Mast Cell Tumor Update

This is a bit of an update from Sam's March 28th post. Sam's out at the moment on his afternoon walk with his mom. He's probably at one of the local coffee bars hanging out with his mom and eating his (more than) fair share of a blueberry muffin or banana bread after hitting up treats from the local shops that know him on sight.

We took Sam in for his usual 2-week exam today and things have definitely gotten worse since our March 28th post. The original tumour has increased in size and it is "angrier" looking and not helped in the least by his licking of it yesterday, displacing his bandages and soiling his bedding with blood when it became too much of an aggravation.

The tumour has spread, forming additional bumps along his right front leg and neck. His attentive vet is cautioning that we will need to be "prepared" but we're at a loss for "how".

He seems to still have the need to go for his walks, often insisting where we go, the routes that we'll take and his reluctance to even "turn" for home. He'd just rather be out there walking. Such an attitude for a mobile two-legged dog.

We're not regretful in the least that we opted not to have surgery performed on Sam back in March/April, the inability to even get clean margins given the location of the original tumour would have given the tumour an increased likelihood of it coming back after surgery.

And with Sam's significant cardiac issues and advanced age and other attendant issues, the odds were definitely stacked against him and so we opted then as we have now, on letting him live out his days in the loving care of his family and his friends.

He can still easily bring a stranger to a halt and a smile to their face. That's my boy. I love him more than anything in this world.

Hey, that nice nurse put a little red heart on my bandage 😀

Hand over that muffin mom!!!

New Racing Wheels

Hey dad? Yes Sam, what's up? 

Well I know that my new wheels from Eddie's Wheels (https://eddieswheels.com/) arrived the other day. 

 So when are you going to install them? My old wheels are getting pretty worn down.

Well Sam, let's do it now. You can supervise as usual, okay? Sure dad, let's do it.

How's that looking Sam?

 

Ooooo, new racing wheels! Let's go try them out dad..... 

Thanks dad. Good job!

My Busy Saturday

Hi everyone, I had a pretty busy Saturday. First up was an early morning drive out to the groomers. Here's me after they finished grooming me up. I certainly am glad that's over with. Don't I look fluffier? Let's go home.

After a snooze, it was off for my afternoon walk. I wanted to stop in at my favorite treat emporium. What it's closed on a Saturday afternoon???

 

Are you hiding in there?

 

  I can smell you....

 

Hey Sam, there's a note on the door.

 

It's almost 3:20 PM now. Let's wait a few minutes. And as soon as the door opened, my mom spotted blood on the linoleum floor and then my dad saw it too and they both "freaked out" a bit. Once they figured out that the blood was coming from my nail because the groomers had mistakenly cut too close to the quick and in fairness, my nails are black, my mom and dad relaxed a bit and put me in my wagon for the ride home. 

 

 

I don't have any photos with me getting groomed. Anyways, thanks dad for following me around with the wagon. Oh yes, my mast cell tumor has decided to slow down. My mom says that a patch of skin has covered the wound. My vet says that it looks good. But my mom thinks that we should still change the dressing every night to ensure that it stays clean. My mom says that I'd probably lick it raw and we don''t want that.