# Blood filled lump on skin of Flora's shoulder



## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

I found a lump on Flora's shoulder on Thanksgiving that seemed to have come out of nowhere. It's about the size of a quarter, slightly rosy colored skin on top but not alarmingly red or anything, and I can feel its borders pretty well. 

Took her into the vet today. The vet did a needle aspiration and out came lots of blood. She took the sample back and later reported she saw red blood cells, white blood cells, and round cells, the latter which she found concerning and said that qualified the mass as a tumor. She said there weren't any multiplying cells which I guess is a red flag for cancer, just the round cells. I've scheduled to have the entire tumor surgically removed next Thursday and sent out for a biopsy.

Naturally I'm thinking hemangiosarcoma, which is distressing. Flora is 6 (her birthday was on Monday! ) and she seems fine otherwise. Anyhow, my main curiosity is about what else the tumor could possibly be. I told myself I wouldn't do the internet thing but of course I did, and any search for "blood filled tumor" just takes me straight to hemangiosarcoma. 

Obviously I trust my vet and I know she'll provide me with all of the pertinent information but I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people here. I hate that waiting game that starts the moment you know something's wrong. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I know anything definite about Flora's tumor. :/

Thanks!

Edited to add pictures of Flora:


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I'm sorry to hear about the lump you found on Flora's shoulder. I think it's a good idea you're having it removed and biopsied. Try to stay positive.......

Happy 6th Birthday to Flora, she looks beautiful, thanks for sharing pictures of her with us. I've missed seeing her. 

I'll be thinking of you both on Thurs., prayers her surgery goes well and the results bring good news.


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## KathyL (Jul 6, 2011)

First Flora is a doll and early birthday wishes to her.

I'm glad you took her in right away and are having the lump removed and biopsied. Hopefully all will be well and she will have a clean biopsy. I will be thinking about her.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

It is sad to read about the lump on Flora's shoulder, but she has her age going for her. While I have lost three dogs to cancer over the years, I have had about thirty cancers scares with them or times it looked bad but turned out fine. I believe most vets with experience in clinical practice know what they see- and they use the appropriate protocols for confirmation before breaking it to us. It is a good thing the vet told you she saw no multiplying cells. Usually in hemangiosarcoma that manifests in the skin, are there usually many lumps? Did the vet xray her spleen? Hemangio is cancer of the lining of the blood vessels, and it tends to enlarge the spleen also. I will keep you and Flora in my thoughts, and pray she is just giving you a scare.


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

I have some friends that had a 12yr old lab/shepherd mix diagnosed with a fibrosarcoma. She had a baseball sized lump on her hind leg. When the vet first aspirated it, they found it was full of blood.
She was an old girl to start with, but they had an additional 2 years with her. 2 good years.

I will keep your girl in my thoughts.


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## Tennyson (Mar 26, 2011)

Sending positive vibes for Flora.
I have to say, that first picture of your girl? One of the best grooming jobs I've ever seen on this forum or anywhere else.
She's just simply beautiful.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Ljilly28 said:


> It is sad to read about the lump on Flora's shoulder, but she has her age going for her. While I have lost three dogs to cancer over the years, I have had about thirty cancers scares with them or times it looked bad but turned out fine. I believe most vets with experience in clinical practice know what they see- and they use the appropriate protocols for confirmation before breaking it to us. It is a good thing the vet told you she saw no multiplying cells. Usually in hemangiosarcoma that manifests in the skin, are there usually many lumps? Did the vet xray her spleen? Hemangio is cancer of the lining of the blood vessels, and it tends to enlarge the spleen also. I will keep you and Flora in my thoughts, and pray she is just giving you a scare.


I have no idea if there are a lot of lumps associated with hemangio in the skin - right now she just has the one along with a large sebaceous cyst on her back. Xrays haven't been performed yet. I figure if the mass comes back positive for cancer that will be my vet's next suggestion, and I'll definitely go along with it. I know hemangio routinely attacks the spleen and the heart so I figure if she has it xrays will be pretty telling. Thanks for your thoughts!



