Dear Lord, I’m praying for my little Murf. Please heal her. Make her happy and comfortable and bring her home with us.
Murf’s been dealing with mast cell tumors (MCT) a form of skin cancer, since approximately July 2011. She had another MCT on her side that needed to be removed. We tried treating it with chemo to avoid surgery, but it did nothing to shrink the tumor. If anything, it kept it from growing and spreading. On the previous post, in the photo of Murf, Brit, and Mal, the tumor can be seen on her side, above her hind leg. It’s a big pink spot.
With the surgery scheduled for Wednesday, February 20, we continued to give her an anti-histamine to keep the MST from releasing the chemical in her body that would cause the cancer to spread. At this time, we were about 10 days until surgery, when we noticed that she was having accidents in the house. We started taking her out more frequently, and gave my sister a heads up, since she was dog-sitting while we went to NOLA for the weekend.
When we got back, her condition continued to get worse. Now she was making small puddles in the mornings, only an hour after having just gone out. With surgery scheduled in a week, and our favorite vet out of town until Monday, I figured she would be ok till Wednesday. By the weekend, she was spending what seemed like hours a day trying to make outside, making tiny puddles all over the house, she even urinated in our bed one night and was basically incontinent. We started putting Malcolm’s diapers on her, and she had to be kept in the bathroom day (when we weren’t) home and night. The bathroom has ceramic tile (easy to clean the accidents) and a window to let light in during the day.
So first thing Monday morning, I called in late to work and brought her to the vet. Our favorite doctor was back from Mardi Gras vacation. She diagnosed her with a bladder infection. They weren’t able to get a urine sample to confirm, but all signs pointed to that. I asks whether the MCT was causing the incontinence issues, and she said she could not see a connection. She put her on an anti biotic and anti inflammatory and said they’d test her urine when she returned for surgery Wednesday.
That night and the next were bad. I felt so sad for Murf, having to sleep on a towel on the floor all alone, when she was used to being with us. She still needed the diaper, though we saw some improvement. Tuesday night, I stayed up with her, cuddling and watching TV. When I got up for bed at 10:30, the back of my pant leg had a big wet spot. It seems that Murphy was essentially leaking urine. She was clearly uncomfortable.
We went in for surgery Wednesday morning.
Worried, I told the tech about the leaking, and mentioned that she looked bloated. Surgery was scheduled for noon. Around 10:30, Dr Crawford called to say they were not going to do surgery that day. When they were prepping her for surgery, they could not get a urine sample. She just simply would not go. So they inserted a catheter and drained her bladder. Her urine tested clear, no infection as previously thought. Somehow, they reached the conclusion that there must be a mass, internally creating pressure on the bladder and colon, making it hard to use the bathroom. She was in fact leaking because her bladder was so full, but she just couldn’t make. An X-ray confirmed that there was a mass, and based on location, they suspected that the MCT had spread to the lymph node. An ultrasound the following day would confirm. She needed to stay overnight because she still couldn’t urinate or defecate on her own.
Mike went visit her Wednesday night to give her some love and kisses, and also to speak to Dr Crawford face to face.
He sent this pitiful pic to me from the vets office
Look closely and you can see the catheter, but you don’t have to look very closely to see how miserable she is. Snuggles from Dad always cheer her up though
Today, Thursday, I called first thing to check on her. They are keeping her comfortable with pain meds and by draining her bladder, but now she is passing blood. Dr Crawford is off on Thursdays so I’m now dealing with an unfamiliar vet. She seems nice but she’s not dr Crawford. She thinks the blood is from some trauma inside the bladder. When it drained and returned to normal size, the catheter may have scratched her or something. Ultrasound scheduled for 11. I spoke with this same doctor again at 4. The ultrasound revealed that the mass found in the x-ray, is, in fact, the lymph node. It is putting pressure on both the bladder and colon, preventing her from using the bathroom. They also did an aspiration on the lymph node and spleen. The ultrasound showed a lesion on the spleen. The samples / aspirations will be sent to LSU vet school for pathology. Until that comes back on Monday (hopefully), they can’t confirm their suspicions that the MCT has spread, nor can they recommend treatment (surgery and/or chemo).
In the meantime, poor Brit is missing her sister like crazy, and she has hardly gotten any attention it seems. Between Murf being sick, and Malcolm being a human baby, demanding food and attention and stuff, I feel like Britney is getting lost. Poor heart. I’ve been trying to make it up to her with extra kisses, snuggles and words of affirmation. Who’s a beautiful puppy? Britney’s a beautiful puppy!
Thursday after work Malcolm and I went visit Murf, and she looks so upset. She pulled out her own catheter. I guess she had enough of that shit. She kept running for the door and was crying non-stop, so I took her for a walk outside. maybe she would finally make on her own. No luck. She strained and strained and tried and tried, but couldn’t even make a single little tinkle. The doctor met me outside and recommended that she get a new catheter and this time with an e- collar so she wouldn’t pull the cath out. Just what she wants – a cone around her head. The doctor gave us a few more minutes to visit. It was hard. Between Malcolm wanting to crawl all over, and me trying to restrict him (vet exam room floor – eww) and Murf crying and pacing between the two doors, I couldn’t focus. At one point, I just grabbed Malcolm in my right arm, Murphy in my left, and we all three cuddled. Except I was the only willing participant in the group hug. I did manage a couple of pictures though
When I realized that a nice quite visit full of cuddles just wasn’t going to happen, I held Murf for a bit, gave her several kisses, sent her back, and we left. I’ll call for an update tomorrow morning. It looks like she’ll be in there till Sunday. Maybe Monday. By Monday, they’ll hopefully be able to recommend surgery and get started on chemo.
We know that if the cancer has metastasized, that’s very bad. Without concrete information, the doctors are hesitant to give us a prognosis. Based on everything that we do know, I believe that we’ll remove tumor surgically, remove the affected area of the spleen, and do a procedure to decrease the size of the lymph node. It can be removed, but it’s close to the spine. It may be too risky. Then, she’ll go on a chemo protocol of a pill every other day, along with prednisone to keep it from growing or spreading. This can continue for the rest of her life, which as far as I’m concerned, could be several years. We agree that there is a limit to treatment and that’s when it’s no longer helping her to live a happy and full life. That’s as far as we’ve gotten with that. As dr Crawford says, one step at a time.
Murf and Brit 