# Lymphoma



## Paddington (Jun 6, 2017)

Hello all.....My nearly 10 year old Golden, Paddington Bear, has been diagnosed with lymphoma with tumors on each side of his neck, back leg, and abdomen. He had stopped eating and was lethargic. After being on prednisone and an appetite stimulant for nearly 3 weeks and responding well to them, his tumors decreased in size and he was nearly his old happy self. I went for a recheck today and tumors have returned, he seems depressed and not as active as he had been. I have been advised by our vet to consider chemo. I would love to have some guidance from someone who has walked through this storm. Pros and cons of chemo. Also, it would seem Paddy may be too far into having the disease? Many thanks in advance for any guidance.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Welcome to the forum. I'm very sorry for Paddington's lymphoma diagnosis. 

My girl had lymphoma, I opted for quality of life and went with the prednisone treatment. My Vet also recommended adding Essiac tea supplements to her diet daily, it helped. My Vet didn't feel my girl was a good candidate for Chemo, she felt it would be too hard on her physically and it wouldn't prolong her life that much. 

I found out in Sept. of 2015 she had lymphoma, had 6 good months with her. She was doing great on the treatment, then it progressed rapidly and for her sake although it broke my heart, I set her free in March of 2016.

If you do a search here on the forum for lymphoma, several threads will come up. Some members have had their dogs treated with Chemo. 

I wish you and your boy all the best.


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## Otis-Agnes (Nov 24, 2015)

We also went through that horrible disease. Our sweet Haylie got it at age 5. Our vet said she should live about 1 more year with chemo and she was correct. Once Haylie was on chemo she was her usual self. We had to bring her to the vets every other week for treatment. Luckily our vet treated Haylie like a queen and she loved going there. Hugs to Paddington and good luck. Agnes


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## Siandvm (Jun 22, 2016)

I'm very sorry for you and Paddington going through this. 

Not every dog responds to chemo, and for those who do, the length of response can be very different. It is certainly something I would try because they can maintain a great quality of life. One note of caution for your case -- oncologists generally recommend not giving prednisone prior to chemo as it can decrease the effectiveness of the chemo. Prednisone is part of most chemo regimens, so by giving it beforehand and giving the cancer a chance to become resistant to it, you no longer have your ninja surprise attack on the cancer.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I am so sorry. We lost our girl, Honey to lymphoma Aug. 13, 2014, just two weeks after diagnosis. We are not sure of her age, adopted her fully grown and heart worm positive Dec. 7, 2002 and hd her almost 12 years, so she had to be at least 13, maybe even 14. The ironic thing, she NEVER aged. People took her to be 4-5 years old up until the2 weeks before her death. She was never hit with arthritis, she ran and jumped nd spun circles like a young dog. This took us by total surprise and as with Carolina Mom, we opted for quality of life at her so advanced age. Good luck with your precious boy.


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