# 9 year old just diagnosed with lymphoma



## pholter (Jan 24, 2015)

I'm so sorry to hear about your baby. I too, just lost my 9 year old to lymphoma (small intestinal). As lonely as I was until I found the perfect rescues to bring home, I personally couldn't have brought in another dog while mine was terminal and needing every bit of extra love, attention, and time that I have to give. It may be completely different in your household though. I wish you the best of luck and hope that your baby isn't in much pain. The steroids do work wonders temporarily for sure. Please keep us posted.


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## LUCKYme (Mar 29, 2015)

I am very sorry to hear of this diagnosis. Cancer sucks! I really hope you, along with your vet, are able to maintain his comfort while you take this journey. Sending many prayers for strength your way.

As far as getting another dog... This news is very fresh and I do understand your not wanting to have a empty house. However, I think you should give it some time. It sounds like your wife is struggling with the diagnosis. I think right now the focus should be on maintaining quality of life and helping your family take this hard journey together. When your wife is ready to talk maybe this can be discussed but I wouldn't rush it. 

Wishing you the best


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## gman (May 10, 2012)

Our 6 yr old Golden was diagnosed with lymphoma 3 years ago. Unfortunately she had T-cell which had a poor prognosis. We put her on chemotherapy and she went into a very short lived remission. When the tumors returned we put her on prednisone to make her comfortable. We put her to sleep when the prednisone no longer worked, just 6 months after her diagnosis. If your Golden has B-cell lymphoma there is a better chance of a long term remission, so you may want to find out which type of lymphoma your Golden has. Why was prednisone given first? It will not put the dog into a long term remission, it will just temporarily shrink the tumors.


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## forgop (May 26, 2015)

gman said:


> Our 6 yr old Golden was diagnosed with lymphoma 3 years ago. Unfortunately she had T-cell which had a poor prognosis. We put her on chemotherapy and she went into a very short lived remission. When the tumors returned we put her on prednisone to make her comfortable. We put her to sleep when the prednisone no longer worked, just 6 months after her diagnosis. If your Golden has B-cell lymphoma there is a better chance of a long term remission, so you may want to find out which type of lymphoma your Golden has. Why was prednisone given first? It will not put the dog into a long term remission, it will just temporarily shrink the tumors.


We've decided we weren't going to go through any real extensive treatment (chemo) given the expected outcome (a short-lived remission at best, high cost, and significantly altered living state). The vet agreed that we were making the best decision and as much as we love him, I can't picture putting him through the treatments and seeing him being a dog go from a very active lifestyle and to one that just lays around every day and just confining him to that lifestyle even longer. 

We have very good friends that just went through this with a mastiff and had him euthanized last weekend-this even coming from an oncology RN and they made the same choice for the same reasons we have. I'm also a critical care RN and we seem more content at prolonging poor quality of life (just because we have the technology to do so) more so than maximizing the most high quality of life in people and our pets.


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