r2mnstrs
05-23-2017, 10:05 AM
Hi all. I've been reading the threads and thought I'd post our situation for some advice.
We brought our 2 dogs into their regular vet on February 26th for a check-up prior to having their teeth cleaned. They did basic blood work on them. Once they received the results, they called us to let us know that our girl - Neela - had slightly elevated liver values and we should consider taking her in for an ultrasound. We went ahead with the teeth cleaning on March 13 (the advised us that there shouldn't be any problems) and on March 16th we took her in for an ultrasound. They ended up doing a full abdominal ultrasound and the found a 3cm long right adrenal mass. The left adrenal was normal in size. We then performed a catecholamine fractionation test and that came back within the reference range. We met with a specialty surgeon on May 10th to discuss surgery or other options. We decided to do another Ultrasound, this time focusing in on the adrenal glands to get a better look at the mass and whether it was invading the vena cava. We brought her in for the second ultrasound on May 16th. They performed the ultrasound and informed us that there were significant changes in the mass. The report says that it's a large vascular adrenal mass with adjacent vena caval invasion at porta hepatis (>50% luminal occlusion). There is no effusion or lyphadenopathy, no discrete hepatic or splenic lesions, mild bilateral renal diverticular mineralization, otherwise within normal limits. With the findings of the ultrasound, the surgeon advised us that a chest xray could be helpful to see if there were spots on the lungs. The report for this states that the cardiovascular structures are with normal limits. There was a generalized increased interstitial pulmonary pattern present consistent with aging changes. No pulmonary metastases or thoracic lyphadenopathy were seen.
The surgeon is recommending surgery to remove the mass. We have another appointment with him this Thursday (May 25th) to discuss the surgery and risks involved in more detail. He informed us that there is a less than 50% chance of survival (though the report says prognosis following successful removal of the mass is fair), but we aren't sure if that's better or worse than just letting the tumor take it's course. He also informed us that there's a good chance he'll have to take one of the her kidneys as well.
We adopted our 2 dogs in February 2015. They came to us as a bonded pair. They HATE being separated. They fight like brother and sister, but love each other more than anything. We were told that they were 4 or 5 when we adopted them, so they're about 6 or 7 now. They're tweenie dachshunds. Neela is the Alpha in the pair, but looks to her brother Tommie to protect her. These 2 are our babies. We adopted them a year after we got over the loss of their "big" brother. They were the first dogs that we saw that we thought about actually welcoming into our lives. They drive us nuts, but we love them.
We had been thinking that Neela might have cushings before they found the mass, but hadn't yet gotten to discussing the symptoms with the vet yet. She always seems to be on edge - anxious, panting, etc. She's always warm - like she's overheating. She drinks a lot and pees a lot. She's always hungry. She has a pot belly and her hair doesn't like to grow back. We originally thought the hair loss was linked to allergies (she gets very itchy when the oak trees start blooming).
We know that there is no "right" answer to whether or not we should do surgery. We also know that not doing surgery is pretty much a death sentence for our girl.
We brought our 2 dogs into their regular vet on February 26th for a check-up prior to having their teeth cleaned. They did basic blood work on them. Once they received the results, they called us to let us know that our girl - Neela - had slightly elevated liver values and we should consider taking her in for an ultrasound. We went ahead with the teeth cleaning on March 13 (the advised us that there shouldn't be any problems) and on March 16th we took her in for an ultrasound. They ended up doing a full abdominal ultrasound and the found a 3cm long right adrenal mass. The left adrenal was normal in size. We then performed a catecholamine fractionation test and that came back within the reference range. We met with a specialty surgeon on May 10th to discuss surgery or other options. We decided to do another Ultrasound, this time focusing in on the adrenal glands to get a better look at the mass and whether it was invading the vena cava. We brought her in for the second ultrasound on May 16th. They performed the ultrasound and informed us that there were significant changes in the mass. The report says that it's a large vascular adrenal mass with adjacent vena caval invasion at porta hepatis (>50% luminal occlusion). There is no effusion or lyphadenopathy, no discrete hepatic or splenic lesions, mild bilateral renal diverticular mineralization, otherwise within normal limits. With the findings of the ultrasound, the surgeon advised us that a chest xray could be helpful to see if there were spots on the lungs. The report for this states that the cardiovascular structures are with normal limits. There was a generalized increased interstitial pulmonary pattern present consistent with aging changes. No pulmonary metastases or thoracic lyphadenopathy were seen.
The surgeon is recommending surgery to remove the mass. We have another appointment with him this Thursday (May 25th) to discuss the surgery and risks involved in more detail. He informed us that there is a less than 50% chance of survival (though the report says prognosis following successful removal of the mass is fair), but we aren't sure if that's better or worse than just letting the tumor take it's course. He also informed us that there's a good chance he'll have to take one of the her kidneys as well.
We adopted our 2 dogs in February 2015. They came to us as a bonded pair. They HATE being separated. They fight like brother and sister, but love each other more than anything. We were told that they were 4 or 5 when we adopted them, so they're about 6 or 7 now. They're tweenie dachshunds. Neela is the Alpha in the pair, but looks to her brother Tommie to protect her. These 2 are our babies. We adopted them a year after we got over the loss of their "big" brother. They were the first dogs that we saw that we thought about actually welcoming into our lives. They drive us nuts, but we love them.
We had been thinking that Neela might have cushings before they found the mass, but hadn't yet gotten to discussing the symptoms with the vet yet. She always seems to be on edge - anxious, panting, etc. She's always warm - like she's overheating. She drinks a lot and pees a lot. She's always hungry. She has a pot belly and her hair doesn't like to grow back. We originally thought the hair loss was linked to allergies (she gets very itchy when the oak trees start blooming).
We know that there is no "right" answer to whether or not we should do surgery. We also know that not doing surgery is pretty much a death sentence for our girl.