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Freckles - Breckenridge, CO ESRA# 2003-528OR
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1996 - February 24, 2004Here is Freckles with his foster mom, Lisa. He's only 8 years old, great with people and other dogs. Freckles was turned in as a stray to the Bonnie Hayes shelter in Hillsboro, Oregon. He is very friendly, active and loves to go for walks. He gets along with other dogs, kids, people, cats.
Shortly after he was rescued from the shelter and came into our care he was diagnosed with a malignant mast cell tumor. Freckles had surgery the second week of October, 2003 to remove the tumor. Keep reading to see how he's doing.
Update Oct 10, 2003:
Freckles is doing well - he's being such a trooper about this whole thing. He started to shake off the anesthetic and woke
up groggy, but with his little tail wagging, which was great to see. The next morning he was up, walking, eating &
drinking, so he seems to be on a good road to recovery. We went on a short walk/bathroom break this morning. He walks a
little gingerly on his left front leg, but doesn't seem to have any problem walking, nor does he show any signs of being in
pain. Such a brave little guy.
Notes about the surgery. Things took a bit of a different route than was expected. When the vet shaved the area down he was suprised to find an old scar over the same exact location that he was going in - which means that this isn't the first time that someone has removed a tumor from this exact location on Freckles. He guessed that the scar tissue underneath felt sorta fresh, so the last operation was probably in the last year or so. Also, the vet noticed that the lymph node seemed slightly enlarged. So with this new info he called me and we went over some different options. I decided that we should continue with the surgery as planned but also remove the lymph node.
Next the doctor brought up four other small lumps on his skin. I personally wasn't concerned about these because they feel like the lumps that older dogs get, little skin cysts. But with this new information about a previous surgery the vet felt we should aspirate them and do a lab report on these, too. The vet found a combination of stuff in them, from plain old cyst cells, to what looks like cells that might be more malignant tumors, to what looked like some allergy cells. To help fight these small lumps and prevent them from spreading, after the surgery the vet gave him an antihistimine shot (and I've also got him on Benedryl at home). The good news about these is that they were in the skin. They weren't as deep as the tumor on his shoulder was (and the tumor wasn't even that deep). So these new lumps weren't affecting any of his organs, and skin has a much lower blood supply than something deeper. All we can really do now is wait for the pathology report on the lymph node and removed tumor mass to see what that says.
The removal of the tumor and the lymph node went well
with no complications, but Freckles has one heck of a scar now - goes from the lower part of his shoulder blade to the
top-middle of his neck. He doesn't seem bothered by it though.
Bonus and good news. The vet did an ultra sound on Freckles for FREE (this vet really is awesome). He checked Freckles' torso and found no tumors in his stomach, intestines, liver, lungs, etc. So that is hopefully great news that this is just a localized tumor and hasn't spread.
What this means for Freckles is that his future is uncertain. The doctor doesn't really know what to even guess at what level tumor this is. For the moment, Freckles is being absolutely spoiled rotten and hopefully enjoying his recovery time.
Update Oct 14, 2003:
The Vet got the pathology back today. It was a mast cell tumor and the pathologist put it at a grade 3-. The good news is
that in the edges of what was removed there were no tumor cells, so the vet got everything from that location. But the
pathologist did find some other cells in there as well, which confused the diagnosis a bit, but from what I gathered, it
was in favor of Freckles. I think the vet said that the other lumps could be an allergic reaction. So tonight, to combat
allergies and tumor cells, Freckles will start on Prednisone, 10mg 2x a day. Because Freckles doesn't behave like an
advanced cancer patient, the vet hopes with the prednisone that we'll be able to bring it down to a grade 2 mast cell tumor
patient, which can give him a 1-2 year life span. A blood test in several weeks should be able to tell the vet if the
prednisone is working.
As far as Freckles is concerned, he's doing great. He doesn't even act like anything has happened. He still bounces around the house and doesn't indicate that the surgery site is bothering him at all. His back legs are doing better and he's jumping around quite a bit.
Update Oct 27, 2003:
Long story short: Friday a sock belonging to my roommate went missing. I called both 24-hour vet clinics in town and they
gavecompletely conflicting advice. Well I knew I was going
into the vet the next morning to have the stitches/staples removed from his tumor removal/neutering surgery. I
decided to wait and see what his regular vet said.
