This post doesn't have anything to do with Lucy, but my brother's dog Arnie. Arnie is an unclipped, miniature schnauzer who's a bit on the round side. Arnie is 6 and light tan in color. He's a smart little guy and friendly. My brother mentioned that a tumor was growing on Arnie's shoulder. In fact, it was growing really rapidly and it had gone from hardly noticeable to big enough to interfere with the movement of his front leg.
He took him to the vet and the vet did a cell biopsy to screen for cancer. It came back negative. The vet did a couple of other tests to check for tick-borne illnesses (Lyme's disease, etc.) and those came back with equally good reports. But the lump kept growing. Now Arnie's eating has slowed down to just about nil and he's lost his enthusiasm. He's gone from strutting his stuff, to limping, and now, to barely walking.
My brother took him to the local veterinary research/teaching hospital. More tests. All negative. The vet said he thought it could be infiltrative lipoma and that surgery usually wasn't successful. My brother is as crazy about his dog as I am about Lucy. The research I've done on the Internet doesn't sound very positive about this condition. It isn't cancerous, yet it grows rapidly insinuating itself—infiltrating—muscle fiber and sometimes even bone. Although I haven't seen this listed as cancer, it certainly sounds cancerous to me in that it is so insidious.
The problem with surgery is because it has infiltrated surrounding tissue, they cannot be assured of getting all of it out. Because the tumor is rapidly growing, it will just reconstitute. If it is caught early enough, and surgery is followed by radiation, there is hope that it can be eradicated...but at what cost (literally and figuratively)? The earliest Arnie could get in for an MRI is next week. If he isn't eating and barely moving, if his bodily functions aren't working, what chance is he going to have?
This is so sad...
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