Undetermined time, inoperable Malignant Nerve Sheath Tumor

MistyMom · 01-25-2010, 05:58 PM

My name is Paula and I am the mother to a beautiful girl, Misty. She is approximately 9 or 10 years old now. I adopted her and she was 3 or 4, that was 6 years ago now. She is Australian Shepard/Collie mix, and the most beautiful girl!
Last March we had a tumor removed from her right hip/buttocks area. Then it was about the size of a softball. We had suspicions but did not know for sure till the entire tumor was sent for biopsy, it was cancerous. So the vet and I agreed it be best to start her on chemo (even before the results were in). She went onto a regimen of Metronomix Chemo, Piroxicam, and Doxycycline. We ended up cutting the Piroxicam out cause it upset her stomach, and we cut the Doxycycline back to half the dosage to ease her stomach also.
Within a few months, the tumor was back and even bigger. Obviously we received the results by now and it was confirmed to be a malignant nerve sheath tumor. I was told it would come back but the hope was the chemo would slow the progression. Unfortunately it did not. The recommendation then became to attempt to debulk it again and add intense radiation into her treatment. I decided not to do that. Mean of me? I hope not. I thought about how hard it would be for her to be knocked out 5 days a week and at the same time be far away from home and me, and decided the depression that would bring would kill her. It helps when even her oncologist said he probably wouldn't put his dog thru it either...
So here we are a total of 9 months out from the surgery and diagnosis and now it is inoperable. She has developed secondary cysts on the tumor that the doc even said would probably rupture. It took about 2 weeks but he was right...I have since the inoperable prognosis, stopped her chemo and antibiotics, and started homeopathic treatment. Now she is eating again (after about a month of not), her eyes look clearer, and her temperament is back to her sweet content self. My struggle is trying to help her pass feces, and keep the open cysts clean and get the infection out. I don't want to believe I can't care for them and get them to close back up, and will have to put her down. How can I put her down for a wound when everything else about her is good?
Antibiotics are apparently not an option. Doc says they are resistant since they formed while she was on some.
Anyone have advice on how to help clean the infection out and close up the cysts? By the way, one is definitely full rupture, another looks more like a rug burn ooze.
Thanks for reading and accepting me and my big girl, Misty into your group!

jeffers · 01-25-2010, 09:26 PM

hi paula so sorry to hear about misty. i know exactly what you are going thro as all on this site have been there. my old girl had a n inoperable gum tumour and the vet gave her only a few weeks. i searched the web for natural things and if you look at some of the old posts on here you will find what lots of people did. there was no cure for my girl but i did manage to get her interested in life and had her a lot longer than the vet gave her and she was happy and still playful untill the day before she died. collodial silver helped her and i used to spray the tumour 3 times daily with it to keep it clean. and changed her diet to mainly raw food as processed has so many chemicals in it. the only advice i can give is to read posts and research as much as you can. i know its heart-breaking faced with this cancer but you can only do the very best that you think will help your girl. i wish you the very best and come back here to let us all know how you are doing

jeff

jeanettesavill · 01-26-2010, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MistyMom

My name is Paula and I am the mother to a beautiful girl, Misty. She is approximately 9 or 10 years old now. I adopted her and she was 3 or 4, that was 6 years ago now. She is Australian Shepard/Collie mix, and the most beautiful girl!
Last March we had a tumor removed from her right hip/buttocks area. Then it was about the size of a softball. We had suspicions but did not know for sure till the entire tumor was sent for biopsy, it was cancerous. So the vet and I agreed it be best to start her on chemo (even before the results were in). She went onto a regimen of Metronomix Chemo, Piroxicam, and Doxycycline. We ended up cutting the Piroxicam out cause it upset her stomach, and we cut the Doxycycline back to half the dosage to ease her stomach also.
Within a few months, the tumor was back and even bigger. Obviously we received the results by now and it was confirmed to be a malignant nerve sheath tumor. I was told it would come back but the hope was the chemo would slow the progression. Unfortunately it did not. The recommendation then became to attempt to debulk it again and add intense radiation into her treatment. I decided not to do that. Mean of me? I hope not. I thought about how hard it would be for her to be knocked out 5 days a week and at the same time be far away from home and me, and decided the depression that would bring would kill her. It helps when even her oncologist said he probably wouldn't put his dog thru it either...
So here we are a total of 9 months out from the surgery and diagnosis and now it is inoperable. She has developed secondary cysts on the tumor that the doc even said would probably rupture. It took about 2 weeks but he was right...I have since the inoperable prognosis, stopped her chemo and antibiotics, and started homeopathic treatment. Now she is eating again (after about a month of not), her eyes look clearer, and her temperament is back to her sweet content self. My struggle is trying to help her pass feces, and keep the open cysts clean and get the infection out. I don't want to believe I can't care for them and get them to close back up, and will have to put her down. How can I put her down for a wound when everything else about her is good?
Antibiotics are apparently not an option. Doc says they are resistant since they formed while she was on some.
Anyone have advice on how to help clean the infection out and close up the cysts? By the way, one is definitely full rupture, another looks more like a rug burn ooze.
Thanks for reading and accepting me and my big girl, Misty into your group!