Saturday morning at the vet... Usually I'm not a nervous mother, but because I recently lost my boy Romeo to an
obstruction in his intestines and because Freckes threw up his food on Saturday, I didn't want to take any chances with
him. So I had the vet x-ray Freckles' tummy to see if there was any obstruction in the stomach or the intestines. The vet
was nice and snuck his chest into the x-ray so he could see if there were any tumors. His chest came up clear which was
great news. As for his tummy - no obstructions, but there was lots of food in his tummy, so the vet suggested taking him
off food for a day or so to give it a chance to work out.
So after the stitches & staples were removed the vet rechecked him and said he looks good. 2 weeks ago when Freckles
had the big tumor removed, the vet also checked (aspirated) a couple other lumps on Freckles. At that time the vet
determined that the cells in these other lumps were a mixture of cyst cells, allergy cells and mast cells. So Freckles has
been on prednisone (which I guess also acts as a mild chemotherapy). The good news with all of this is that 3 of the 5
lumps have disappeared and the other 2 have gotten smaller. Now that doesn't mean that there are no mast cells in those
areas, but it does mean that the prednisone is keeping it at bay & making it sorta go away.
Fast forward to this morning for a tummy update: after about 5 minutes of being awake, Freckles went into the kitchen
and puked up 2 socks and a pair of underwear (thank god hebdidn't do that in my bed!). No more socks in his diet!
Now that all the medical mumbo-jumbo is out of the way... Freckles is doing awesome. On Friday night he amazed me
because for the first time he jumped up onto my bed. Usually I have to pick him up to get him up there. To me, that alone
shows how much better he's feeling. Then, since the only time I take him in the car is to go to the vet he was really
starting to not like car rides - they would make him very apprehensive & he was progressively shaking worse in the car.
So on Sunday we took some fun car rides - went to a coffee shop to sit & read for awhile and then off to play in a big
rose garden. By the end of all that he was great in the car and didn't seem to freak out being in there.
Update Nov 12, 2003:
Freckles continues to do well. Freckles had some fluid collecting under the skin near the surgery site. The vet wanted to
give his body a chance to reabsorb it, but after a week it had only gotten bigger, so last week we went to the vet to have
some fluid drained from the surgery site (about 2 pounds worth of fluid!). The vet also said he continues to look
good.
Last Friday Freckles got to go to the groomer and was shaved down. Keeping his hair short should help in watching bumps
that pop up - finding them and seeing what they do. Unfortunately once he was shaved I did find a few more bumps, but none
of them are bigger than the size of a pea. Freckles will probably be heading back to the vet in a few days because the
fluid pocket has come back. If it doesn't start to go away by the time he'd done with the antibotics the vet gave him for
it, we'll probably have to drain it again. So I'll ask the vet for advice on the bumps then.
When Freckles came into foster care he was very underweight and not terriby interested in food. Well he's put on several
pounds and, as with most Springers, feeding time is now one of his favorite times of the day. He bounces around, sometimes
getting all 4 paws in the air when I start getting his food ready.
Stay tuned for further information on this wonderful little guy.
Update December 14, 2003:
Freckles has moved to Colorado! On November 21, Freckles flew to his new "Hospice" home in Breckenridge, Colorado. Freckles
has joined a family that owns a Springer Spaniel that is about the same age and size. With a veterinarian only a mile away,
Freckles will be sure to get all the medical care he needs.
Freckles had a hard time adjusting to his new surroundings. For the first two weeks, a lot of pacing, panting, gassing and
peeing were his regular routine. He seemed very disoriented and uneasy. He has gone on some beautiful walks, met a lot of
other dogs at the dog park, and has gotten to know his new big yard. In the past week, Freckles has relaxed, comes to his
new parents to be pet, and likes to sleep on a comfy dog bed.
Medically, Freckles has had some ups and downs. After a week of being in Colorado, he went for a general check up. He
looked good, his bumps on his body were all pea sized, his swelling below the incision was smaller than a golf ball. A few
days later the swelling disappeared and Freckles was looking good. But then one week later his swelling began to grow, and
grow, and grow. He also started to bleed from the bump on his chest. He went to the vet, was shaved were he was bleeding,
which revealed his bump (tumor) was enlarged and appeared to be bursting through the skin. His swelling was an infection
and was drained to about half of what it was, with hopes that the body would absorb the rest. A few days later, the bump
dried up very well, and appears to be scabbing. The swelling however, grew back to it's size, and more! So back to the
vet's on Saturday, December 13. The vet made some holes below the swelling and squeezed and squeezed, and massaged it until
it was all out. Freckles put up a good fight, not liking this type of massage, but when it was all over, the vet bandaged
the area to keep the fluid from returning to the area and prescribed amoxicillin for him. He has been stiff and sore from
the ordeal, and has been mostly sleeping since he was treated. He'll get bandaged (wrapped) for 4 days and have amoxicllin
for 10 days. Freckles is hoping he will feel better real soon so he can go and play with his new dog friend and all the
dogs at the dog park.
