RE: Shelby - Tumor

[Jen Meyer]

Title: Message

Hi Amy!   I believe Michelle is absolutely right...they don't normally surgically remove lymphoma...Our Pips actually had both a tumor AND lymphoma in his intestines!  Although, I don't think they realized that *before* the surgery...about a week after they removed the mass in his intestines, I had to take Pips back into the vet because he couldn't keep any food down...they snapped another x-ray and you could really see how swollen his lymph node was (at first, we almost thought that the tumor had come back!)...unfortunately, Pips' lymphoma wasn't responding to the chemo (the statistics that our oncologist gave us are that 50% of cats respond whereas the other 50% don't...Pips was one of the latter)...and, because of the stress of major surgery, his FeLV was making a go at his bone marrow causing him to become anemic... :(   I think Pips' situation was kinda the worst case scenerio...I agree w/ Michelle though, if you can avoid surgery, I would (as long as the tumor isn't completely blocking his intestines)!  I would get Shelby started on an aggressive treatment plan, like Michelle suggested and I'm sending out positive thoughts that Shelby will be one of the lucky ones who responds as well as wonderful little Simon did!  :)   Jen -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 9:16 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Shelby - Tumor 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