Comments on: Saving Orion

By: Natalia

Natalia — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:19:27 +0000

On February 6th, 2012, I decided that my beloved Golden Retriever Simba should not suffer anymore. On 2-1-12 Wednesday night/Thursday morning she vomited. The next day she was doing OK. By Friday, she was not eating, she was vomiting and not acting right. Saturday she went to the vet’s and had blood work done and was given medicine for a stomach ailment. By Sunday, she was not breathing right and was still not eating. I took her to the local vet hospital that evening because her respiratory rate was 3 times that of my other golden, Maggie. At the vet hospital, my girl had x-rays done and an ultrasound done. To my horror her spleen was enlarged as was her heart, along with fluid in her abdomen. The vet performed a periocardiocentesis to give my baby girl some comfort and relief. That night was pure hell as I slept on the ground with her and comforted her. She could not get comfortable and she was so thirsty and had a constant desire to drink and urinate. The next day the family kissed our beloved girl good bye and took her to the vet one last time. Rest in Peace my baby girl. You are missed!

By: Jo Ann and Nicholas

Jo Ann and Nicholas — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:30:10 +0000

In Sept my beloved 9 yr old Golden Nicholas had his spleen out. It is Feb 2nd and he is here as we tap for him for positive energy and my vet has him on a Chinese supple called Yunnan Baiyo for bleed stoppage. It is a living hell. Day by day is the hardest of all. Prayers holy oil, rosaries and love are the answer. So tired of asking why? Email me anytime. I am new to a computer so bear with me. I was too busy being a teacher and a mom to my daughter and my doggies that I had no desire to learn a computer. I am retired now and Nicholas and I spend more time together than my husband and I do . He is the son I never had! This website has helped me very much! Thank you

By: don mcferon

don mcferon — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:06:18 +0000

can you please call me don i have 11 yr yellow lab my vet at nw vet. says 3rd of the jaw needs to be removed because he thinks dogs got cancer in the mouth.don please call me

By: don mcferon

don mcferon — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:04:10 +0000

this makes me very sad that my dr at nw vet says dogs probly has jas cancer.needs to have my 11 yr lab third of jaw cut off.503 267 7859

By: Jesse

Jesse — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:42:31 +0000

My Dad lost his German shepard dog recently due to the big C and what made me most sad was that the sherpa (his name) had no idea, unlike we do as humans, of the seriousness of the disease he had. I look at him and just wanted to explain in ‘dog words’ so he knew and could maybe do other things he might not have done.

By: Zoran Srdic

Zoran Srdic — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:39:05 +0000

I have received today at the Veterinarian university clinic in Ljubljana (Slovenia) a devastating information about hemangiosarcoma of my beloved dog named Zen.
Zen is our treasure but I am helpless. Out from the bloom he had a heart tamponade which was fortunately descovered and succesfully treated today. But further more we need to decide about chirurgical procedure on friday.
I can not even write any more becouse my heart is broken and I need somebody to donate me a TKI medicine because for now only availible treatment is Doxorubicin.
Please, help us!
Thank to everybody in advance, Zoran Srdic (Croatia)
P.S. Please,Dr. Jody Kujovich, give us a conact ne-mail of doctors involved in Orion treatment.

By: Andrea Sandberg

Andrea Sandberg — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:14:23 +0000

My heart goes out to you and your family. My husband and I just lost our 9 year old German Shepherd, Guinness, to hemangiosarcoma in his heart. It was a few weeks ago, July 28, 2011. We had no idea and nothing ever showed up on his check ups or blood chemistry tests either. He didn’t start getting sick until the day before. My husband and I were devastated that day, still are. We miss him terribly. Losing a dog is difficult. They are a family member. I wish you and your family the best.

By: Brenda Wood

Brenda Wood — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:50:48 +0000

Unlike most stories I’ve read, my story of hermangiosarcoma diagnosis comes to my 5 year old papillon, Cooper. Just like too many others, we got punched in the gut with the diagnosis. Vet appointment, rush to the emergency vet clinic and emergency spleen removal all within 16 hours. We had a friend of ours that is a vet perform the spenectomy and she felt cautiously optimistic that it would prove to be benign, taking into consideration his small breed and age. It wasn’t. Just got the news today and to say we’re devastated is an understatement. Cooper is our child, the light of our life, the reason we smile and laugh and come together in an otherwise (human) childless family. Knowing that our time with Cooper is limited, we’re hoping for a couple more months before we have to turn off the joy and brightness of our life. Overly dramatic, possibly, but you wouldn’t think so if you knew Cooper.