Jennifer1 said:


> I have some friends that had a 12yr old lab/shepherd mix diagnosed with a fibrosarcoma. She had a baseball sized lump on her hind leg. When the vet first aspirated it, they found it was full of blood.
> She was an old girl to start with, but they had an additional 2 years with her. 2 good years.
> 
> I will keep your girl in my thoughts.


Thanks for the story - gives me hope. It's always good to have something positive to cling to. 

Thank you to everyone for your kind words, they help!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

There is a different kind of hemangio that effects the skin, and the prognosis for it is quite good. Most of the time, surgery is curative.
Hoping all turns out well, she's a special girl.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Thanks Barb! She is my special little girl.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Flora*

Your Flora is so beautiful and Happy Birthday to her!
I AGREE, that her age is on her side, and I will be praying!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We're rather partial to her, too 



Florabora said:


> Thanks Barb! She is my special little girl.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Best wishes all goes well on Thursday. She is a beautiful girl!


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Thank you again.  Flora's bloodwork came back great so she's cleared for surgery.

I have to admit, I'm having a hard time with this. I'm naturally a bit of a pessimistic person and the internet can be evil when it comes to torturing oneself with 'what if's'. I keep reading about hemangiosarcoma and it just bums me out. On top of things, I'm a student and this week is such a mess with exams and projects and whatever that Flora is not even with me - she's back in my hometown with my parents, who are amazing and are taking care of her for me until the semester is over. I hate that she's not with me, and that makes me more upset.

And then over Thanksgiving break along with Flora's tumor my mother informed me my dad may have Parkinson's and so I feel awful that I'm all worried about Flora when my father could potentially be very ill.

Anyways. I'm unloading and it helps a little. I'm trying to stay positive which definitely means I need to stay away from the internet and stop googling stuff!


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

Thinking of you and Flora. One step at a time...fingers crossed that all goes well Thursday.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Google is NOT your friend! But we are


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Flora*

Holding good thoughts and praying for Flora and you!


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

Thinking of you and Flora tomorrow and hoping all goes well.


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## SandyK (Mar 20, 2011)

Will also be thinking of you and Flora tomorrow!!


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## Doug (Jul 17, 2010)

Sending our very best wishes to precious Flora and her family!


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Prayers coming from Texas.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

thinking of you guys today.


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

Prayers to you & Flora...


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Thinking of you and sweet Flora, sending my prayers to you both.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Thank you to everyone! You're all so kind. Unfortunately Flora is not having her surgery today. I love my parents, I do, and I'm so grateful that they're helping me out with all of this while I'm in school, but...

I guess Flora's tumor was oozing the whole time she's been at home, and the vet called me today and said it had ulcerated, grown twice in size, and appeared infected so she advised against the surgery for now because otherwise she would be resecting a very large mass. She gave Flora a steroid injection and antibiotics. I scheduled a new surgery for next Thursday as well as for the following Wednesday in case the swelling hasn't abated by Thursday (hopefully that makes sense!).

So that's that for now. I desperately wanted this thing out of her, but I guess another week won't do much harm. My vet said that although she can't say anything definitively, in her experience the tumor behaves like a mast cell tumor, although she said the needle aspirate didn't really show the typical signs of a mast cell tumor. Granules, I think she said.

So next week, assuming the swelling and infection go away, Flora will have her tumor removal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed (and probably annoying the hell out of my mother with constant instructions)!


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## hubbub (Jun 28, 2011)

Just seeing this, but hope that the steroids do their work, so the surgery can be completed and worry can be left behind in 2014.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Hope the antibiotics and steroid injection calm it down enough for surgery next week.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

^^ Thanks, so do I! I guess the oozing/weeping has stopped so the next step is to get that swelling down. Next Thursday can't come soon enough for me. I want that thing out of her!


