Ella’s Cancer Challenge
Calum, Joanne and the boys were all very concerned when a skin lump that their much loved GSP Ella developed turned out to be a mast cell tumour.
Taking a sample from the lump by means of a needle and syringe ( a fine needle aspirate) and then looking at it, once stained, under a microscope showed the typical mast cell picture of small, uniform, basophilic ( dark blue) cytoplasmic granules located intracellularly and extracellulary.
The treatment of choice is surgical excision with wide (3 cm) margins.
Ella then had screening xrays and ultrasonography of her abdomen performed, to try to ascertain if there was, already, any spread of the tumour.
So Ella has started on Vinblastin, a form of intravenous chemotherapy. She had her first dose on the 4th of September and will have 8 repeat doses each fortnight as long as she is tolerating it. 24 hours prior to each dose, she has a blood test to check that her cell count is normal. As with humans, the main concern is immunosuppression. Dogs do not lose their hair.
Ella seems to be doing OK. Her appetite might be down a little but she still loves her walks. This was taken on the weekend (12/09) and shows her at her favourite spot on a walk we often do- sitting at Brendan’s cafe on the Goodwill Bridge, waiting for her dog biscuit treat!
We will keep you updated and thank you for all the kind good wishes
08/10/15
Ella’s surgical site is healing well and she has had 3 rounds of chemotherapy.
The vinblastin is administered IV and great care must be taken as it is a cytotoxic substance.
And, no, chemo or not, she is NOT allowed to eat pizza!!!!
April 2016
As is so often the case in older dogs, Ella is developing many lumps. The bad news was that one of the lumps was another mast cell cancer. The good news is that Calum fully excised it and it is a much lower grade than her initial one. She also had another abdominal ultrasound with samples being taken from her liver and spleen to be as sure as possible that there is no internal spread.
After an anxious few days of waiting on the cytology results, we got the all clear.
So a few sutures to be had but luckily no more chemo for now. Anyone who has had mast cell cancers diagnosed in their pet needs to be ultra vigilant in checking for new lumps!