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  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Fran - Bad news? Good news? Not sure.

    Fran had her ultrasound today. She had one in March 2016. The results came back as an abnormally shaped spleen. They aspirated her spleen and it came back negative.

    Bad news: Today's results were that it is not an abnormally shaped spleen but a tumor.

    Good news: It's not a hemangiosarcoma.

    Good news: If it was mistaken for an abnormally shaped spleen, given its size, it is very slow growing. We are getting the March results sent over so that he can compare.

    Bad news: Surgery to remove her spleen would almost certainly cause more problems than solve them.

    Good News: Everything else looks fantastic, other than normal signs of aging. He told us to keep doing what we're doing, implying that our holistic program is working.

    Fran is 14. I guess we're just not doing anything at this point. Also, her heart rate is steady at 64, just like when she was younger.

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  3. #2
    House Broken Hunter&Me's Avatar
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    Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but could they remove the tumor instead of removing Fran's spleen? I'm guessing if that was a possibility, they would have mentioned it.

    Glad to hear everything else is great and her heart is rate is just like when she was younger! That's good news for sure! I hope everything goes well. Fran sure is a beauty!

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  5. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    I'm confused, is the tumour IN or ON her spleen? Why are they talking about removing, or not, Fran's spleen when they've decided she has a tumour and not an abnormal spleen? Slow growing sounds good, well, not so bad, though.
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  7. #4
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    From what I understand (and what I saw), the tail of the spleen is enlarged and darkened in a way that would indicate that it is a mass. It is in the spleen and most of the spleen would have to be removed but the vet said that it's more likely that the entire spleen would be removed. Either way, the trauma, given her age, would be significant.

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  9. #5
    House Broken Hunter&Me's Avatar
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    Janedoe, thanks for explaining that. I'm hoping and praying everything works out. Please keep us updated.

  10. #6
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    Oh man, that is a good news/not so good news, confusing diagnosis. And I feel you on the 14yrs old, too much trauma.
    You guys need a break (no, not a break!!! A respite, that the correct word! Definitely NOT more breaks!)
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  12. #7
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    Sorry to see this. I know how hard it is to make a decision on surgery for a very senior dog. My Fannie was 15 when we found a mass cell tumor under her armpit. We had blood work done before we made the decision to have surgery. My vet said if he didn't know been he would think he was looking at blood work for a 6 year old dog. We had the surgery done, but the tumor came back six months later.

    Hopefully you can do something for Fran. Fingers and paws crossed.

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  14. #8
    Senior Dog JackK's Avatar
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    So hard to make decisions as they get older - we want to fix everything but sometimes its best to leave things alone. Praying everything works out ok for Fran.

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  16. #9
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    fingers and paws crossed it stays the way it is. she's a great age to begin with .....anyway, I'm praying it stays the way it is and so does she.

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  18. #10
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Mixed results indeed But hopefully it does no harm or cause her issues and no surgery is needed (or if you opt for surgery that it goes well). Surgery at that age is a hard call for sure.

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