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Flora*



Florabora said:


> Thank you to everyone! You're all so kind. Unfortunately Flora is not having her surgery today. I love my parents, I do, and I'm so grateful that they're helping me out with all of this while I'm in school, but...
> 
> I guess Flora's tumor was oozing the whole time she's been at home, and the vet called me today and said it had ulcerated, grown twice in size, and appeared infected so she advised against the surgery for now because otherwise she would be resecting a very large mass. She gave Flora a steroid injection and antibiotics. I scheduled a new surgery for next Thursday as well as for the following Wednesday in case the swelling hasn't abated by Thursday (hopefully that makes sense!).
> 
> ...


Praying for you and Flora.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

(you know I love telling people what to do)
Maybe you should call your vet and ask about putting Flora on benedryl until next week. If it's a mast cell, by definition they respond to benedryl by shrinking. A lot of vets will put dogs with a suspected mast cell on benedryl prior to a surgery.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> (you know I love telling people what to do)
> Maybe you should call your vet and ask about putting Flora on benedryl until next week. If it's a mast cell, by definition they respond to benedryl by shrinking. A lot of vets will put dogs with a suspected mast cell on benedryl prior to a surgery.


 My mother called the vet because Flora was still oozing a few hours later and they told her to bring her in. They changed her wrapping and also prescribed some benedryl 3x a day. So I think everything is as good as it can get for now!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I am glad to hear about the antihistamine bc it can have a huge impact on the outcome of mast cell surgery. Mast cells get stirred up like an angry hornets nest. so the antihistamine stops them from spreading all over.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

renews my faith in your vet


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Ljilly28 said:


> I am glad to hear about the antihistamine bc it can have a huge impact on the outcome of mast cell surgery. Mast cells get stirred up like an angry hornets nest. so the antihistamine stops them from spreading all over.


Yes, I've read that as well which is why I'm so frustrated we weren't able to get this tumor out today. I hate to think of that thing sitting in her spitting out more of those nasty cells, but what can you do. Of course, there's a chance it isn't a mast cell - she said all she saw in the aspiration fluid were round cells and spindle cells, no mast cells, but I've read these tumors can be chameleons.

And I definitely trust my vet. She did Flora's patella surgery years ago and Flora has never had a problem since. She's been super patient and helpful with all of my questions and concerns. I think we've done all we can for now so I hope Miss Flora can stop scratching and let things calm down! :uhoh:


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

Hopefully the tumor will respond well to the Benadryl and get in a state that it can be removed. My girl has been though 2 surgeries for MCT removal and has an inoperable one (foot). Each of the tumors has presented differently (looks & feel) but most definitely were identifiable as MCTs via needle aspirate. The one on her foot took several pokes over time before MCT was confirmed. Thankfully, the mitotic index was low on each tumor & she's doing well so hopefully that will provide some hope to you if Flora's tumor comes back as an MCT.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

SheetsSM said:


> Hopefully the tumor will respond well to the Benadryl and get in a state that it can be removed. My girl has been though 2 surgeries for MCT removal and has an inoperable one (foot). Each of the tumors has presented differently (looks & feel) but most definitely were identifiable as MCTs via needle aspirate. The one on her foot took several pokes over time before MCT was confirmed. Thankfully, the mitotic index was low on each tumor & she's doing well so hopefully that will provide some hope to you if Flora's tumor comes back as an MCT.


Thank you for this information, it is encouraging. Of course I hope the tumor comes back as something benign, but I'm realistic. If it does end up being something malignant I'm fortunate enough to live very close to UIUC's vet clinic, and they have a great oncology department so I'd definitely make use of them. :crossfing I don't have to though!


