Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / October 2004

Almost 3 months ago, a mass about the size of a fist bulging from my
dog's stomach popped up out of nowhere. It was so large that we first
thought he swallowed his toy ball. He is a 11 yr-old male boxer. He
seemed just fine, but we took him to emergency and they immediately
took x-rays of him. The vet said he had a mass in his body about the
size of a volleyball, probably splenic and she sounded very very
pessimistic about it.
Upon her recommendation, I took my dog to his usual vet and she wanted
ultrasound and biopsy. Biopsy was not possible per the 3rd vet who did
the ultrasound, so they took another form of sample (I forgot the
scientific name). Results came in and they did not encounter cancerous
cells.

They suspected splenic tumor, but they had a surgery on him and the
outcome was really different: His spleen was fine, but he had a tumor
in his intestines where the intestines were attached to his back. He
also had, said the doctor, several smaller tumors along his
intestines. She was unable to remove any, so they closed him up, my
dog came had a risky surgery all for nothing. They suspected lymphoma,
but noone could be sure due to the fact that they could not touch it
since it may start to bleed.
I asked if there was anything that we can give him, she suggested
steroids. I have been giving him 5 mg/day (this proved to be the least
problematic dosage compared to 20mg/day initially recommended) for the
last 2 months. He has been fine, the mass seems to shrink some days
and bulge/sag at others. When I stopped giving steroid (prednisone)
for 2 days, his mood went bad and the mass seemed larger -although at
this point I can't trust my observations anymore.

I have prepared myself for the worst case scenario but he has exceeded
everyone's expectations and I started to wonder if there's anything
else I can do to extend the quality time. He is playful and happy,
business as usual for him. What can it be and what can be done? I'm
not willing to go through another fruitless surgery and my faith in
medicine has been damaged significantly.
Still, any ideas will be appreciated.