(Live from WestVet Boise)
We showed up for a consult with oncology and the veterinary oncologist is wearing sparkling shoes!
Talk about dressed for success!!
💖
Info Dump, sort of (Part 3)
Yesterday I left my house at 4 a.m. with Sparkle and Capella and headed up to Montana. The first stop was Suzanne’s house to hug her and drop off the dogs before heading to campus for a work thing.
When that was done, I met Suzanne and Sparkle at our super smart veterinarian’s office in Missoula.
The cytology report arrived in the middle of all that as did a voice mail from the Boise specialist about the results. The message about the results included, “…not terribly impressed with their description...”
I hope to talk with the Boise specialist today but our Montana vet also got the cytology report and so there is a few things we do know.
The hip lesion appears to be a sarcoma. It is likely osteosarcoma but apparently this is not for sure.
The lung mass is not the same thing as the hip lesion. Huh. Interesting.
We need more data to try and get better info about things.
On Friday, I asked that — if possible — they collect enough sample from the biopsies to be able to send to a second lab if we had any questions/concerns about the results from their usual lab (IDEXX). They were able to do this.
I will ask them today to send those samples/slides to Vidium, a specialty pathology service. Take note of the place — we have choices about who/where gives us info about what ails our dog. I prefer academic labs but they are slow. Vidium has big names/former academics and is speedy.
I say this without judgement or rancor: I have had multiple dogs diagnosed with one thing that turned out to be something different when additional testing was done. There is no shame in that — it simply points to the need to be persistent and strategic in the information gathering. Our veterinarians cannot know to keep looking if we fail to be effective communicators and respectful advocates for our dogs.
So go ahead and be that polite pain in the a$$ — accurate diagnosis matters.
But make sure and deliver cupcakes or things like that to your well-loved veterinarian on a regular basis!!! They are your teammates and it is important to let them know that you appreciate them so much 🩷
Happy Tuesday!
About That Lung Mass... (Part 2)
Last April I noticed a very slight decrease in exercise tolerance in Sparkle while on a walk. My MT vet trusted my crazy paranoia enough to do a chest x-ray. There was a small mass in one of Sparkle’s lung lobes.
It was not in a good spot to do an ultrasound guided needle biopsy. The invasive/open-the-chest-surgery-to-remove-it option failed the Benefit/Burden test. Specifically, that would have been a major surgery for Super Senior Sparkle (high burden) and unlikely to be curative (low benefit).
We expected the mass to grow/spread and send her to the Rainbow Bridge within a month. Instead she just kept trucking along and the periodic rechecks showed the mass was not doing anything too interesting nor did it progress to a size where it could be safely biopsied.
That doesn’t mean we did nothing — Sparkle has been on Doxycycline, Rimadyl, and Turkey Tail mushrooms since last April.
She has also been living her best — normal — life, without any progression of the very slight exercise intolerance I noticed early last spring.
Sparkle at Lake Odell in September
It is possible that the lung mass and the hip thing are related — it is also possible they are not. Since Sparkle would be having the CT scan anyway, the team and I discussed this question: Would more information about the lung mass be helpful and/or change anything?
Maybe yes, maybe no. The Benefit/Burden test got involved again. Sparkle would already be sedated and it would be easy for them to also scan her chest. It is just $$$$ 💸
Sparkle yesterday — definitely more comfortable.
I am committed to data transparency. I place puppies only with people who pinky promise and sign a contract saying they will get certain health testing done, and also will establish cause of death when that sad day arrives. Informed decisions cannot be made without accurate information, and family data matters so much.
I cannot ask my puppy families to do what I would be unwilling to do. People who have close relatives of Sparkle were told last spring about the lung mass. Additionally, there was a plan in place to evaluate the mass when Sparkle did not need her body anymore; the info would then be added to her Berner-Garde record.
Sparkle yesterday in yard
And that all explains why the lung mass was also evaluated during the CT scan on Friday and even better, the CT scan allowed a safe way to do a guided needle biopsy of the mass. The burden to Sparkle was low and the information could potentially be beneficial for the greater good, so to speak.
Sparkle this morning 🩷 You can see where they shaved to do the biopsy.
We are still waiting for the results of the two biopsies. I know exactly what I will do once I have those results: The next right thing.
I don’t know what that will be yet and that is fine. In the meantime, the next right thing is being with Sparkle 💖 and making sure she is comfortable enough to enjoy normal life.
Thank you, Friend, for caring 🙏🩷 and have a wonderfully normal Sunday.