Hi everyone, Im new to the group. On 11/2 our healthy five year old American Bulldog Mana started having swelling in his neck. We thought he had some sort of bite or allergic reaction. Took him to our vet who agreed and told us to just watch him, but did a fine needle aspirate test (showed nothing). I went back to work for 3 days. But when I got home my wife was worried and the swelling had increased. So I took him back to the vet. They mentioned the C word, did another fine needle aspirate test, and sent us home with antibiotics. The next day the swelling was much worse (maybe a reaction to the antibiotic) so I took him in again. Pathology results were in and were inconclusive. More senior vet did a chest X-ray and saw a huge mass in his chest. She advised us that it looked like cancer and the swelling was due to a lymphatic backup. My heart hit the floor.... We literally took him straight to the UC Davis specialty vet in San Diego. They did an ultrasound and another aspirate test. Sent a sample to Colorado for testing (FLOW test?). Next day I got the call that it is in fact lymphoma. Got him in to see oncology the next day. Oncology agreed that it looked like B cell lymphoma. Started chemo (CHOP Protocol) and steroids the same day. Today is day 3 after the chemo started. He looks a lot better and the swelling is gone. Seems a little lethargic, but he is a bulldog so its hard to tell. He is always a little lazy I feel like still we dont know exactly what we are dealing with. Being a Paramedic and having some medical knowledge isnt always a good thing. Preliminary diagnosis as I understand it is mediastinal B cell lymphoma, but nothing has been absolutely confirmed. Im trying not to be frustrated with that. I dont think the vet is used to explaining things in the detail Im used to in EMS. Mana is our first baby. My wife and I are absolutely heartbroken at the thought of losing him. We are determined to give him the best we can for as long as he can maintain a good quality of life.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 00:39:00 +0000
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