# Cancer, Emergency Splenectomy… what to expect for my baby?



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@hotel4dogs - if you are lurking, can you help?


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## FUReverGolden (Nov 24, 2021)

So sorry to hear of this for your Bizzy. My heart and soul are with you at this time. Praying for a miracle. Think of her comfort and your quality time together. #cancersucks. This forum knows this heartache all too well.


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## Hildae (Aug 15, 2012)

I lost a dog to Hermangio. Unfortunately from what I was told chemo and such doesn't usually end up prolonging the lifespan much, and the best thing is usually to keep them comfortable for as long as they are able to enjoy life. From diagnosis to departure was fairly short for my dog.


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## Oceanside (Mar 29, 2021)

So sorry for the news about Bizzy. I don’t think chemotherapy is likely to be helpful in this case. I think a good dose of Im Yunity is likely the best option for buying a little more time, and there is research to back it.


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## JerseyChris (10 mo ago)

So sorry for what you’re going through. Just spend as much time spoiling her as you can. Not sure you saw this thread.








Buckeroo's Hemangiosarcoma Story


It's 24 hours after our sweet boy(neutered), Buckeroo, passed away at the age of 10 years, 8 months. Photo 6/16 During the initial phase of researching his illness I turned to this forum for help in understanding what other owner's experiences were with this cancer. And I so want to give...




www.goldenretrieverforum.com


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## Katie2 (Apr 6, 2018)

I'm so sorry for what you're going through. I hope you are able to find some comfort in spending quality time with Bizzy and spoiling her as she recovers from her surgery.

My dog took Yunnan Baiyao for bleeding tumors, and it might be helpful in your case--my dog had lymphoma that, while responding to treatment at first, either spread to his liver/spleen, or he developed hemangiosarcoma along with the lymphoma--impossible to tell for sure without an invasive test. He had a very bad bleed one day from inoperable tumors on his liver and spleen and euthanasia was recommended when I brought him to the emergency vet, but he bounced back very quickly with IV fluids and Yunnan Baiyao, a Traditional Chinese medicine which can help stop bleeding and maybe even prevent future bleeds (to an extent), and his body reabsorbed the bleeding.

After that, I got I'm-Yunity from my vet as well as Yunnan Baiyao. I believe it helped give him a little extra quality time, but he passed away a little over three weeks later (but he had epitheliotropic lymphoma and his time was limited because of that anyway). There is some anecdotal evidence that Yunnan Baiyao and I'm-Yunity can buy more quality time than that. If you get the Yunnan Baiyao, make sure to get it from a veterinarian or from the official Yunnan Baiyao website, as it seems there are some companies selling counterfeit versions.

You mention being mad at yourself for not screening for this--and I know what it's like to question where you could have made a different choice for a better outcome--but cancer, especially hemangiosarcoma, can grow so quickly. My dog had a clear abdominal ultrasound in September and by the end of October he had tumors on his liver and spleen that were bleeding into his abdominal cavity.

I'm so sorry for the pain you're going through. I'm thinking of you and Bizzy and hoping for much more quality time for both of you.


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

I’m so very sorry. Of all the cancers our Goldens can get, hemangio is the one that frightens me the most. There is just so little we can do to prevent or treat it. 🙁

Although I have no personal experience with my own dogs, I have many friends who have dealt with it. I agree with Katie2… several friends did regular ultrasounds in the hope of catching it early and STILL lost their dog to it. So don’t beat yourself up about what you might have done to prevent it as there really isn’t any way, nor are there usually early signs you may have missed that would have changed the outcome. I’ve heard of dogs who did winning agility runs on Saturday and were gone by Monday. I also agree with Katie that if it were my dog I’d likely do Yunnan Baiyao and I'm-Yunity and hope for quality of life over length. 

I wish we were able to give you better news or more hope. Again, I’m so very sorry for what you are going through. 😢


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## Rion05 (Jan 4, 2016)

simmijaswal said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> While I have browsed the forums over the years, this is my first time posting. My beautiful golden girl, Bizzy, is 10 years and 10 months old. She is my first dog and the love of my life. Apologies for the long post!
> 
> ...


Did they get the pathology back on the spleen? 50% of the time, it is benign. I realize that they said they saw other tumors, but were those biopsied? That's a long way of saying are they certain it is hemangio? I had a dog with a bleeding spleen mass, a splenectomy, that turned out to be BENIGN, who went on to live another 2.5 years to almost 14.5. Sending healing vibes...