I was so happy and hopeful to hear about Orion’s story and I felt such hope for him, but my heart broke when I heard that Orion died after just two months of the article’s publish date. Two months that will last forever for Ken & Judy and their family.

To everyone who has posted on this site, thank you. Thank you for sharing and for reaching out; it has helped me to know that others love their four legged children as we do ours and feel the devastation of loss. 60 days…that’s all we ask for, keep your fingers crossed that we are granted such a small reward.

Brenda

By: Stacey McDermott

Stacey McDermott — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 02:11:45 +0000

June 1, 2010 our beloved dog Rudy was diagnosed with visceral hemangiosarcoma. We live in Atlanta and the cardiologist that diagnosed him recommended euthanasia. He had a tumor on his right atrium and mulitple lesions on his spleen. He too had fluid on his lungs and pericardial sac which led us to his diagnosis. We decided again euthanasia and brought him home. I began to research this horrific disease and found out that there was no real cure. We decided to travel to the University of Pennsylvania for treatment. Rudy was treated with chemotherapy (doxorubicin-typical protocol for this type of cancer). I also did an anti cancer diet and he took yunnan bayo (herbal meds recommended by Penn that prevents bleeds). Rudy died August 31, 2010. In that time, he continued with treatment and traveled to New York, Delaware, PA, Vermont, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama (continued with chemo at Auburn University). I feel like the chemo extended his life a bit and we made the most of this extra time. I also wondered if Doxil (which was recommended at the very end b/c the cancer spread to his lungs) would have been more effective-this is an expensive drug and I am not sure how well researched it is. We never had the opportunity to try the Doxil as he passed several days after the cancer spread to his lungs. Thanks so much for sharing your story and I hope to God that someday a cure is discovered. Please accept my deepest sympathies on the loss of your beautiful Orion. Sincerely-Stacey

By: Georgia Abert

Georgia Abert — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:27:52 +0000

Two summers ago, I lost 3 briards to cancer. In June, I lost my 12 year old suddenly to hemangiosarcoma. We took him to the emergency vet who could not save him. In July, his almost 9 year old son collapsed. When they opened him up for surgery, they found a huge tumor that had spread and we were told we should put him to sleep. That August, we also lost a female briard at 14.5 to lymphoma who had been getting chemo for a year and a half. I wish I had been able to give the other two dogs chemo to provide a quality of life like my female had during treatment. I worry so much about the other related briards that I have. I appreciate reading that research is being done and hope there will be an affordable treatment soon.

By: Jerri Martin

Jerri Martin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:22:34 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story. I had a lab,Tinker Bell, died from
Tumor in the heart several years ago. There was
no treatment available and I could not afford it
I kept my girl as comfortable as possible until
her quality of life dictated otherwise.
My first golden, Ripley, died from desiminated intavascular
Collapse post emergency splenectomy. It wa found that he
Had an auto immune disease which contributed
To his lack of blood clotting. The cost of getting Gamma goblin for treatment was
Prohibitive to the Vets in the area and I could not
Afford to travel to the nearest vet school and had to have euthanized.Life is too short.

Jerri
Prohibitive

By: Margaret Guthrie

Margaret Guthrie — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:12:44 +0000

Thank you for a fascinating article. Even though it was full of technical information, it was very readable, and really helps highlight some of the new options which are opening up to help keep our 4 legged family members with us longer, and by extension, we humans too.
My stock dog coach just lost her first Aussie to this cancer. For her, it was literally 24 hours from discovery to the difficult good bye. In a few months, when the devastating pain of loss is less keen, I will forward her this article, hoping that it will help to glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel in our battle against cancer.
My thoughts are with everyone who has lost a 4 or 2 legged family member to the Big C.
Maggie Guthrie & Corgi the Aussie

