Chloe lived one and a half years past her hemangiosarcoma surgery, when the prognosis had been for 1-3 months. In over 99% of cases, the life expectancy for dogs with hemangiosarcoma who don’t get chemotherapy is 1-3 months. Luckily we forget to tell Chloe about that. We were so thrilled and thankful that she got so much extra time, but the best part was that this extra time was the best time of her life, the happiest she ever was. I did not take her for granted for a single second and spoiled her any chance I got. Her brothers knew they almost lost her and their relationship was so much closer than before and she totally soaked it up.
Chloe’s Cancer:
In late September 2011 Chloe started falling back on walks. She normally was way ahead exploring the forest, but she lost her energy quicker and quicker, so we went to see the vet. I was also noticing her poop getting darker, which can indicate bleeding. The vet did a number of tests ruling out a lot of things, and then scheduled an ultrasound. We are so lucky to have a house call vet up here in the mountains, and our vet has an ultra sound vet who also lives in our little town and came over to the house. I was instructed to cover up all the windows and make it as dark as possible. Chloe was so weak by that time that she couldn’t make it to the area I had prepared for this, so my vet, the ultrasound vet and I sat with Chloe right by the front door where she had gone to say hello and then laid down exhausted. They shaved her belly and did the ultra sound. The news was not good. They found a tumor in her small intestines that had ruptured and was bleeding into her poop. In Vet-Speak: “There is a 4 cm cavitated vascular mass arising from the wall of the mid jejunum. This mass communicates with the lumen with some gas tracking into the mass.”
It was Friday afternoon, October 7, 2011. I was told that she would probably bleed to death before the weekend was over. At first we didn’t even consider surgery, but the ultra sound vet told us that she had seen this exact tumor in a black lab before. He had surgery and was to this day in good health. His surgery had been two years ago. I had blown up what little savings I had regained after recovering from the economic depression on the tests and the ultra sound, so in my desperation I called Mary who is with the Golden Retriever Rescue to ask for help. I explained the situation and said I would rather give Chloe up and surrender her to the rescue, if only they could do something to help her live. She discussed it with the GRRR vet Dr. Carpenter who we emailed the ultra sound reports to, and an hour later he agreed to do the surgery. He would do the surgery the next morning but he wanted her brought in right away to do a transfusion if I could get her there before they closed. Good thing I was a race car driver in a former life =). We gently helped Chloe in the backseat of the M3, and I got her there in time. She was very weak and I hated to leave her, I was afraid I would never see her again.
Saturday was a total nail biter waiting for word about the outcome of the surgery, then Dr. Carpenter called and said that the surgery had gone really well and I would probably be able to pick her up on Monday. What a relief! On Sunday afternoon I got an unexpected call from Dr. Carpenter and of course I panicked. But it was not bad news. He said that Chloe had made it clear that she wanted to go home right now! She had ripped out her IV! So I dropped everything and went to get her. I was so happy to have her back and the boys were so glad to see her. We made a few comfortable rest places with bedding and pillows in the living area and bedroom and the boys took time snuggling up with her so she was never alone.
A few days later we went in for a check up and to get the pathology reports. Apparently removing the cancer was not all there was to do, but knowing what kind it was and how bad is it was, was also important. The news was very bad. It was hemangiosarcoma, which is nasty awful cancer that is common in Golden Retrievers. It is aggressive, malignant, and spreads like crazy. My heart sank as I wasn’t hearing the word “hemangiosarcoma” for the first time. My first Golden Retriever Shelby had died from hemangiosarcoma in his liver, and died within less than a week from being diagnosed.
What worked for us:
There seemed to be only 2 options: chemo had a life expectancy of 3-6 months, and no chemo had a life expectancy of 1-3 months. I decided not to do chemo because the amount of time it would buy her was only an extra 1-3 months, and it the impact on her would likely be negative. I felt it would be better for her to have 1-3 happy months rather than 2-6 crappy months. Dr. Carpenter recommended increasing the protein amount in her diet. I bought a grain free high protein dog food (33% Protein) and supplemented her diet with fish, cottage cheese, chicken, eggs, ground beef, and calf liver bringing the protein content to at least 50%. Her fish intake also came with a lot of fun and happiness; read the fun story ‘Best Toy Ever’.
Dr. Castro recommended supporting her immune system with IP6 (Inositol) and Colostrum, and give her Reishi Mushroom. I also gave her 1000 mg of fish oil twice a day, 500 mg of Vitamin C, Vitamin E (400 IU), Vitamin A (5000 IU) for her eyes, Once a month I gave her 400 IU of Vitamin D, and a green tea capsule (250 mg).
And we did get our miracle! Chloe lived happily ever after for 1.5 more years. Yes – YEARS – not months! When she died I had a necropsy done and she was cancer free. I have now idea how much the immune support and Reishi mushrooms contributed to her life span, but if I had another dog with cancer, I would also take measures to support his or her immune system, it just makes so much sense to me. I have recently read in an article on the Morris Foundation website that immune support and mushroom therapy are showing promise as emerging theraphies: “Emerging therapies for hemangiosarcoma include immunotherapy, antimetastatic agents, and mushroom extracts which show promise for prolonging survival”. In our case no hemangiosarcoma was present at her time of death, she died cancer free. I do wonder if the location of the cancer had something to do with this as well, it was in her small intestines and was bleeding into her poop, getting excreted. But then, I am not a vet, just a very grateful dog mom thankful to have had another 1.5 years with this amazing little girl. I wish for all of you reading this because you are going thorough something similar that you will find some help and encouragement. We would love to hear from you.