My German Sheppard was just diagnosed with Lymphoma (cancer)

911boost · 911boost's Garage

I know there have been a couple of dog threads here lately, and we all seem to be dog folks for the most part, so I thought I'd post this. I'm typing through some sad eyes right now, so if there are any typo's I apologize (I tried editing the spelling in the title, but I can't seem to figure that out...).

We noticed some swollen lymph nodes on our 8 year old gs this past weekend, so I took him into the vet. The did a blood test and took a tissue sample, and our worst fears were confirmed, lymphoma.

I was pretty shook up when they told us it was a possibility. As with everything you read on the web, he has been acting fine. It took a day or so to get the tests back, and in the mean time the swelling had gone done considerably, so I guess I had gotten my hopes up a little.

Fortunately we live right next to Colorado State University, which has a very good small animal Vet program. We have an appointment on Tuesday (which my wife will have to do by herself, since I will be in Federal Way, WA, for work, bless her) with the Oncology Department there to determine the stage, treatment options etc.

We got Samson right after we moved to Colorado, and besides my wife and I, he is the first family member any of my kids (Sidney, now 6 and Brendan now 3) ever met. He has watched over them since day one and I honestly can not imagine having him around right now.

I could use some wisdom from you folks right about now....

Here are some random pictures I had of him on my laptop. The pug is Casey Jones, Samson's little "brother"

Bill

and this one was taken last week

HHI944 · 04-09-2009, 02:04 PM

Sorry about your pup, hope itturns out ok. Dogs are tough, mine had a massive tumor removed from his leg almost a year ago and is perfectly healthy now at 11yo

masraum · 04-09-2009, 02:08 PM

Beautiful pup. Spoil him and spend lots of time with him.

futuresoptions · 04-09-2009, 02:08 PM

Dang Bill, Sorry to hear about the pup, hope he pulls through okay....

syncroid · 04-09-2009, 02:10 PM

I'm sorry to hear about Samson. Cancer doesn't always play fair. My dog Snap has cancer too. We took her in for surgery in December last year. Since her recovery my wife and I take her with us every chance we get. We go on hikes every Friday with her. She has been slowing down alot more then usual and we are worried that it is coming back. Samson looks like a well loved dog. Good luck and try to enjoy the good time that you have and have had.

pete3799 · pete3799's Garage

Sorry to hear. I hope Samson makes a full recovery.
I've had 3 German Shepards, all great dogs.
Our current dog Macy

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

Sorry to hear this, Bill. Beautiful dog there. Wishing for the best.

Laneco · 04-09-2009, 03:46 PM

Wow, Bill, that big fellow is MAGNIFICENT!!!

Here's to a positive prognosis, a speedy recovery, and many more years with Samson.

angela

VINMAN · 04-09-2009, 04:21 PM

Sorry to hear, Bill.

I hope all goes well.

Axeman · 04-09-2009, 04:42 PM

Sorry to hear Bill, beautiful dog, I hope he makes it through. Good luck!

deanp · 04-09-2009, 05:04 PM

Bill,

I am sorry to hear about the diagnosis for Samson. I hope you have noticed the symptoms early enough and there is sufficient care close by at the University. I will keep my fingers crossed for the best news.

I hope Samson's outcome is better than our experience last August, which I had posted about at the time.

Our Saint Bernard began limping on one of her front legs all of a sudden, and we noticed swelling just above the wrist joint. I figured worst case was a stress fracture or ligament damage as the swelling was literally not there one day and there the next... nope - the worst case was Osteosarcoma - bone cancer. Very aggressive, and once diagnosed is already in the bloodstream and spreading. The only treatment would have been amputation of her front leg, followed by radiation. She was just about to turn 8yrs, which is the bottom end of the average lifespan for a Saint.

We decided that we did not want to proceed with surgery (how does a 150lbs dog with most of the body weight carried on the front legs compensated for that?) and kept her comfortable and pain free with meds as long as we could. That was about three weeks...

There will be options and you and your wife will know what is best for you and for Samson. You'll be in my thoughts... please post when you know more.

-Dean

CarreraCab · 04-09-2009, 05:05 PM

I am very sorry to hear of Samson's problem. I lost my very best friend, Charley to the same damn thing some 8 years ago. Charley was a big Lab, Shephard mix. He gave me almost 14 years of love. He was slowing down a bit with age, but I lost him in less than
one week after we found the Lymphoma.
Samson is a wonderful looking pup. Tell him you love him, and he has many admirers
here at Pelican. I pray that He will beat this, and stay with your family.
Doug

AOW162435 · 04-09-2009, 05:27 PM

Bill,
I'm very sorry to read this. You'll be in good hands at Colorado State - my sister did her Veterinary Oncology residency there a few years ago and now heads up the oncology department for a large practice in Charlotte. If you would like for me to ask her for some names, just shout.

Best regards,
Andreas

941MXVET · 04-09-2009, 06:15 PM

Good luck, I hope your Samson pulls through. It dose sound as if you have some good resources at your disposal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you guys.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Sorry to hear, I'm sure he's a great dog. I know the feeling all too well as I posted here about losing my GSD one year ago, life goes on but I miss him a lot. Hopefully your guy will recover and have some good years left. The only thing wrong w/ dogs is that they don't live as long as us.

kconway · 04-09-2009, 08:43 PM

I'm sorry to hear this. I too had my 6 year old beagle diagnosed with an aggressive lymphoma last summer so I do know what your going through. One day Bailey just didn't get out of bed in the morning. I looked him over that night and discovered a lump that I did not notice the days prior. Tests came back positive and the vet told me Bailey had but 4-6 weeks to live and would most likely be in serious pain in days.

You may not appreciate this since you're obviously going in a different direction. My thought was it would be selfish of me to put him through whatever an aggressive treatment program would bring him without guarantees and decided to put him down days later before he suffered much. Undoubtedly the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. First dog I ever had, first and LAST time I will ever be present while a pet that close to me is euthanized.

m21sniper · 04-09-2009, 08:44 PM

I feel your pain bro.

Rikao4 · 04-10-2009, 05:16 AM

sad to hear,
I have had large dogs all my life..
lost most of them to this..
most often it shows up in their late yrs..
think about it before you do anything ...
chemo...seen humans go thru it...misery and more misery..
but we can talk..more pills..more weed...

should it come to pass..
do yourself a favor..stay with him...It will be hard..
but you owe him that.

Rika

pwd72s · 04-10-2009, 10:24 AM

Damn...wish you and your dog the best.

rfuerst911sc · 04-10-2009, 11:25 AM

My thoughts are try not to think ahead. The first course of business is to let the experts determine exactly what is going on and what are the options based on the facts. Once you have the facts you then have to make some decisions. If one of those decisions is to put the dog down in my opinion you owe it to the dog to be there when it happens. It won't be easy if anything you will cry like a baby I know I did. But I had to be there for my Casey just like she was there for me every day for 14 years ! Good luck to you and your 4 legged friend.