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## simmijaswal (6 mo ago)

JerseyChris said:


> So sorry for what you’re going through. Just spend as much time spoiling her as you can. Not sure you saw this thread.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you for sharing this. I'm going to read through it tonight. So many beautiful dogs lost to this horrible disease...


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## simmijaswal (6 mo ago)

Katie2 said:


> I'm so sorry for what you're going through. I hope you are able to find some comfort in spending quality time with Bizzy and spoiling her as she recovers from her surgery.
> 
> My dog took Yunnan Baiyao for bleeding tumors, and it might be helpful in your case--my dog had lymphoma that, while responding to treatment at first, either spread to his liver/spleen, or he developed hemangiosarcoma along with the lymphoma--impossible to tell for sure without an invasive test. He had a very bad bleed one day from inoperable tumors on his liver and spleen and euthanasia was recommended when I brought him to the emergency vet, but he bounced back very quickly with IV fluids and Yunnan Baiyao, a Traditional Chinese medicine which can help stop bleeding and maybe even prevent future bleeds (to an extent), and his body reabsorbed the bleeding.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for your detailed response, I really appreciate it.

I'm so sorry you've experienced this devastating loss, and that it was just so fast.

I am spending all my time with my baby, and the only time I leave her is to get/buy things she needs. Luckily I am off work atm.

I got my hands on both I'm-Yunity and Yunnan Baiyao, and will give her both tonight. How did you administer the Yunnan Baiyao capsules? Just straight down? I was advised to mix it with some water and use a syringe to administer - wondering if that's necessary. She is still on meds for her recovery from the splenectomy, so she has to take a lot of pills.


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## simmijaswal (6 mo ago)

pawsnpaca said:


> I’m so very sorry. Of all the cancers our Goldens can get, hemangio is the one that frightens me the most. There is just so little we can do to prevent or treat it. 🙁
> 
> Although I have no personal experience with my own dogs, I have many friends who have dealt with it. I agree with Katie2… several friends did regular ultrasounds in the hope of catching it early and STILL lost their dog to it. So don’t beat yourself up about what you might have done to prevent it as there really isn’t any way, nor are there usually early signs you may have missed that would have changed the outcome. I’ve heard of dogs who did winning agility runs on Saturday and were gone by Monday. I also agree with Katie that if it were my dog I’d likely do Yunnan Baiyao and I'm-Yunity and hope for quality of life over length.
> 
> I wish we were able to give you better news or more hope. Again, I’m so very sorry for what you are going through. 😢


Thank you so much for your kindness. I'm doing Yunnan Baiyao and I'm Yunity for sure.


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## simmijaswal (6 mo ago)

Rion05 said:


> Did they get the pathology back on the spleen? 50% of the time, it is benign. I realize that they said they saw other tumors, but were those biopsied? That's a long way of saying are they certain it is hemangio? I had a dog with a bleeding spleen mass, a splenectomy, that turned out to be BENIGN, who went on to live another 2.5 years to almost 14.5. Sending healing vibes...


I'm so happy you got another 2.5 years with your dog! Did your dog have tumours in other places? Bizzy has quite a few.... 
They sent off the spleen for biopsy, but they haven't received the results yet. One of the emergency vets did say that it could be a couple of other types of cancer. They all seem to imply she doesn't have much time left. Bizzy has an appointment with an oncologist on Aug 8, where they will remove the sutures from the splenectomy and go over next steps.


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## Rion05 (Jan 4, 2016)

simmijaswal said:


> I'm so happy you got another 2.5 years with your dog! Did your dog have tumours in other places? Bizzy has quite a few....
> They sent off the spleen for biopsy, but they haven't received the results yet. One of the emergency vets did say that it could be a couple of other types of cancer. They all seem to imply she doesn't have much time left. Bizzy has an appointment with an oncologist on Aug 8, where they will remove the sutures from the splenectomy and go over next steps.


So I posted about the health saga of my dog a few years ago here now...an incidental finding to his bleeding spleen was...an inoperable thyroid tumor. Aside from the splenectomy and oh, well, the tumor...he was otherwise very, very active and healthy. He was 12 and we treated both, by the way. Those additional 2.5 years were wonderful. One of our vets said, "Age is not a disease." 

Hoping for the best for you and your dog.


