Sophie Has A Lump

[tbhounds]

Might need to call some pharmacys- try to find 500mg Amicar. You'll need 15 tablets-- one tablet by mouth 3 times a day for 5 days. You might be dealing with post operative greyhound bleeding syndrome.

Edited April 28, 2012 by tbhounds

[Guest LindsaySF]

Spoke to the vet. They said the bruising can get worse before it gets better, but to keep an eye on it and monitor the progression. The bruising is localized to her thigh, around the incision site, but is darker than before and has spread maybe an inch or two. I mentioned Greyhound bleeding syndrome and they said if the bruising is not spreading fast, her gums aren't pale, that sort of thing, it is unlikely. Thoughts?

 

Sophie is not moving around much at all today, I think the Tramadol on top of her seizure meds has just knocked her out. I'm going to be spacing the Tramadol dosages further apart so she's not so sedated. I think the Tramadol dose is too high and she's just zonked. The swelling in her leg looks like fluid/edema. I tried to get her walking around the yard today but I was basically dragging and carrying her, she made no effort.

 

I should take this opportunity to finally get some sleep, but I'm worried about her because I know she hasn't gone to the bathroom since this morning. She did finally eat and drink water though. I guess just let her sleep it off?

 

The incision looks great, that part I'm happy with.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Poor Sophie. Hard on you too. Demon had a lot of swelling and bruising after his amputation, (his remaining front leg swelled). As mentioned above, Amicar will help with the bleeding if needed. I think it was Day 5 after Demon's amputation that we started Amicar. You can take a sharpie and mark the extent of the bruising. That way you can easily tell if it's changing. I know Demon was very uncomfortable from the swelling. While he was laying down, I would gently massage from the foot towards the body. I'd reach his trunk and start over again at the foot. He would be on his side and the foot would be elevated above his body during this. I could see the swelling lessen after I was done (at least for a while). The swelling really affected his willingness to move around also.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Yes, mark bruising with a Sharpie and take a photo. (Make sure your camera puts a time on the photo. If it doesn't, make a small sign with the time, put it next to Sophie so it will show in the picture, and take a replacement photo.) Use that photo as a reference. If the bruising is getting worse, take another photo with a new time sign. Measure from your Sharpie line to the new bruise edges, and you can give actual measure to your vet: amount the bruise spread in x amount of time. Vets sometimes expect a dog's owner to over-react to bruising like Sophie's. If you have corroborating photos and measurements, you can't easily be brushed off as a Nervous Nellie.

[tbhounds]

My thoughts on the Amicar is- I can't hurt. It's cheap (around $50). That said, bruising always gets worse before it gets better.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I've been taking photos every few hours with my cell phone (it marks date & time).

 

The bruising on her leg is much better this morning, but now she has some bruising and edema on her belly. I'm sure the sling I have to use around her belly is rubbing and contributing to this, and she was laying on her belly a bit whereas before she was exclusively on her side, but I am not comfortable with this amount of bruising. I have a call in to the vet and I will make sure someone sees her today. I will request Amicar also.

 

The good news is she was able to walk in the yard today and she is using the leg. The toes still knuckle over, but she is weight-bearing on it now. It is still very swollen, but I'm glad to see she's using it and it's not just limp like before. I think she's more alert now that I've cut back on the Tramadol.

 

Thanks for all the advice! I'll report back later.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

 

 

 

 

 

[Batmom]

Keeping up the good thoughts for gallant girlie.

[Guest LindsaySF]

We're going in to the vet this afternoon. The vet that did the surgery comes in at 2 pm.

 

 

The bruising is only on one side of her belly. It's the side she flopped onto and landed on while I was getting her up out of bed to go outside this morning. The other side (the side she's currently laying on) is not bruised at all. So at least we have a possible cause, though she shouldn't bruise this easily.

 

I called over a dozen pharmacies and found a local one with Amicar in stock. They set it aside for me. The vet might even carry it for all I know but the receptionist didn't know and I didn't want to wait until our appointment to find out.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

 

 

[Remolacha]

I've been following Sophie latest 'adventure' but haven't had a chance to respond. I am glad she is doing better this morning, but think the vet visit is a good idea. I hope the bruising is just part of the healing.