Update February 6, 2004:
Freckles is well adjusted to his Colorado home in the Mountains. He is eating, drinking and sleeping well. He gets along
with everyone and is eager to be taken on any type of hike. He is always the leader, proudly showing us the way. He may get
stuck in some snowbanks along the way and has to be pulled out, but then he goes on with his nose up and sniffing.
Medically, Freckles is not doing well at all. (Athough he has no swelling from his past incision, yeahhhh!.) His bumps
however, have increased in the past 2 months. From when he arrived around Thanksgiving, he had about 5 soft, small
pea-shaped bumps. He now has more than 20. They range in size from pea-size to golf ball size. Six of the bumps have broken
through the skin and have bled. The area around the bumps of the ones that have bled needed to be shaved to keep it clean
and give it the ability to dry up. At one point they were all bleeding and he had bandages everywhere, but he is good about
it and does not try to take them off. There has been one persistent bump on his chest which is the largest. It refuses to
dry up and bleeds and oozes daily. The bad news is that many of the bumps have been diagnosed as Malignant Mast Cell
Tumors. There are too many to have them surgically cut out. The good news is that so far they have stayed at skin level and
do not seem to bother him at all.
Freckles was taken to see a second vet in the area for another opinion. They conferred with my vet that the tumors were
malignant and the best we can do is to make him as comfortable as possible. Freckles is on many medications to treat his
tumors and his arthritis (he falls down a lot when his back legs give out on him). He seems comfortable but is not a
handsome site with his bumps shaved and scabbed. A bump on his right cheek looks ready to burst and is growing bigger. That
will be a difficult one to bandage. He is being a perfect gentlemen and apologizes daily for bleeding all over the
rugs.
Update February 28, 2004: I am afraid I have some bad news. Freckles was put to sleep
on Tuesday, Feb. 24th.
He was a tough guy who fought the cancer as hard as he could but it was stronger than he was. Freckles came to Colorado
three months ago with about 5 small pea sized bumps on him. By the end of February he had more than 20 bumps ranging from
pea sized to golf ball sized. The ones that were diagnosed as Malignant Mast Cell tumors grew large and would continue to
bleed and ooze. The vet told us that they would not have dried up and would only grow larger. Freckles was on many
medications. We fought hard for him but nothing seemed to work.
He seemed dazed in his last days, but he would always come to us for a pet on the head and sleep at the edge of our bed. I
hope that he had some enjoyment living with us. He would go to the stables with me each day and roam the outdoors. He
visited with the 9 horses and 11 other dogs on the property. Although a nose to nose sniff was enough socializing for him,
he seemed happy that he was free.
I wish I had met Freckles sooner. He was a good boy.
Thank you to all of his sponsors. With your help, we are able to give him the medical care that he so desperately
needed.
Contact: Teresa Moore Terrymski@aol.com
| FRECKLES' GENEROUS SPONSORS, WHO MADE HIS LAST DAYS MORE COMFORTABLE: | |
 Rosemary Elden |
From Teri , Zeke, and Inky. Hang in there, and bark at a squirell or two for us! |
| Cathryne Slaughter |
A gift from Maggie, Get well soon!!!!! |
| Chuck & Linda Bratland |
In memory of Maddie, a rescued dog herself, who never stopped giving |
| Rene' Pizzo |
In memory of Buddy & Dusty |
| Vicki & Bill Wingo |
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| Jason and Stephanie Jett |
In memory of Logan |
| N. Galli |
In memory of Mandy I, and a gift from Mandy II, my rescued friend. Good luck Freckles, I'll keep you in my prayers |
| Millie Christopher |
In honor of my Freckles in Alabama |
| Gary & Margaret Hanes |
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| Chuck & Linda Bratland |
Merry Christmas, Freckles! |
| Cayce Coker |
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| Katrin E. Owen |
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In memory of: Logan |
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In memory of Rose |
| Dette & Thomas Thompson |
In honor of our four Springers, Molly, Banjo, Ellie, and Mac |
| Denise Ehner |
In memory of Springer Max Dakota, age 2 |