We lost our sweet Chelsea girl today. She was diagnosed with cancer in late July, right after we moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland from Virginia. Our new vet here removed a rather large mass from the underside of her tongue, which proved to be metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. By the time we consulted with a veterinary oncologist in Annapolis, it had spread to a lymph node in her neck, which had grown quite large and was affecting her ability to eat and drink. We opted to have Chelsea undergo surgery today to see if the lymph node could be removed, but the surgeon called from the operating room and said that the mass was far more involved with the surrounding nerves and blood vessels than he had feared. If he continued trying to cut away the tumor, there was an extremely high risk of even more complications, an almost certain extended recovery period with more surgery, and no value added to her already diminished quality of life. We made the heartbreaking decision to have the surgeon end the procedure and euthanize Chelsea while she was still under general anesthesia. Chelsea was a Lab Rescue alumna (formerly known as Cheyenne and fostered by Beth Reeves) who was seized by authorities from a disreputable breeding kennel in West Virginia. We adopted her a year-and-a-half ago after losing another Lab (also a Lab Rescue alum) to cancer. Chelsea was only four-and-a-half years old. Thankfully, her brief time with us was filled with many walks, hikes, runs and swims and more love than most any dog could hope for in a lifetime.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 01:37:25 +0000
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