We are officially more than half done with radiation. Sophie has not exhibited a single side effect– no jaw pain, no blistering, no hair loss. So far, it’s been a pretty easy experience.
As I took her for her 11th treatment on Monday, I thought “okay, the easy part is over.” We’ve been warned that she’ll start developing a sunburn on her face soon, and it will continue for a couple weeks after the last treatment.
So while we have completed half of the radiation, we know that we’re not half way through the radiation experience.
Poor Sophie.
October 3, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I am so sorry to hear your little bug has such a nasty battle on her paws. I too am about to enter the same battle with my fur baby. Logan has a rare skin cancer, baso squamous cell carcinoma. It required the removal of his ear canal and bulla. He will be undergoing radiation treatment in the next couple weeks. Thank you for your posts. It is comforting to know that your little girl is tolerating this well.
October 7, 2007 at 9:21 am
Thanks for your comments. Wow, I’ve never heard of removing the ear canal– I hope that surgical removal means that you’ve already gotten most of the cancer and radiation is just to shrink what little is left.
Good luck with radiation! We’ve had a very positive experience so far, and I hope Logan’s treatments are trouble-free.
November 2, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Logan’s tumor was located in his bulla, or inner ear. It could not be seen by looking in his ear with an otoscope. The only symptoms we had were a slight head tilt and subtle balance problems, notably on the agility course. Otherwise no one thought anything was wrong. It took some persistence on my part to convince my vet that I knew something was wrong and we needed to get to the bottom of it. It was not simply of looking for a reason for slow course times on the agility field.
The tumor was discovered through the MRI and the surgery to remove his ear canal was to de-bulk the tumor in preparation for radiation. This surgery is frequently performed on dogs who have chronic ear infections that can no longer be treated with antibiotics. Cocker spaniels are usually afflicted. It does render the dog deaf on that side.
We have started the daily radiation and piroxicam. The tumor has not spread to any lymph nodes and the radiation plan is able to encapsulate the tumor with a 1 cm margin. I am hopeful that the word ‘cured’ will become a regular part of my cancer vocabulary.