have you tried fuciderm gel or aloe vera gel if this is possible you can buy it from hollland and barrett hope this helps

jeanettesavill · 01-26-2010, 05:51 AM

have you tried fuciderm gel from the vets or aloe vera gel fom hollland and barretts hope this helps i am no expert its just trial and error with my dog brandy

Benpaws · 01-26-2010, 06:58 AM

My Dear Friend,

WELCOME! You have certainly come to the best place for information and lots of support.

I just checked out Robert McDowell's site and you might want to read the following: Testimonials, Bow - Healthy and Happy with Nerve Sheath Sarcoma

My prayers go out to you and Misty. There is always HOPE!

Good that she is eating again.

Blessings,
Joanne

01-25-2010, 05:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
MistyMom Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 1	Undetermined time, inoperable Malignant Nerve Sheath Tumor My name is Paula and I am the mother to a beautiful girl, Misty. She is approximately 9 or 10 years old now. I adopted her and she was 3 or 4, that was 6 years ago now. She is Australian Shepard/Collie mix, and the most beautiful girl! Last March we had a tumor removed from her right hip/buttocks area. Then it was about the size of a softball. We had suspicions but did not know for sure till the entire tumor was sent for biopsy, it was cancerous. So the vet and I agreed it be best to start her on chemo (even before the results were in). She went onto a regimen of Metronomix Chemo, Piroxicam, and Doxycycline. We ended up cutting the Piroxicam out cause it upset her stomach, and we cut the Doxycycline back to half the dosage to ease her stomach also. Within a few months, the tumor was back and even bigger. Obviously we received the results by now and it was confirmed to be a malignant nerve sheath tumor. I was told it would come back but the hope was the chemo would slow the progression. Unfortunately it did not. The recommendation then became to attempt to debulk it again and add intense radiation into her treatment. I decided not to do that. Mean of me? I hope not. I thought about how hard it would be for her to be knocked out 5 days a week and at the same time be far away from home and me, and decided the depression that would bring would kill her. It helps when even her oncologist said he probably wouldn't put his dog thru it either... So here we are a total of 9 months out from the surgery and diagnosis and now it is inoperable. She has developed secondary cysts on the tumor that the doc even said would probably rupture. It took about 2 weeks but he was right...I have since the inoperable prognosis, stopped her chemo and antibiotics, and started homeopathic treatment. Now she is eating again (after about a month of not), her eyes look clearer, and her temperament is back to her sweet content self. My struggle is trying to help her pass feces, and keep the open cysts clean and get the infection out. I don't want to believe I can't care for them and get them to close back up, and will have to put her down. How can I put her down for a wound when everything else about her is good? Antibiotics are apparently not an option. Doc says they are resistant since they formed while she was on some. Anyone have advice on how to help clean the infection out and close up the cysts? By the way, one is definitely full rupture, another looks more like a rug burn ooze. Thanks for reading and accepting me and my big girl, Misty into your group!

01-26-2010, 06:58 AM	#5 (permalink)
Benpaws Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oakville, ON., CANADA Posts: 1,696	Misty My Dear Friend, WELCOME! You have certainly come to the best place for information and lots of support. I just checked out Robert McDowell's site and you might want to read the following: Testimonials, Bow - Healthy and Happy with Nerve Sheath Sarcoma My prayers go out to you and Misty. There is always HOPE! Good that she is eating again. Blessings, Joanne

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01-25-2010, 09:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
jeffers Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: uk Posts: 219	hi paula so sorry to hear about misty. i know exactly what you are going thro as all on this site have been there. my old girl had a n inoperable gum tumour and the vet gave her only a few weeks. i searched the web for natural things and if you look at some of the old posts on here you will find what lots of people did. there was no cure for my girl but i did manage to get her interested in life and had her a lot longer than the vet gave her and she was happy and still playful untill the day before she died. collodial silver helped her and i used to spray the tumour 3 times daily with it to keep it clean. and changed her diet to mainly raw food as processed has so many chemicals in it. the only advice i can give is to read posts and research as much as you can. i know its heart-breaking faced with this cancer but you can only do the very best that you think will help your girl. i wish you the very best and come back here to let us all know how you are doing jeff

01-26-2010, 05:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
jeanettesavill Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: wales cwmbran Posts: 47	have you tried fuciderm gel from the vets or aloe vera gel fom hollland and barretts hope this helps i am no expert its just trial and error with my dog brandy