Dr. Dominguez of the Animal Cancer Care Center will be the first doctor to treat Drake. If everything goes as planned, he will be the only doctor to treat him. Dr. Dominguez is Board Certified in Medical Oncology and Board Eligible in Radiation Oncology. Two weeks ago I didn't even know veterinarian medicine had such specialities. Thank goodness they do.
Due to tumor's size and since it is next to numerous vital organs, Dr. Dominguez's suggested a treatment plan of 22 daily (minus the weekends) small dose radiation treatments. By using small daily doses the surrounding vital organs that will inevitably receive some of the radiation are able to heal quickly. If they received large doses, they would not.
To keep damage to the surrounding organs to a minimum, Dr. Dominguez first needed a 3D–CT scan of the tumor area. With the scan and a computer, he maps out a plan that delivers the treatments in the most effective way and keeps any possible damage to a minimum. Drake had the 3D–CT scan on Tuesday. Speaking with Dr. Dominguez was fascinating. I just wish it wasn't about Drake.
After hearing how they would treat the tumor, Darrell and I had several questions but the two most important were:
1. What is the success rate with this type of cancer?
Dr. Dominguez explained that when they do radiation first, the cure rate is 95%. Since radiation treatments have an accumulated effect, often within a couple of months after the treatment is finished they find that the tumor is gone and no further treatment is required.
2. What will Drake's quality of life be after he has finished the treatments?
Once all the radiation is out of his system, he will return to his normal self. The analogy Dr. Dominguez gave us was; "if he currently is a couch potato, after treatment he will still be a couch potato." But he doubted Drake spends much time being a "couch potato."
Four and half years ago we made a commitment to Lab Rescue that we would provide Drake with a great home full of love and care. With all the information we received on Tuesday, we feel comfortable that we are fulfilling our promise. So on Monday, Drake begins the first of his 22 treatments.
Thanks to everyone for the love, support and prayers for Drake, Darrell and I.
As everyone had suspected Drake does have cancer. That's the bad news, the good news is that it hasn't spread to his lungs. The doctors are confident that with radiation, chemotherapy and surgery he will be a cancer survivor. Normally they would do surgery first, but his tumor is so large (the size of a grapefruit) the doctors are afraid that they will do other harm by trying to remove it so they want to shrink it first. The biopsy they took on Saturday is off to Colorado State University so we know exactly what kind of cancer he has.
Since last Tuesday I have learned more than I ever cared to know about cancer in animals. The biggest surprise was that no matter what kind of cancer it may be they all have the same name and make–up as they do in humans. Consequently, they are treated with the same therapies as they are in humans. If there is a good side to all of this, the chemo and radiation do not have the same effect on animals as they do humans. With that, Drake won't be losing his hair - other than that really bad hair cut he got on Saturday, nor should he be sick.
So as we wait to hear the name of his cancer and to begin his treatment, we do so with hope and prayer that within a couple of months this will all be behind us and life gets back to normal.
While there is so much more to write about his adoption over the last five years, today we jump ahead to what his happening currently. On Monday we noticed that under Drake's tail, it was very swollen so the first thing Tuesday morning I took him to see Dr. Al. The news was not good.
It was not swelling, but rather a tumor in is anal sac. Dr. Al said it was the largest one he had ever felt. After telling me over and over again that this was not good, I asked if there was anything that could be done. He said that he felt it was too big to operate, but this was out of his expertise and referred us to an animal cancer clinic. So this morning we are starting down the path of canine oncology.
Having done a great deal of research the last couple of day on anal sac cancer, I am approaching the appointment this morning with a lot of hope. This is only a bump in the road and we have will have many more years of love together.
To Drake's friend Tony thanks for asking St. Francis for the assist.
