Spleen cancer?? - Page 2

Wow Molly;  that video was great.  A true working boy.  What a concept.  Love his type and those eyes speak for themselves.  Nanci

thanks Nanci.  As you may see, one month before the spleen-removal surgery, he was really enjoying his life and health and retirement.  On the day of the surgery he was the same.  One week after surgery, he's back to his life again, and I am enjoying spending a little more time with him.   He and I deserved a little more time together, I think.

molly

Thank you soo much for all the advice! i think i will go for a second opinion since i am NOT yet satisfied.
A CT scan is def a good idea.  I will talk to my Vet regarding it.
Thanks again everybody!

NiSha

Molly,

 

Good to hear that  Eagle is doing well.   Obviously, you made the right decision for you and Eagle.  Your post may be very helpful to someone in a similar situation. 

Query:  would a CT have shown as much as the exploratory surgery, anyway?

From what I gathered - yes.  CT scan is very clear, and can show in great detail the condition of organs and location of tumor masses.  It is just expensive - and in my/Eagle's case - the vet who offered the choice of exploratory surgery offered me the "two in one" deal (so to speak) - he would be able to see for himself if there was spreading cancer and/or hemangiosarcoma on his major organs during the surgery - and remove the spleen if not.  The CT scan would have shown the same thing, but then if no spreading was found, another big vet bill would have been added for the surgery.  My very limited funds made that decision easier - though had I been convinced the CT scan was necessary and the only choice, I would have come up with the money somehow to do it.

edit:  talking about CT scan vs ultrasound - CT scan is MUCH clearer.  Nia's question I didn't properly answer.  NO.  CT scan is NOT better or more clear than exploratory surgery.  BUT it is non-invasive.  Exploratory surgery is major surgery and even healthy dogs don't survive sometimes, let alone elderly dogs with compromised spleen, cancer or other problems possibly involving major organs.   So ideally, if I had money to spend without thought and planning - a CT scan to help make the decision surgery or not would have been ideal. 

In the case of the dog in question - ultrasound has already shown possible areas of concern on two major organs.  Liver and lungs cannot be removed, and most often masses cannot be separated from these organs.  However, ultrasound is nowhere near as concise and clear as CT scan OR seeing it in person (exploratory surgery) so really it's still a guess.  I guess if this were my dog and ultrasound showed some questionable areas - I would want to find out for sure via non-invasive CT scan, before surgery - unless I was willing, as I was in Eagle's case - to euthanize on the table if the findings were terminal.

molly

 Molly,

Thanks for your several excellent posts demonstrating a good risk vs benefit scenario for a dog who is in trouble. I am happy for you that Eagle made it through all this, that he had an owner capable of making decisions based on as much information as possible, and could afford it. I know how much this dog means to you and I hope he will live many more happy months to years.

And yes, CAT scans can indeed show tumors well, but in some cases, there is a better option, although I doubt it is easily available and is probably a lot more expensive.....called PET scan.