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

I know what you are going through having lost my April girl to hemangiosarcoma at 8 years old. The first thing I noticed was that she seemed to have gained a little weight; however I didn’t think anything of it because that also made sense since I was early in my twin pregnancy and experiencing raging morning sickness so was not exercising her properly. Then she went off her food and was lethargic so I took her to our vet. He sent me to the other clinic as they had an ultrasound machine there. That revealed a massive tumor on her spleen-not ruptured yet so we immediately scheduled her for a spleen removal the next day. Biopsy came back cancer-hemangiosarcoma. I think we caught it about as early as possible, but given the aggressive nature of hemangio, we opted not to do any further treatments other than keeping her as comfortable and happy as possible in the time she had left. (When I read up on treatments they said basically that chemo could MAYBE make her live 1-3 months longer.) One thing I did do was add a Turkey tail mushroom powder to her food as that is supposed to possibly be helpful. She had days where you would never know she had cancer and days were she wouldn’t move. When the bad days started happening more frequently, we decided it was time to say goodbye-she was WAY too good a dog to let her struggle and suffer a slow death. We filled her good days with all her favorite things-even managed to get in a horse camping trip with her along because camping with the horses was one of her very favorites. She lived about 2 months after I initially took her in. Oh and I noticed her belly swelling up again like she was gaining weight-they say that after the spleen is removed the cancer will just grow on another organ-couldn’t believe how quickly she got swollen up again (they had told me the mass on her spleen was football size). They say it’s usually 1-3 months after diagnosis. So my suggestion is do what your dog loves and cherish every moment you have left! And hugs and prayers because I know how awful this is for you right now.


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## Katie2 (Apr 6, 2018)

simmijaswal said:


> Thank you so much for your detailed response, I really appreciate it.
> 
> I'm so sorry you've experienced this devastating loss, and that it was just so fast.
> 
> ...


My vet had me give the Yunnan Baiyao in capsule form, wrapped in American cheese or white bread, a couple of his favorite foods, and he ate it just fine. It does have sort of an earthy, herbal smell (and I'm guessing, taste) that I think he appreciated having covered up a bit by the cheese/bread.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Megora said:


> @hotel4dogs - if you are lurking, can you help?


Yep, lurking...but not much help. My Toby's splenic mass was benign. 
All I can offer is prayers and good thoughts.


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## Cathy's Gunner (Dec 4, 2008)

My boy Gunner passed away last July of hemangiosarcoma. He passed seven months from his diagnosis. If I had to do it over again, I would not have had the chemo or gave him all the holistic meds the oncologist suggested. I was shoving more than 30 capsules down his throat a day. I hated having to give him so many and felt so bad for him. I doubt if they helped him much so the last couple of months we just kept him on pain meds to keep him comfortable. Hopefully, Nancie Capozzi sees your post. She is going through this with her boy Neeko and they are just keeping him comfortable. He has made it 11 months past his diagnosis. Good luck!


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## simmijaswal (6 mo ago)

I'm so sorry for your loss. 


Cathy's Gunner said:


> My boy Gunner passed away last July of hemangiosarcoma. He passed seven months from his diagnosis. If I had to do it over again, I would not have had the chemo or gave him all the holistic meds the oncologist suggested. I was shoving more than 30 capsules down his throat a day. I hated having to give him so many and felt so bad for him. I doubt if they helped him much so the last couple of months we just kept him on pain meds to keep him comfortable. Hopefully, Nancie Capozzi sees your post. She is going through this with her boy Neeko and they are just keeping him comfortable. He has made it 11 months past his diagnosis. Good luck!


Thank you for sharing your experience, and I'm so sorry for your loss. I understand wanting to do everything possible for Gunner - that's where we are with Bizzy.


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## simmijaswal (6 mo ago)

Bizzy Update:
Thank you everyone for your advice and support, it helped me through some very rough days. Bizzy is one week post rupture/splenectomy and is recovering well! I am by her side 24/7, as are my parents. She is back to chasing down her passion in life, food, and is wanting to be more active than she should be post-surgery, lol. I'm glad we chose to save her against the emergency vet's advice, as she is very much still full of life.

We started the Yunnan Baiyao and I'm Yunity last Friday. The folks at I'm Yunity were so kind - I put a note in my order stating my dog is very ill, and they sent the package to me overnight express (to Canada) at no extra charge. I also found a holistic vet (who has both veterinary and naturopathic degrees) who has been so helpful with crafting a treatment of supplements, diet changes, and lifestyle factors to improve Bizzy's quality of life. She was so kind to take time out of her family vacation to help Bizzy!

We see the oncologist in a week for biopsy results and treatment options. I want to pursue chemo but need more info on her condition first.

Thanks again for all your support. This forum is so, so wonderful.


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