhile knowing they have major problems.

We are here for you every step of the way, and I'm happy to hear there are options. No matter which one you choose, I'm sure it will be the best decision.

We are all praying for the best outcome possible. Hope you can get some rest.

Oh my goddess Trish I can't believe you went to all that trouble for me and Woody and everyone else who has replied when you all have your own troubles. Today is a new day yesterday I spent it mostly crying and feeling sorry for myself but today I'm feeling stronger specially when I look at him with his little wiggly stump of a tail asking for food. He,s not aware he has cancer so I should take my lead from him. I am going to take the ongologist appointment I owe him that much it can't hurt to find out more of what is going on inside him. Trish you really are an angel x

God Bless you for taking Woody out of the rescue and giving him the home he deserves. Tipper has a heart murmur, and also has patella problems. I am hoping that Woody will be here for a long while. There were many options I read about so there is hope. Blessings
Patti

Appointment is booked with the oncologist for the 15th October at 10 am gulp.

We,ve had a really good weekend, Woody has been really naughty :p He has been getting away with all sorts this weekend like jumping up on my mums table to look out the window which he knows he,s not allowed to do but my mum just let him, we,ve been up the woods for the first time in ages and he even tried to chase a wild rabbit which again he,s not allowed usually to do but hay he was having fun :D To see him do all this made my mind up that I was going to do my best to fix this little problem that he has. I know this is serious but I,ve tried to find the humour in it all and have named the tumour Terry I don,t like saying Cancer and to be honest it is the only way I,m going to get through this. I,m all cried out for the moment and need to be pro active in this.

I have read the link that Trish so kindly gave me and I,m taking the positive from it. So I have 8 days to come up with a list of questions I need to ask the oncologist so if anyone has any ideas please can you let me know.

Glad to hear you are back on here. I read many things suggesting this is not the end for Woody. The things I would want to know are:
How long will this operation prolong his life?
How much of a recovery period?
Have you ever done this operation before? What was the outcome?
Is he a good candidate for this operation?
Will you know if this has spread elsewhere before undergoing this? What is the size of the tumor?
What are the chances of this being successful in removing all the cancer?
I am so sorry that you have to go thru this. I know it is without a doubt the most heartbreaking thing to find cancer in your dog. Please pray to God for mercy for Woody. Maybe Woody will have a miracle and all this will be behind you. I am praying for you both. Blessings
Patti

That's a great attitude! :):cool: And, we gonna put our boxin' gloves on and whup Terry's BUTT!

Patti - he will be getting more tests on the 15th Oct a prostate flush which should tell us if it has spread to the prostrate and anywhere else.

Leslie - Thank you for changing Woody,s thread title and yes the boxing gloves are on, I can,t and won,t give up on this little man yet. I made him a promise when I took him out the rescue centre that he would never suffer again and that I would give him the best life possible and as there are still some possibilities for him then I will keep this promise to him, cause he deserves the best my little Woodydog ;)

You go!! Get those gloves on and save this dog! I am behind you 100%. When you get fighting mad it makes things happen. I am glad you are up and ready to battle Terry. We will all help you win this battle with Terry. Woody has a wonderful advocate. Just keep up the attitude and Woody will come thru this. I am so glad to see someone else get mad like I do and get ready to whip butt on Terry. Blessings
Patti