It all started when I saw what looked like a blister on the inner side of his cheek. I thought he had probably gotten a splinter from chewing on branches the day before when we went out for a walk. We normally do a 4 to 5 mile walk everyday because he has so much energy, he just needs it! As his vet was on vacation, I decided to wait one more week until she came back for her to tell me what was going on.
3 days went by, and that blister wasn’t a blister any more. It looked like a lumpy skin mole and almost 3 times the size it originally was. When we played with his toys and the lump touched his teeth, the lump started bleeding. I couldn’t wait another 4 days, we needed to take him to the pet.
The on-call vet took a sample of the lump and sent it for a biopsy. She gave him some antibiotics and anti inflammatory drugs and told me we should better remove it because it didn’t look good. The truth is I thought she was overreacting, I was in complete denial. I was convinced it was a splinter and that with the drugs he would be ok.
Another 3 days went by and the drugs weren’t working. The lump was bigger and it kept bleeding. Some days went by and we got the results of the biopsy. The results where inconclusive, so I called his vet and she came to see him and took a picture of the lump. As soon as she saw it, she told me we needed to see an oncologist so that they could remove it. She didn’t tell me, but I could see the look in her eyes that it wasn’t good.
We did all his check ups and scheduled the surgery. I was devastated! Looking at your dog under the effects of anestesia, for me, was one of the most traumatic experiences I have ever had. He was weak, his tongue hanging on one side, trembling… Just AWFUL! For some people it might not be so bad, but for me, Pixel (that is his name), is like my son! I love him as any member of my family. He is always there, he’s unconditional, he’s innocent and only expects love.
When he came out of surgery, he didn’t look that bad, just a bit swollen, and the oncologist told us he was able to get everything out that he could see. In spite of that, he told us he sent a sample for a biopsy and that we would get the results in about 2 weeks.
2 weeks went by and the results came back. I couldn’t understand a thing it said. Obviously, I googled every phrase of it. Some articles said he had cancer other said he was ok. So I just sent it to the vet. She told me to get an appointment with a different oncologist (not the same that performed the first surgery). This wasn’t good. Why did I need another appointment with another doctor? Again, I googled the guy. He specialized in reconstructive surgery. At the time I didn’t even know what that meant, but I was about to find out.
We went to the new vet. He asked us a bunch of questions, requested the results for the biopsy, looked at Pixel and then he went silent. He looked at us and told us: “Ok, Pixel in fact has cancer. He has a malicious sarcoma.” My mind went blank for a moment. He kept talking but I just couldn’t listen. After a couple of minutes he started to talk about surgery and I came back. He told us he needed to go back to surgery. The biopsy stated that he still had cancerous cells in this cheek and that the new surgery needed to remove what was left of the lump and 1cm around the lump. Hence the reconstructive surgery. He also needed electrochemotherapy after surgery so that we were sure to remove everything. We also needed some x-rays to see if his cancer hadn’t metastasized.
As he’s only 3 years old, really young, he told us these things grow even faster and that we needed to do it ASAP, so 3 days later we sent him back to surgery. The crazy thing about all of this is that it all happens so fast, that in my experience is better to just do do do. We needed to do everything we could for him to be ok. If you think to much maybe you start to double think stuff and everything takes longer… I don’t know…. we did what was best for him.
This surgery was worst than before. He has stitches all over his face, he was swollen and it just looked awful. I couldn’t stop crying. He looked in so much pain, I just suffered beside him. I hold his head and waited for him to recover from the anestesia and just cried. I wanted him to feel better, to jump and bark as he always does.
It took about 6 to 7 hours for him to fully wake up and when he finally did, my soul came back into my body. He started eating and drinking water, so for us it was a really good sign. My poor baby! I would give anything to trade places with him. He can’t tell me how he feels! and that is just sooo frustrating!
After 4 days, we got the results back! HE WAS CANCER FREE!! They were able to remove all cancerous cells and with the electrochemotherapy, it would be enough to kill the cancer cells. I couldn’t believe how lucky we were to have acted fast. He is still recovering from the surgery, but he’s doing well. His hair hasn’t fully grown yet on that spot, but he is happy and active. The most important thing is he is on my lap as I write this post with a bit of tears on my eyes of how thankful I am that he is here with us.