Chemo Question For Jamey

[mom2four]

WE have had another opinion from a retired vet that I know about chemo. He thinks that since Jamey's OSA was confined to the humerus (never any 'sunburst' pattern on the X-rays), he thinks that chemo is unnecessary, since the OSA was confined to the bone. Michael and I are still discussing this! We feel we have just a bit of time now since they won't start chemo when Jamey has an infection.

Any opinions or experience with this?

 

Thank you for your input! I will be discussing this with our vet and OSU too!

 

 

 

[Guest Energy11]

ME? I'd trust OSU, but of course, it is your call. Good Luck and follow your instincts, and your gut feelings. THAT is what we were taught in paramedic school.

[Guest argolola]

God bless.

[Burpdog]

The statistics show that if you do not do chemo you have around the same as if you did not amputate which is 4-6 months. With chemo, the last time I checked, the expected length of time, averaged, was 14 months.

 

Some are shorter with chemo, some longer. I know Max & Bosha went 3 years and Winslow is at 2 1/2 and there are quite a few with longer than the average.

 

Osteo is a cancer that will mestastasis. That is what the chemo stops--in case it has already begun.

 

This is from a human site, but explains metastasis.

 

What is metastasis, and how does it happen?

 

Metastasis means the spread of cancer. Cancer cells can break away from a primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system (the system that produces, stores, and carries the cells that fight infections). That is how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.

 

When cancer cells spread and form a new tumor in a different organ, the new tumor is a metastatic tumor. The cells in the metastatic tumor come from the original tumor. This means, for example, that if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, the metastatic tumor in the lung is made up of cancerous breast cells (not lung cells). In this case, the disease in the lungs is metastatic breast cancer (not lung cancer). Under a microscope, metastatic breast cancer cells generally look the same as the cancer cells in the breast.

 

 

Where does cancer spread?

 

Cancer cells can spread to almost any part of the body. Cancer cells frequently spread to lymph nodes (rounded masses of lymphatic tissue) near the primary tumor (regional lymph nodes). This is called lymph node involvement or regional disease. Cancer that spreads to other organs or to lymph nodes far from the primary tumor is called metastatic disease. Doctors sometimes also call this distant disease.

 

The most common sites of metastasis from solid tumors are the lungs, bones, liver, and brain. Some cancers tend to spread to certain parts of the body. For example, lung cancer often metastasizes to the brain or bones, and colon cancer frequently spreads to the liver. Prostate cancer tends to spread to the bones. Breast cancer commonly spreads to the bones, lungs, liver, or brain. However, each of these cancers can spread to other parts of the body as well.

 

Because blood cells travel throughout the body, leukemia, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma cells are usually not localized when the cancer is diagnosed. Tumor cells may be found in the blood, several lymph nodes, or other parts of the body such as the liver or bones. This type of spread is not referred to as metastasis.

[mom2four]

Thank you everyone. I was just asking if anyone here had heard of this. We are still planning to do chemo with Jamey, once his infection has cleared up.

 

Thanks again!