Gumbo Update – Unfortunately, this will be the last update on Gumbo. His time on earth is coming to an end. Gumbo came into rescue on 8/13 with a huge tumor on his chest. He had auto-immune disease so we were unable to remove the tumor the first day. He was on several days of steroids to help jump start his body in the right direction. He’s RBC, WBC and platelets couldn’t have been more out of control. The vet said his body was trying to kill the tumor and the tumor was trying to kill his body. During the time he was on steroids the tumor bled daily, well more like just seeped blood constantly. We had men’s depends on him and he wore a onesie. By the 5th day the tumor had ruptured through his skin and on his 6th day he went in for surgery. There was no choice since the skin had ruptured. It was all or nothing for him. If we lost him on the table at least we would have lost him trying. He has hemangiosarcoma and the prognosis was 6 months since it was an extremely aggressive cancer. We could have possibly gotten him 12 months we chemo, but MAPR decided against putting him through that. The vet said he was a miracle! He lost almost all of his pectoral muscles and much of the nerves going down his front legs, but he was walking. And walking like a champ! Gumbo had stitches from the inside of one elbow across his chest and down into the other elbow. Since had had been on steroids, the healing of such a large wound was going to be a challenge. And challenge it was. After re-stitching his chest three times, no more stitching would help. He had a very large hole in his chest and all you could see was bright pink skin inside. The only option was to start 3 times per week laser therapy and packing his chest with raw honey twice per day. Within a few days the results of the laser and honey were noticed. After 3 weeks the hole was almost completely closed! HAPPY DAYS! Gumbo was no longer wearing his cone-of-shame and could run freely through the yard. Last week he had a few days with no interest in eating which was very unlike Gumbo since he’d been eating 3 squares a day. On Thursday when changing his honey dressing I noticed a small bloody pea-sized ball had burst through his chest, but not where his original surgery hole was healing. The next day the vet said that the tumor had returned. His breathing was a bit labored so an x-ray was done. The cancer has spread to his lungs. He has several days up to 2 weeks before his lungs would become completely filled with cancer. Since hearing the news on Friday morning and Sunday night as I write this, the tumor has already tripled in size and his breathing is only getting worse. Over the weekend Gumbo has been dining on steaks and chicken livers. My other dogs seem annoyed at this, but when their time is nearing they will get the same treatment. We will help Gumbo over the Rainbow Bridge this week. In the very short period of time that I’ve been lucky enough to care for Gumbo his has capture my heart and the hearts of my family and everyone at the vet clinic. He is truly a wonderful and beautiful pug. I’ve created a photo album of him – some of the photos are very graphic. For those that may question MAPR’s dedication to helping pugs in need, we took him in knowing he was more than likely not going to live a full life and knowing he was going to cost a small fortune, but this is what MAPR is all about. Run pain free in doggy paradise, Gumbo. We love you. https://youtube/watch?v=r4ggdNwX92o&feature=youtu.be
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 01:04:00 +0000