The vet that was talking about surgery was the one
that did the ultrasound, a specialist. My vet has not
called me to discuss the ultrasound results yet. I'm
thinking of calling an oncologist but they told me
they won't do anything without knowing if we are
dealing with lymphoma or carcinoma. Is that true?
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Is this a regular vet, or an internist or
> oncologist? I would see one of the
> latter, preferably an oncologist. My understanding
> is that they do not
> normally remove lymphoma surgically. Steroids and
> chemo can shrink it to almost
> nothing if it responds. Lymphoma tends to line
> organs and not just be present
> in one lump, so removing it does not normally get
> rid of the lymphoma, and
> lymphoma does tend to respond very well to steroids
> and chemo, at least
> initially. I would get her to an oncologist quickly
> if this is a regular vet. An
> oncologist will probably give her a shot of
> dexamethasone, a powerful and
> fast-acting steroid that shrinks lymphoma and
> reduces swelling, and a shot of
> Elspar, a chemo drug that they usually use first
> because it has no side effects
> and cats sometimes go into remission within a day or
> two after getting it.
> Even when they do not go into remission, tumors seem
> to shrink a lot. I would
> be very wary of doing surgery without an oncologist
> saying so. I would try
> to get an immediate appointment with an oncologist,
> and if you have to wait a
> few days I would ask your vet to give her a shot of
> dexamethasone while you
> are waiting, and prednisone pills as well, to try to
> shrink it. Some vets say
> that getting a lot of steroids prior to getting
> chemo can make the chemo
> less effective, but I think that has recently been
> debunked and I know Simon's
> oncologist gave him dexamethasone at the same time
> as chemo.
> Michelle
>
> In a message dated 4/8/05 9:54:36 PM Eastern
> Daylight Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> I had written earlier in the week about my cat,
> Shelby, having a tumor in her abdomen. We had an
> ultrasound yesterday and they also did a needle
> aspiration to see if we are dealing with lymphoma
> or
> carcinoma. They said if it is lymphoma, we can
> consider surgery followed by chemo or just chemo.
> The
> mass is in her intestine and they don't know if it
> will be operable. We'd have to do x-rays with
> barium
> to see if it is too close to the stomach to operate
> or
> if they could try to take it out. They said they
> would opt for surgery because they worry about
> blockage otherwise because the tumor is very large.
>
> Any suggestions or comments? I'm waiting on results
> about the tumor at the moment. They are due back
> early next week.
>
> Amy Wilkins
> Woof Wagon
> www.woofwagon.com
>
>
>
>
>
Amy Wilkins
Woof Wagon
www.woofwagon.com
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