Tweet
So our oldest dog, Hopper (6 weeks away from turning 12 years old) has two large lumps under his jaw. Took him to the vet, she did a needle biopsy and sent them off for analysis.
Lab came back today saying it's highly suggestive of lymphoma. But for a more definitive analysis we should do a surgical biopsy. But here's the problem:
For the last two years, he's been dealing with laryngeal paralysis, which means that instead of his larynx being a nice round pipe, it's collapsed, meaning his breathing is laboured (and even more so when he's hot - we got him a cooling vest to help in summer and it makes a HUGE difference). He couldn't go for surgery for that because of his age. And this issue means that any kind of surgery that requires full anesthesia is very high risk.
A surgical biopsy needs full anesthesia. My vet (who adores Hopper and we fucking love her, she's awesome), has said it's high risk, but should we decide to do the biopsy, she'll be very careful and extra vigilant.
We're just not sure if it's worth putting him through the trauma of surgery. Should it be the type of lymphoma that requires chemo, we wouldn't be able to pursue that avenue of treatment. Chemo takes a lot out of the body, and we're not sure putting him through *that* would be worth it.
So right now it's a case of quality of life vs quantity of life. He's got arthritis in his hips, he has cataracts and the laryngeal issue. But he still goes for (short) walks, he still ambles around the garden with the other pooches and has a very healthy appetite. Beardyman and I are going to discuss it when he gets home from work (Hopper *LOVES* him. Like adores him), but right now I'm leaning strongly towards just regular full blood panels and monitoring him. Could use some happy thoughts please.
Lab came back today saying it's highly suggestive of lymphoma. But for a more definitive analysis we should do a surgical biopsy. But here's the problem:
For the last two years, he's been dealing with laryngeal paralysis, which means that instead of his larynx being a nice round pipe, it's collapsed, meaning his breathing is laboured (and even more so when he's hot - we got him a cooling vest to help in summer and it makes a HUGE difference). He couldn't go for surgery for that because of his age. And this issue means that any kind of surgery that requires full anesthesia is very high risk.
A surgical biopsy needs full anesthesia. My vet (who adores Hopper and we fucking love her, she's awesome), has said it's high risk, but should we decide to do the biopsy, she'll be very careful and extra vigilant.
We're just not sure if it's worth putting him through the trauma of surgery. Should it be the type of lymphoma that requires chemo, we wouldn't be able to pursue that avenue of treatment. Chemo takes a lot out of the body, and we're not sure putting him through *that* would be worth it.
So right now it's a case of quality of life vs quantity of life. He's got arthritis in his hips, he has cataracts and the laryngeal issue. But he still goes for (short) walks, he still ambles around the garden with the other pooches and has a very healthy appetite. Beardyman and I are going to discuss it when he gets home from work (Hopper *LOVES* him. Like adores him), but right now I'm leaning strongly towards just regular full blood panels and monitoring him. Could use some happy thoughts please.
Attached Files
to all of you, and an extra 
Comment