Some further info. on Grace
Well, the good news first...you'll be happy to know that the swelling has gone down in Grace's eyelid so she is looking more "normal" now. Infection avoided. Yay!
Now on to the skin cancer. I spoke with the vet on the phone yesterday after I had posted. She is going to be talking to a specialist about a skin cancer vaccine that is in the experimental stages for humans, but is being tested on dogs. Apparently it has shown some ability in slowing down the rate of the cancer's progression. As this is an aggressive cancer that would be helpful. With that said, we have some personal complications with this. One of them being the money. We are waiting to hear how much these vaccines cost as she would need multiple vaccines to maintain the treatment. Since this drug is experimental we are figuring the cost will be outrageous and therefore a no go. While we LOVE Grace at this late stage in life we just cannot justify paying exorbitant amounts of money on these treatments. Also, there is no guarantee or even a percentage that we can get on how likely this is to help her. So, it doesn't really sound promising.
If she receives no treatment then we are waiting to see if tumors begin to appear. The vet. said that the most likely thing to happen is that if she didn't get the whole tumor it will appear on her lip in the same-ish location. If this happens she would need surgery again. But, wait for it...because there isn't a lot of extra skin tissue on the lower lip/jaw area and she already had surgery there she would have to go to a specialist to not only have the tumor removed but to have reconstructive surgery. Again...not only would the cost be ridiculous, but Grace really doesn't need to go through all of that. She's been through enough in her life for 10 dogs. We're almost in the double digits on tumor surgeries for her now. Seriously...my darling girl just needs to relax and enjoy life as much as she can at this point.
So, if we either don't do treatment or the treatment doesn't work the vet gave Grace months to live. Yep, months. Of course...we all know that those are estimates and no one truly knows except God. But, it gives you a time frame for what we may have before us.
And you know what? I refuse to cry. I refuse to cry over a dog who is still with me. She is still here, living, breathing, and being my beautiful Grace. I will enjoy whatever time remaining God blesses us with her in our family, and I will make sure that she knows that she is truly and deeply loved by us all. So, no tears. It's not time for that.
Now on to the skin cancer. I spoke with the vet on the phone yesterday after I had posted. She is going to be talking to a specialist about a skin cancer vaccine that is in the experimental stages for humans, but is being tested on dogs. Apparently it has shown some ability in slowing down the rate of the cancer's progression. As this is an aggressive cancer that would be helpful. With that said, we have some personal complications with this. One of them being the money. We are waiting to hear how much these vaccines cost as she would need multiple vaccines to maintain the treatment. Since this drug is experimental we are figuring the cost will be outrageous and therefore a no go. While we LOVE Grace at this late stage in life we just cannot justify paying exorbitant amounts of money on these treatments. Also, there is no guarantee or even a percentage that we can get on how likely this is to help her. So, it doesn't really sound promising.
If she receives no treatment then we are waiting to see if tumors begin to appear. The vet. said that the most likely thing to happen is that if she didn't get the whole tumor it will appear on her lip in the same-ish location. If this happens she would need surgery again. But, wait for it...because there isn't a lot of extra skin tissue on the lower lip/jaw area and she already had surgery there she would have to go to a specialist to not only have the tumor removed but to have reconstructive surgery. Again...not only would the cost be ridiculous, but Grace really doesn't need to go through all of that. She's been through enough in her life for 10 dogs. We're almost in the double digits on tumor surgeries for her now. Seriously...my darling girl just needs to relax and enjoy life as much as she can at this point.
So, if we either don't do treatment or the treatment doesn't work the vet gave Grace months to live. Yep, months. Of course...we all know that those are estimates and no one truly knows except God. But, it gives you a time frame for what we may have before us.
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| Grace...one less eye, but every bit as perfect as she was the day I saw her picture on the adoption site. |
And you know what? I refuse to cry. I refuse to cry over a dog who is still with me. She is still here, living, breathing, and being my beautiful Grace. I will enjoy whatever time remaining God blesses us with her in our family, and I will make sure that she knows that she is truly and deeply loved by us all. So, no tears. It's not time for that.