(Braylon and our oldest son, Scott)
Dr. P (his vet) said that what she saw on the x-ray and what she was seeing from a quick blood test worried her that it was lymphoma. She told me that his liver was incredibly enlarged, and all of the nodules she was seeing were on the liver. But otherwise, everything seemed to be good. She got us a referral to an oncologist and I called and they got us in the next day.
OMG. CANCER?!?! My dogs has CANCER?!?! Calm down, Mandi. It could be something else. Dr. P said she didn't really have the necessary tools to diagnose. It's not cancer. Braylon doesn't have cancer.
It's Friday (last) and we had our appt with the oncologist. LOTS of testing....and lots of bad news. The oncologist had determined that it was, in fact, lymphoma. She also found a large mass (half the size of his heart) in the middle of his chest. She said that she wanted to wait to get the pathology reports back before officially confirming, but she was confident in saying that it was more than likely lymphoma.
Fast forward to today. Pathology reports are in. My sweet, wonderful, amazing buddy has lymphoma and it's in his liver. That automatically makes it a stage 4. To say that my heart is breaking into a million little pieces is a complete understatement. It feels like my breath has been knocked out; like I have been hit by a truck. Even though I knew, I just knew what the reports were going to say, it hit me like a truck.
Average survival is 9-18 months. It can be treated but never cured. As long as he can be happy and not hurt then we will do everything that we can to make his last weeks/months/etc the best of our lives.
I am happy to report, however, that he seems to be responding to what they gave him last Friday and has begun eating and drinking again. He is also showing signs of his healthy, happy, wiggly self and I am happy that Braylon is back.
I am asking YOU for a favor. Please say a prayer, send a positive thought, whatever you do for Bray. He is such a tough guy but he is in for the fight of his life, for his life, and he will need all that he can get.