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

I hope Flora responds to the medicine. I've been following your story closely because my 2 year old golden, Duke, has a blood filled mass that he's had for over a year. It suddenly started to grow in the last 6 months (doubled in size). My vet aspirated it, but said she did not think it was a MCT. However, she did say that we should think about removing it because of it's growth. At the same time, she had also said that she didn't think it was urgent to put him under and do this unless we were doing something else like cleaning teeth. I didn't know if she was saying to remove it just so I would stop asking about it. I don't want to put Duke under unnecessarily, but it might make sense to do it while it's small versus bigger. Sorry for the thread hijack, but I've been really on the fence about what to do.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

jennretz said:


> I hope Flora responds to the medicine. I've been following your story closely because my 2 year old golden, Duke, has a blood filled mass that he's had for over a year. It suddenly started to grow in the last 6 months (doubled in size). My vet aspirated it, but said she did not think it was a MCT. However, she did say that we should think about removing it because of it's growth. At the same time, she had also said that she didn't think it was urgent to put him under and do this unless we were doing something else like cleaning teeth. I didn't know if she was saying to remove it just so I would stop asking about it. I don't want to put Duke under unnecessarily, but it might make sense to do it while it's small versus bigger. Sorry for the thread hijack, but I've been really on the fence about what to do.


It's difficult, isn't it? Especially at 2 years. At Flora's age she's old enough that I'm like, if it's a lump and it looks at all questionable, I want it out. At 2... I dunno. I'm having her teeth cleaned (even though my vet says her teeth hardly need it) and a small benign growth snipped from her eye as well.

Have you thought about getting a second opinion? I wish you the best with all of this. It's so worrisome when our pups develop these mysterious lumps and bumps. I'm making myself sick with worry and it's exhausting! Thank goodness Flora doesn't have this issue. She's still as happy as can be.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I'm sorry the surgery had to be postponed. 
I'll be thinking of you both next week and sending prayers the surgery goes well and the results are good.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> I'm sorry the surgery had to be postponed.
> I'll be thinking of you both next week and sending prayers the surgery goes well and the results are good.


Thank you, you're always so thoughtful.  The report I'm hearing is Flora is not scratching and is kind of mellow, which I'm assuming is just the benedryl working its magic because Flora is not a mellow dog. So long as she's comfy then I'm happy.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

Florabora said:


> It's difficult, isn't it? Especially at 2 years. At Flora's age she's old enough that I'm like, if it's a lump and it looks at all questionable, I want it out. At 2... I dunno. I'm having her teeth cleaned (even though my vet says her teeth hardly need it) and a small benign growth snipped from her eye as well.
> 
> Have you thought about getting a second opinion? I wish you the best with all of this. It's so worrisome when our pups develop these mysterious lumps and bumps. I'm making myself sick with worry and it's exhausting! Thank goodness Flora doesn't have this issue. She's still as happy as can be.


I'll be thinking of you next week and following your updates....i'm leaning strongly towards having it removed from Duke. I've had a couple of opinions from different vets. I'll let you know what I decide.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

jennretz said:


> I'll be thinking of you next week and following your updates....i'm leaning strongly towards having it removed from Duke. I've had a couple of opinions from different vets. I'll let you know what I decide.


I hope Duke's lump is nothing. At least you know it's slow growing, I feel like that's a good sign for any sort of lump. I think if Flora developed a mysterious lump at 2 I probably would have it removed too. Unfortunately in this breed you just can't be too careful. :/ I'll definitely keep this thread active once we've done the surgery and received the biospy.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Thinking of you and Flora and sending prayers.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

I'm just checking in to see how Flora's recovery went. Duke is having his bump removed next Monday and I'm nervous. I've gotten a second opinion as well and he also confirmed it should be removed; it's grown quite a bit since November. Both vets are optimistic that this is not cancerous so I'm mostly worried about how Duke's recovery will be. Any advice especially since I have another very active golden Duke's age who likes to wrestle with him.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Flora*

How is sweet Flora doing?


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## Carmel (Feb 9, 2015)

At age 11 my Golden had a lump like this removed from his shoulder. It solved the problem and never came back although he did get fatty tumors on his belly as seems common in old age.


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