[Guest darcysmama]

Hi there - I hope your Sophie is continuing to get a little better each day. My hound was also diagnosed with a hemangiopericytoma in June 2011. It grew incredibly fast, right around the elbow area on one of his front legs. Given the location, surgery was not offered as an option even at a specialists, as clean margins would not be possible. Amputation was not an option either, given that my boy was 11 at the time, with a very arthritic rear leg and poor options for getting around on only 2 legs. So, we opted to try metronomic chemotherapy, which is an every other day dose of cyclophosamide. A water pill (furosemide) is also given at the same time to help speed things through the bladder, as prolonged retention can cause some bleeding and irritation. The tumour maintained its size over several months, and did not grow. However, we came up with an additional treatment, which seemed to result in the actual shrinkage of the tumor - seriously, it's less than 1/4 what it was. We give him IP6 and Inositol, mixed with water, twice per day. 3000 mg morning and night, away from food. If you take a look through medical journals on the net, it seems to be gaining ground as a useful adjunct therapy for soft tissue sarcomas and while it's perhaps conincidental, it has certainly helped our boy and might be worth a try for you. The only side effect there seems to be is that iron levels may need to be monitored from getting too low. May be worth a try. I hope everything works out as well for you and Sophie - we have gained many more months than we thought we might have!

[Guest LindsaySF]

Ok the vet suspects greyhound post-operative bleeding syndrome. (Good call tbhounds!) Sophie's bloodwork was good, levels normal (including platelets). When I came in I said I think it's the bleeding syndrome greyhounds get and I want a script for Amicar, and she laughed. Then when she said sometimes it's hard to find I was like oh don't worry, I called a bunch of places already and set some aside, Greytalk taught me that, she laughed some more. I gave her the first dose of Amicar tonight.

 

 

Here she is at the vet. Vet said it will probably spread and look even worse before it gets better. I am to continue with the Amicar, cold compresses, check her gums, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the bruising, Sophie is feeling more like herself. She was able to walk on her own when we got home, and finally pooped! I'll keep massaging the swollen leg too, and hopefully her being a little more mobile will help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vet did see some bacteria on the slide of her blood, so even though her incision looks great and she's not running a fever, we added another antibiotic. So now she's on both Cefpodoxime and Baytril.

 

 

Ready for the really good news? As I was driving home the vet called me with the pathology report. They did confirm histiopericytoma, but they got clean margins!

 

 

Thanks again for all the advice and good thoughts!

 

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[Batmom]

Keep getting better, Sophie!

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Yeah for clean margins!

[sweetdogs]

Oh Sophie - that looks owie. But it seems like you'll be on the mend soon & you got clean margins! Way to go sweetie!

[maryz]

All in all, wonderful news! Praying the worst is over and Sophie is her old self very soon.

[FiveRoooooers]

Good job, Linds, and YAY for clean margins Sophie has the most beautiful face.

[tbhounds]

Greyt news--glad she's feeling better and super glad to hear that you got clean margins!

What a pretty hound she is!

[Guest tricolorhounds]

for the clean margins. Hope Sophie is on the mend.

 

 

My Bonkers gets very swollen w/edema quite easily/often... we usually treat it with warm compresses.

[Remolacha]

for clean margins! also for Sophie walking on her own

[Guest Fasave]

Yeah Sophie! Glad to hear you are on the mend and the future looks great! Lindsay, I hope you are catching up on your sleep.

[MaryJane]

My thoughts on the Amicar is- I can't hurt. It's cheap (around $50). That said, bruising always gets worse before it gets better.

 

 

When Lucy had the issue with her cracked tooth & the extraction I made sure to get the Amicar because as a seizure dog, I didn't want any additional issues popping up later.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I finally got some sleep last night. Not quality sleep (in a recliner downstairs, to keep an eye on Sophie), but I'll take it!

 

Good news: Sophie is more alert, has been changing positions in her ex-pen, and even laying on the 'bad' leg, which I allowed hoping to more evenly distribute the swelling and bruising. Her appetite is still spotty, but she ate all the food I left in her ex-pen while I was gone yesterday. The incision still looks good and I've been monitoring for a fever but she's been normal temp.

 

Bad news: The bruising is getting worse (the vet did warn me it would get worse before it gets better), her other hind leg is now a bit swollen too, and (I think) her gums look more pale than they did. Not sure about the gums, I have nothing to compare it to, but they might be more pale. Her capillary refill in her gums is still good, which is what the vet said to keep an eye on. I've been monitoring it since this morning, and if it seems any slower, we'll be off to the vet to repeat her bloodwork.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[tbhounds]

Did you start the Amicar? Totally agree about the bruising- absolutely gets worse before it gets better but, you obviously don't want to see any active bleeding attributing to it.

[Laur]

wow... in the standing pic it looks like a pitbull leg has been grafted onto a greyhound !

Poor girlie.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Her gums did look more pale this afternoon, so I brought her to the vet. I figured better safe than sorry. Her bloodwork was actually slightly better today than it was on Saturday, so despite her appearance, it seems the Amicar is working. (Tbhounds, the surgery was on Thursday, we started the Amicar on Saturday).

 

I started a new thread () to ask some questions about bruising and post-operative bleeding syndrome. On the lump/cancer front, the lab said they got clean margins, so hopefully the cancer does not come back.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~