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 05:10:33 +0000

I too was recently made aware of this horrible dreaded illness when my 10 year old, love of my life Golden Sebastian aka Pooh Bear was diagnosed with a huge Hemangiosarcoma tumor not of the spleen but of the abdominal lining that holds his internal organ. My nightmare started 14 days ago when my wife woke me to tell me Pooh had not eaten his breakfast meal. This wouldn’t normally set off any alarms for other dogs but in his 10 years this boy has never missed a meal, you could set your watch by him, he love his chow time. He’s always been a big boy over 110lbs most of his life, not fat just a big lovely bear like golden who loves everyone (except rabbits !) Anyhow, after a quick check of him he seemed warm and a little blotted and not himself. So I took him to our family vet who suggested an xray. He recently had a vet visit with no problems and a couple weeks before we just got back from a week at the beach in outer banks with our three dogs and he played like a puppy, tired fast but for his age he did well. I had no idea that two weeks later we would be looking at the hardest decision I have ever had to make. As you know by now he’s more than a pet to me and my second wife he;s a child to us, run of the house spoiled rotten. Anyhow, our vet came back in with the xrays and said we needed to take him to the emergency med vets asap as it appeared he had a large tumor in his abdomen and a bleed in progress. As you can imagine it gets worse, Sebastian is a tuff guy, he never shows pain so we had no idea, even when we arrived at the emergency vet his tail was wagging and he wanted to greet everyone like the great dog ambassador he is. An immediate CT Scan revealed the worst.
Large tumor in the abdomen spread to the liver and spleen. To my amazement the vet there almost insisted he be put to sleep immediately. I was devastated, to think I would walk my best bud, tail waggin into the med vet hospital his big brown loving eyes looking at me, and I was to end his life. Something I was not ready for or even had considered. After I gathered my wits and questioned the vet I was told if I didnt do it he would die a horrible death. I just couldn’t do it without finding out what we were up against so I made a decision to take him home. I even had to sign a waiver to get him out of the place. Once home i started the hours of research on this terrible illness. And as you know there is no god news on this subject it all ends the same. I was told that Sebastians tumor, due to it’s location was inoperable and chemo would not do very much to extend his life if at all. Over the next two days I agonized how I could put my best friend to sleep when he still loved life was eating again and happy and playful, albeit with allot less stamina. I felt like someone stabbed me in the heart, it physically hurt to think I had to do this. It turned a grumpy , grizzled 56 year old man into a blubbering 4 year old baby. I couldn’t sleep, work or anything I was so upset. My kids, who grew up with “Pooh Bear”, were out of town with there mother and would be back Monday night and wanted to see him to say good bye so I scheduled our vet to come to our house to put him down Tuesday afternoon but everything in my body was telling me not to do this that it was not the right thing to do. I agonized for three days, on Tuesday morning I called to talk to the vet who recommended this and was unable to talk to her as she only works there one day a week. I was able to talk to another emergency vet there who pulled the file and reviewed it with me. He had two Goldens himself who had the same disease and basically said that Pooh may go sudden with a massive bleed or have small ones and recover and just start to go down hill. After talking to him I decided I couldnt do it now and canceled the appointment for Tuesday. I pray I did the right thing and that my Pooh Bear will show and tell me when he is in pain and the time is right.

He’s been with us for 14 days since his death sentence and although he seems to be going down hill today he’s had two great weeks of love and special meals. He knows he’s loved and I can’t tell you how important it’s been to have this time with him. Im sure now his time is getting short as his belly shows signs of internal bleeds more than ever and it’s getting worse. He still gets around pretty well and is still eating like a champ. My daughter watches him all day while we are at work now for fear he will have a massive episode and will need to be rushed to the vet to end his pain. i don’t know how many days he has left, probably not many, and as soon as he shows signs that he has pain I will do what needs to be done for him. But for now he still is enjoying his life and all the love he is getting and still with us. I am so sorry to hear of Orion’s passing as I found this article it gave such hope for the future that this horrible cancer can be topped in the future for our beloved pups. I have two other dogs and cant imagine going through this with them in the future.

Kim my best to you as it sounds like we are both going through the same thing with our buds, my heart goes out to you.

Thoughts and Prayers to you and yours

Jeff O’Neill

By: Kim Chalmers

Kim Chalmers — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:31:52 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing your story. My beloved New Zealand Huntaway, Gibson, was just positively diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma yesterday. The tumor is large, but no mets were ultrasonically detected. It is hard to think of a 6-year-old, 136 pound dog as dying of cancer, but as someone who works in pathology, I unfortunately see the devastation that a cancer diagnosis brings to humans on a regular basis. The advantage, if one can call it that, is that I can make the difficult choice to end his suffering when the time comes. That is my challenge at present, as he is relatively stable after a GI bleed last week. I am so sorry to hear of Orion’s loss. Hopefully, his legacy will include a cure for this dreaded disease.

Sincerely

Kim Chalmers