it’s been a very difficult and challenging week, to say the least… what with events in Boston and Texas and the Senate…we are glad that the lockdown of Boston is over.
now, a dear dog that we all love and his family also had a very tough week… Hector the pit bull… his brother Wallace, if you recall, was diagnosed with cancer and given a few months to live awhile ago. Wallace has now lived seven months beyond the diagnosis and the cancer is in remission. That is the good news. However, Hector, struggles with babesia, an illness several of the former Vick dogs are dealing with. He just overcame a bout of it but now he has a swollen mass on his spleen which could be cancerous or benign. It’s complicated…
Here’s the update. “We postponed surgery. This is not a simple decision at all. My vet has been working tirelessly to come up with the best solution, but it’s pretty complicated. Yes, I have a mass on my spleen. It could be hemangiosarcoma or some other cancer; It could be a hematoma. If they remove my spleen and it’s cancer, I probably won’t have long to live. If they remove my spleen and it’s not cancer, I will have a very difficult battle against my babesia which could also take my life. Usually dogs can live fine without a spleen, but I really need mine. There’s a chance they could save some of the spleen, but that is unknown. Without a spleen, I could stay on a babesia treatment for the rest of my life, but that could give me bad side effects. There is the option of not doing surgery, treat the babesia, and hope that the mass is related to the babesia and it will heal on its own, but without knowing what the mass is we risk it rupturing again. There aren’t a lot of cases like mine.”
The Yoris and the vet decided not to do surgery to take out his spleen at this time. He has gone home with meds.
We pray that Hector’s spleen is healed and his health improves miraculously. We send his family lots of love and light. Paws and fingers crossed for canine angels.
Please keep Hector and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Blog Hop time…thanks to Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume… grab the blog hop link
