Kirsten
11-10-2006, 11:25 AM
As you may remember, I detected a lump between Luna's shoulder blades in early August. It had the size of a cherry pit and was movable. It was deep in the fatty tissue.
After hearing the opinion of 5 (!) different vets in August (my regular vet was on vacation at that time), I decided to have no surgery for the time being. Even though none of these vets could give me a guarantee, they were all positive that it was no sarcoma, but possibly a reaction of the connective tissue to an injection (Luna had lots of antibiotic shots last winter when she had this bad UTI).
Except for the vet in the vet clinic (which is well-known for being quick with the decision to have surgerie), all the other vets recommended to wait and monitor the lump. One gave me a homeopathic remedy, Silicea, to support the immune system to fight the lump. And they all said that if it was a sarcoma or another type of a malignant tumor, it would grow quickly.
Anyway, Luna got her Silicea and I checked the lump every couple of days, and I think it was September when I felt it has gotten smaller. I took her to my vet and she agreed that this was a good sign. You will probably understand how very relieved I was.
After that, I didn't check the lump so often, but today, I wanted to find out if it's still there and I found it's back to its original size, like a cherry pit. :( So we went back to the vet, but she still believes it's only a connective tissue reaction; she said sometimes they would stay forever. She also mentioned that it would have grown much more if it was cancer, but said if I want to be sure, Luna needs to have surgery. I asked her what she would do if Luna was her cat, and she said she would wait, and wouldn't do it at this point.
But I'm not sure what to do. A part of me wants to know what the lump is, but I would hate it to put her through all this stress again. She's been through a lot the past years, and three years ago, she had already a lump removed, also in that area, and it was very painful. And I know that she cannot tolerate anaesthesia very well; they last time she had one, she acted very strange. Besides, I'm almost ashamed to say that but atm, it would be a financial problem also. :o
On the other hand, I don't want to feel guilty one day if she develops cancer because I waited too long. But for some strange reason, all my insticts are telling me not to do that surgery now. I don't know why, I'm usually not like that.
So what do you think? What would you do?
I'm sorry this is longer than I have planned. :o
If anyone wants to read the entire story, here are the previous threads:
OMG, there's a lump between Luna's shoulder blades!!! (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=110371&highlight=Luna+lump)
A Luna update... (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=111296&highlight=Luna+lump)
Kirsten
After hearing the opinion of 5 (!) different vets in August (my regular vet was on vacation at that time), I decided to have no surgery for the time being. Even though none of these vets could give me a guarantee, they were all positive that it was no sarcoma, but possibly a reaction of the connective tissue to an injection (Luna had lots of antibiotic shots last winter when she had this bad UTI).
Except for the vet in the vet clinic (which is well-known for being quick with the decision to have surgerie), all the other vets recommended to wait and monitor the lump. One gave me a homeopathic remedy, Silicea, to support the immune system to fight the lump. And they all said that if it was a sarcoma or another type of a malignant tumor, it would grow quickly.
Anyway, Luna got her Silicea and I checked the lump every couple of days, and I think it was September when I felt it has gotten smaller. I took her to my vet and she agreed that this was a good sign. You will probably understand how very relieved I was.
After that, I didn't check the lump so often, but today, I wanted to find out if it's still there and I found it's back to its original size, like a cherry pit. :( So we went back to the vet, but she still believes it's only a connective tissue reaction; she said sometimes they would stay forever. She also mentioned that it would have grown much more if it was cancer, but said if I want to be sure, Luna needs to have surgery. I asked her what she would do if Luna was her cat, and she said she would wait, and wouldn't do it at this point.
But I'm not sure what to do. A part of me wants to know what the lump is, but I would hate it to put her through all this stress again. She's been through a lot the past years, and three years ago, she had already a lump removed, also in that area, and it was very painful. And I know that she cannot tolerate anaesthesia very well; they last time she had one, she acted very strange. Besides, I'm almost ashamed to say that but atm, it would be a financial problem also. :o
On the other hand, I don't want to feel guilty one day if she develops cancer because I waited too long. But for some strange reason, all my insticts are telling me not to do that surgery now. I don't know why, I'm usually not like that.
So what do you think? What would you do?
I'm sorry this is longer than I have planned. :o
If anyone wants to read the entire story, here are the previous threads:
OMG, there's a lump between Luna's shoulder blades!!! (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=110371&highlight=Luna+lump)
A Luna update... (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=111296&highlight=Luna+lump)
Kirsten