I know that most of the news has been positive on Gallo of late, so it saddens me to relay that he has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer that affects the vascular organs. The doctor called me last night to inform me that the pathology report on the spleen revealed this cancer, and even though the liver has not shown any evidence of the disease, they want to do an ultrasound on Gallo’s heart sometime soon to check for lesions. He has an appointment early tomorrow morning to check his blood count, and I will schedule the ultrasound for him then.
The bottom line: For now, Gallo’s prognosis is officially “guarded” … and he has been given six to 12 months to live. Pending the results of the ultrasound on his heart, we will discuss drug therapies and chemotherapy options for him.
The only good news I can muster is that, in the limited research I’ve done on hemangiosarcoma, this is a very difficult form of cancer to detect, so I have reason to believe we found it relatively quickly. Also, the doctor told me that he is currently treating a bulldog who has had hemangiosarcoma for 2.5 years and has been living comfortably without any additional therapy. So we are not prepared to give up yet, and we’ll do everything we can to keep Gallo with us as long as he is comfortable and without pain.
Thank you all once again for all of your kind wishes and happy thoughts that you made sure found their way to G-Lo; they were heard, so please keep them coming if you can. For now, he is doing well and exceedingly happy to be back home, and that's what we're trying to focus on now because that's all we can control.
2 comments:
YOur Gallo posts spurred on a conversation about childhood pets the other day with some friends. My buddy Paul had a good take on having a sick pet:
"When I was a kid, the vet told us a similar story and our dog made it another 7 years. Dogs are fuckin' tough. That's why they call em dogs. Don't let the news take away from the time you will have with him."
I appreciate it, my friend. I know that Paul is right and I'm trying to get past that numb feeling right now. I think dogs can sense when you're down or depressed, so it ain't going to help him if that's what he feels.
Thx buddy ...
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