The growth in her mouth - the one they were most concerned about - was benign. (For those of you medically inclined, they said it was hyperplastic tissue.)
The lump on her side, the one I thought came out of nowhere and rushed her in for, is another story. The vet said I probably saved her life.
The pathologist report said it was a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor.
Couple of good things:
1) this type of cancer is very slow to metastasize
2) we appear to have caught it pretty early
3) pathology report indicated that the margins were sufficient and exicision was likely curative (translation: we got it all and she doesn't need further treatments)
The not so great thing - this type of tumor is highly likely to recur locally. That means we have to watch that site very carefully from now on and get her seen immediately if we notice any changes.
She had 4 lumps removed last Friday and came home looking like Frankendog. She's taken the whole thing very well and is only mildly irritated by her stitches.
The one on her neck looks the worst (it's an enormous, roughly 6 inch incision with huge stitches) but was really just a benign cyst in an awkward location. They took it out because it was getting big and could cause trouble later. The one on her side was the cancer. Cant's see the other two - there was a lipoma (benign fatty tumor) inside her armpit and then the one inside her mouth.
We're very happy to know our baby girl is going to be ok. She's our only dog now (more on this later, good news for the foster monster) and we've had her longer than we've been married. We can't imagine life without her just yet.
2 comments:
I hope that Sable's just fine. Good thing you decided to bring her in, you don't have to worry about life without her just yet.
I'm sorry that your puppy has had so many troubles, but I am glad that the tests have turned out well. I know you will be a good nurse in helping her wounds heal.
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