Since I last wrote, we are now Day 8 Post-op. Mufasa, the most largest dog ever (at 12 pounds) is doing amazingly well. After the Fentanyl patch came off he returned to his normal self, and in 48 hours, taught himself to pee, poop and most importantly, get around on the bed 🙂
I was feeling good until I got the call from the vet Thursday morning. The in-house path report was wrong. The “cured” hemangiopericytoma has been re-diagnosed by another lab. Mufasa has Grade3 Mast Cell Cancer. His sutures aren’t even out and we’re realistically looking at weeks. I sat in the corner of my kitchen and cried for hours.
After a while, Mufasa hopped over wondering what was going on. I could barely look at him. Feelings of guilt and sadness were overwhelming. “Had I known, would I have done the surgery?” “How is it possible that you look so good right now, with this terminal and awful disease?”
I remembered what a wise woman told me about Mufasa. He doesn’t dwell on what was…he lives what is. Standing next to my slumped, crying self doesn’t make him feel good or safe. So I got up. We went outside to get some fresh air, and he acted like it was the best smelling air he had ever encountered.
I shifted my focus to, “what exactly IS grade3 Mast Cell Cancer?” Â After a lot of research and a meeting with the vet, I quickly decided quality of life is of utmost importance right now. I visited the local supplement store and got natural anti-histamines, liver protectants, ulcer preventatives and such. He has been on Artemisinin for months now, but I was able to get a gel to put directly on the new tumors that have popped up. There are so many in just a few days, I have stopped counting. I also made the decision to start him on an oral chemo-like drug targeting Grade3 Mast Cells in particular.
Then I stopped…took a deep breath and snuggled with Mufasa. I may have weeks with him, I may have a few months if the drug works. Either way, he is right here looking at me, wanted to be snuggled, loved, entertained and treated like the big strong dog he is.
I can mourn later.
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Welcome to Tripawds. I’m sorry you are dealing with mast cell, my little pug Maggie lost her left rear leg to a MCT. She had a few cutaneous tumors too, but not to the extent you are describing. Mag’s tumor in her knee was a grade II and she had lymph node involvement (which we didn’t know until after surgery). She did chemo and lived almost 4 years- way longer than the 6 to 9 months they gave her. Are you doing mastinib or palladia? We never tried them- they came out after her surgery. You sound like you have the right attitude- around here we say “be more dog”. Live in the moment and enjoy each day- like our pups do! You can read Maggie’s story if you are interested: http://maggiesjourney.tripawds.com/maggies-story/
Karen and the pupapalooza
Karen,
Thanks for your thoughts, and for sharing Maggie’s story with me. Mufasa is on Palladia. I don’t see a response yet but he is happy and running around. All of this is so hard for all of us. It is so nice to have support, so thank you. I will keep updating with Mufasa’s progress.
For now, we are off to run in the woods.
Cheers, Corinne and Mufasa
I am so so sorry about the diagnosis. Don’t doubt your decision to amputate. You made that decision based on the information you had at the time.
You certainly have the right attitude, plenty of time for mourning later.
Enjoy this time with Mufaso. If it is only a few weeks you will be amazed at what you were able to pack into it when you allow yourself to live in the moment and how much you can remember as you savour each moment together. But hopefully you will get more time. Cancer is so unpredictable and anything can happen. Statistics are just that, statistics!
So “dream like you will live forever, live like you will die today” (James Dean). We found that helped lessen the number of regrets (the biggest issue for humans). Dogs just get on with living. They don’t worry about time.
Thinking of you and sending you strength
Karen and Spirit Magnum
I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. You have a great attitude and that is what Mufasa needs right now.
We tried Palladia, too. Although it didn’t work well for us, we know other dogs it has worked very well on.
We are keeping our paws crossed and sending good thoughts for lots of quality time together!
Butchey Hudson & his Fam
Butchey Hudson…you are absolutely handsome, and you do a great job of watching the baby. Don’t worry about all the human talk. I always tell Mufasa it’s just noise.
Butchey’s fam, thanks for the support and for sharing your story. I hope the new chemo protocol goes really well.
Cheers,
Corinne and Mufasa