this has been a lousy 48 hours so far. bare with me a moment.
last friday, E and i noticed that Paco had a red bump down on his doggy bits that was about the size of an eraser tip. he was licking it a lot, it seemed to be bothering him. i figured it was a bug bite of some sort but to be safe, on saturday, to the vet he went. they did a needle biopsy, the pathology report came back on tuesday afternoon. it was a Mast Cell Tumor. Paco has cancer. it needed to be removed immediately.
fortunutly, our favorite vets surgery day is wednesday and she was able to get us in. Paco had the tumor removed yesterday and is now on the road to recovery. the path report for the removal is due in tomorrow -- we are all hoping it shows that it was only a stage one tumor and that it was completely removed. if not, well... he's not even five years old and i've grown so attached to this little pup. i don't know what i would do without him at this point.
please keep him in your thoughts these next few days. and if i'm not posting or commenting for a while, i think you'll understand why.
3/30/07; 2:55 pm :: see this comment below for an update!
katenadine, notraces, and Planet Vicster added this photo to their favorites.
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Poopy McSparklepants 75 months ago | reply
Oh my god, Pete I'm so sorry. I hope Paco gets better. Paco HAS to get better.
Cynthia E. Wood 75 months ago | reply
:(
but,
thinking positively.
Planet Vicster 75 months ago | reply
Oh Pete, Erin & Paco this is awful. I'm glad the vet was able to remove the tumor so soon and you know I'm sending all the loving get well soon thoughts to this special little guy! Fingers and toes are crossed that the path report gives you some peace of mind.
Hugs (from me), head rubs (from Billie) and nose kisses (from Simon).
katenadine 75 months ago | reply
aw, poor little pup. You all are in my thoughts - well-wishes being sent your way.
Great photo too, BTW.
--
Seen in You Are a Dog People (?)
⊗ 75 months ago | reply
We are pulling for Paco, Pete.
the other Martin Taylor 75 months ago | reply
Thinking of you and yours Pete. Good luck.
myla kent 75 months ago | reply
pete - i'm so sorry to hear about paco -- but so glad you caught it early. we'll be keeping good thoughts for him -- give him some peanut butter for us and a good belly rub -- and keep us posted.
cawins 75 months ago | reply
My thoughts are with Paco.
unfurl 75 months ago | reply
Oooh, such a hard thing to weather. I hope both of you come out of this well. Thanks for another great shot of Paco :)
petebeck 75 months ago | reply
thank you everyone, for your kind words and thoughts. i thought that you might like to hear a little good news -- a lot of good news actually!
i just got off the phone with Paco's vet. the pathology report is in and shows that the tumor was a Stage One Mast Cell Tumor and all of the surgical margins are clear. this means that since we caught it so early and that it was the lowest grade tumor, that he won't need to have any follow-up chemotherapy -- which would have been a real possibility if the tumor had turned out to have been a Stage Two or higher. the vet says that there's a good chance that he's beaten this and that he could live a normal lifespan. she said that the stats she's seen on this type/grade tumor is that 93% of all dogs in this classification survive at least 1,500 days or longer!
way to go Paco -- here's to many many many more years!
placeinsun 75 months ago | reply
delightful photo
and good recovery wishes for paco!
Planet Vicster 75 months ago | reply
Yay Paco!!!
the other Martin Taylor 75 months ago | reply
Great news!
myla kent 75 months ago | reply
what fantastic news, thanks for the update! please give paco a cuddle for me.
deborah d. lattimore 75 months ago | reply
what a huge relief. i'm so happy for you. extra treats for paco!
notraces 75 months ago | reply
Lainey says, 'tol ya
smalldogs 75 months ago | reply
yay! gentle hugs and smalldogs kisses for paco, one of the handsomest dudes on flickr.
Poopy McSparklepants 75 months ago | reply
YAY!!!!
* cate * 75 months ago | reply
oh pete. i'm so glad.
happy healing little guy.
john hen 75 months ago | reply
this is great!