World wide web meet Skizzles tumor

So you know how normally when a doctor shows you an x ray or a cat scan (i'm sure at some point you have experienced this) you have no idea what you are looking at and you just sort of nod and make mumbling noises suggesting you know what they are talking about... well quite obviously this is not the case here. See that ginormous grotesque white blob on the left side of the cat scan, that is Skye's tumor. Now for those of you who have looked at Skye's pictures, you can see how big it is from the outside, well, its twice as big on the inside. I practically fell over when I saw these images… her left kidney is now on the right side of her body. This only further amazed me at how happy she still is.

She had her first round of radiation today, and although I had been told by doctors that most dogs deal with radiation fine, I still expected a sick dog when I picked her up. But this was not the case she came bounding out the door wiggling like she does when she gets excited to see you.

We decided to go ahead with what they call palliative radiation for Skye Different to normal radiation; it is given in fewer visits and is done in much stronger doses. It has less initial side effects, but can lead to larger issues in the future. This was a hard decision that my dad helped me to come to, this approach is more to help her quality of life, than to cure her. We didn’t want to put a 17 year old dog through surgery and multiple radiation treatments, creating a sore seeping wound on her side.

So Skye will hopefully get another 6 months maybe a year (however long it takes for the tumor to grow back), I am doing this in a hopes that old age will get Skizzle and one night she will go to sleep and won’t wake up. The truth is even if we did everything to “fix” Skizzle, it would not only probably make her miserable but inevitably microscopic cancer cells would be left in her body and probably another tumor would get her eventually if this one doesn’t. This has been a hard realization to come to, but who knows maybe it will take another year to grow back and that’s a lot of time for an old dog.

I just want to give her (and I) a little more time while she does still enjoy life (in particular English Cheddar cheese). I promised my dad I won’t be selfish and put the dog through suffering just because I don’t want to say goodbye.

New to blogging

While i was at the veterinary office today with Skye, my big sister was busy making this blog for me. I am totally new to blogging, this is partially because i was clueless as to how to set it up and use it, so i appreciate my sister doing this for me. :-) Thanks Nic

Nic has written a quick description of what is going on with Skye, but to fill you in more, she has a spindle cell Sarcoma on the left side of her abdomen which is twice as big on the inside of her body as it is on the outside. It has pushed all of her organs to the right side of her body cavity and the tumor is growing rapidly, should it go untreated it will lead to a miserable and painful death for my dog.

To those of you who may think the best thing for Skye at 17 would be to humanely euthanize her, here is my response; this option (ironically) never came up when we talked to the multiple different vets at the oncologist center. Skye is currently in no pain, and is otherwise in fantastic health, she still LOVES her food and enjoys being around people (mostly in a hopes to catch any morsels dropped from the dinner table), her lungs are clear, her eyesight (contrary to what you would think) is good and her hearing is not bad either. It is not uncommon for terrier's to live into there 20's and if Skye didn't have this tumor, she likely would.

My goal with her is simply to do what is best for her, i can't not do for her what i would do for any other member of my family. After cat scans, x rays, blood-work, biopsies and multiple other tests we are still discussing with vets what the best approach is for her. My parents have always been incredibly supportive of me and are helping, but she is my dog and these bills are already absurdly expensive. I am using all my resources to pay for Skye's treatment and I don't like asking for hand outs, but i would be grateful to anyone who would be willing to offer even the smallest contribution towards her treatment.

I am going to post some cat scans of Skyes tumor later, and talk about what the vets have decided, it was originally thought that the tumor was so large that surgery was not an option. However after looking at the cat scans today, it seems it may be necessary to do surgery along with radiation, as radiation alone will probably expose too many healthy cells, including her kidneys, colon and intestines. So until the radiologist can speak to the surgeons again on monday it will not be known exactly what is best for Skye.

If you are unable to contribute please keep Skizzle in your thoughts. :-)

Skizzle

This is Skye "Skizzle" she is loving and loyal and she is my sister's best friend. We brought Skye home as a puppy when my sister was seven years old, and the two have been pretty much inseparable for the last seventeen years.
a few months ago, my sister noticed a small lump on Skizzle's side and took her to the vet. She was told it was a benign, fatty tumor and not to worry. A couple of weeks later it seemed to be getting bigger, so back they went and again she was told not to worry. Despite my sister's protest and several trips to the vet, she was repeatedly told there was nothing to worry about.
Until a week ago, when she took Skizzle to see a different vet and was this time told, yes, this is in fact a malignant tumor that is growing at an aggressive rate and needs to be treated.
My sister who is a full time student has now resorted to selling her stuff to pay for Skizzle's vet visits and the radiation therapy that is to start this Tuesday.
I am creating this blog/donation page because I really don't want to come home to find my sister, naked and eating beans out of the can, living in her car, having sold everything she owns to help save her puppy.