Tongue cancer and surgery...

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Andrea
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Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by Andrea »

Hi,

I have a beautiful puffy 12 year old chow, Kala. I saw a little bump on her tongue last august, 5 months ago. The bump did not grow or expand until two weeks ago. She is otherwise completely healthy and strong. The bump grew upwards but did not expand sideways and is located on the right part of her tongue towards not quite in the front or back either more like the center. She was a good candidate for surgery and even though I decided not to do any cancer treatment after surgery, I did want the bump taken out before it got any bigger. Anyways she is in surgery right now and will be out in a couple of hours. I am hoping she recovers quickly and can get back to have a high quality of life with that little piece of her tongue taken out. Have you had similar experiences or have any suggestions for Kala and I?

Thank you!
Andrea
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Re: Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by Andrea »

I want to let you know that she is out of surgery. I spoke to the doctor and everything seems to have gone great. She is insisting however in having a sample sent to analysis to find out what cell cancer is it and maybe treat it with a vaccination. We still have three weeks to decide that. Any thoughts?
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chowpups
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Re: Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by chowpups »

Nikki had nasal and oral cancer and they too sent out to see what type cancer cells they were the report did help the Vets decide on what course of meds to use! some types of cancer respond better to different meds! I hope every thing is going okay after surgery.
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Andrea
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Re: Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by Andrea »

Thank you for your response. She is doing better. She was a little restless during the night but it might have been because she was really thirsty. She had a lot of water in the morning, her medicines and fell asleep. Did Nikki get any of the cancer treatments available?
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chowpups
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Re: Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by chowpups »

Nikki's cancer was not contained to one lump that could be removed it was in her muzzle across the top of her nose and down though her canine teeth and gums. her prognosis was not good, if they tried to remove the cancer she would have been left with no nose or bridge of mouth or upper teeth, feeding tubes and skin grafts to close up where the muzzle was , IF she survived the surgery along with radiation and chemo. That was not the way I wanted my 4 yr old chow to live. We opted for pirioxicam ( anti inflam.) and toradal and she did great on that. She lived a year comfortably and no tubes, or ill effects. Pirioxicam has been noted to work well with her type of cancer, so it was helpful to know the type for us. Either way none of the Drs could tell us Nikki would live longer with surgery, so it was totally our call on quality of life . But again your cancer sounds much more contained. best of luck and hope she feels better soon.
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Andrea
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Re: Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by Andrea »

Kala had her surgery three weeks ago. She did great! Was very very thirsty during the first night but recovered really quickly. She is able to eat and drink perfectly. We have sent the biopsy to analysis and are waiting the results...I will keep you posted.

Thanks for your help and support!
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chowpups
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Re: Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by chowpups »

Oh. So glad to hear Kala got threw the surgery and is doing good! Kala's cancer sounded very much contained and different than Nikki's ! Glad you had such good results!
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SophieR
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Re: Tongue cancer and surgery...

Post by SophieR »

My beautiful 12 year old Sophie had a growth way on the back of her tongue. She was such a "private" chow, never exhibiting any symptons, so it went unnoticed for quite some time. When it was discovered, I took her to a specialist who said surgery could be done but it would have totally destroyed her tongue. She would've had to have radiation and/or chemotherapy and it wouldn't be a very good life to live. The question I had to ask myself then was if I loved her enough to let her go. I did.
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